Simulacra and Simulation

Cloning was once the content of science fiction, but it has entered the mainstream consciousness. Baudrillard views cloning as an extension of hyperreality and its destruction of meaning. He argues that cloning is a way for the modern era to destroy sexuality and to embrace homogenization. Cloning is the simulacrum, a one-to-one copying in a line of copies. Baudrillard paints a picture of a world in which individuals lose themselves and the whole becomes meaningless. The whole is a concept that describes the coming together of disparate people and parts. In hyperreality, the whole is a collection of identical pieces, negating the need for the concept.

Baudrillard moves from his critique of cloning to holograms, which he defines as the three-dimensional image and how human life is replicated on the screen. He argues that the prevalence of the hologram finds its roots in the story of Narcissus: Humans have always been fascinated by the projection of their own images. The hologram gives people the opportunity to confront and pass through themselves. However, Baudrillard offers the reminder that the hologram is an illusion. It is not even an image—it is just a collection of projected light.