Representation

SYSTEMS 28 HYPER REALITY
DOMAIN THE SIMULATION

DEFINITION:

A depiction, model, symbol, image, description, simulation, portrayal, substitute, or stand-in that conveys, expresses, references, or substitutes for another object, identity, event, idea, experience, or reality.

FUNCTION:

Transforms reality into communicable form by allowing things to be experienced, understood, transmitted, modeled, remembered, or interacted with through substitutes rather than direct presence.

EXAMPLES:

Images
Maps
Symbols
Models
Profiles
Avatars
Photographs
Simulations
Narratives
Digital twins

NOTES:

Representations may be accurate, distorted, symbolic, abstract, simplified, idealized, fictional, or synthetic. Human experience frequently depends more upon representations than direct encounters with reality itself.

CONTROL TEXT OBSERVATION:

Reality is rarely encountered without mediation. A representation functions as a reality-substitution mechanism that allows something to be experienced through another form. Through representations, objects become images, identities become profiles, places become maps, events become narratives, and realities become simulations. Hyperreality emerges when representations become more influential than the realities they were originally intended to represent.