Getting a whiffs of Ballardian reality -> symbol -> hyperreality here. The real becomes symbols to others (in Ballard), or models here. Hyperreality is what happens when society starts governing itself by the models it's handed, and worse, iteratively begins making up new models based only on other models.<p>Defining hyperreality, Ballard says:<p>> <i>the generation by models of a real without origin or reality</i><p>I really really like having a term to describe not the condition or the assemblage- hyperreality- but the agency, the motivator that we have been instilled with, programmed by: mimetic desire. Hyperreality doesn't speak to the programming, towards how we are influenced; it describes the general regime. This term is much more about people, and what happens to us. This is a great article. Thanks for sharing.
I don’t know, I feel pretty aware of where my desires come from. When I moved to a country where everyone dressed up I feel the need to dress better because it will be more appreciated.