# Systems of Simulacra ## Source Screenshot ![[01-03-25 Difference and Repetition (60).jpg]] ## Metadata - **Source**: Difference and Repetition, ss.60 - **Author**: Gilles Deleuze - **Context**: The positive alternative to representational thinking through intensive systems and simulacra ## Original Passage > has become white in order to compose the world of 'one' and 'they'.) The ultimate, external illusion of representation is this illusion that results from all its internal illusions - namely, that groundlessness should lack differences, when in fact it swarms with them. What, after all, are Ideas, with their constitutive multiplicity, if not these ants which enter and leave through the fracture in the I? Systems in which different relates to different through difference itself are systems of simulacra. Such systems are intensive; they rest ultimately upon the nature of intensive quantities, which precisely communicate through their differences. The fact that conditions are necessary for such communication to take place (small difference, proximity, etc.) should lead us to be- not in a condition of prior...once, but only in the particula ## Initial Reflections - Representation's ultimate illusion is conceiving groundlessness as lacking differences when it swarms with them - Ideas become multiplicitous "ants" that enter through cracks in personal identity - Systems of simulacra operate through direct differential relations rather than representational mediation ## Analysis [Your detailed analysis, interpretation, and critical engagement with the text] ## Key Concepts Defined | Concept | Definition/Interpretation | | ------------ | ------------------------- | | [[groundlessness swarms with differences]] | The ultimate illusion of [[representation]] - thinking [[groundlessness]] lacks differences when it actually "swarms with them." This is positive [[multiplicity]] vs negative [[void]]. Like [[quantum vacuum]] full of [[virtual particles]] or [[mathematical]] spaces rich with structure. [[Groundlessness]] as creative [[plenum]] not empty [[abyss]]. | | [[Ideas as ants]] | "What, after all, are Ideas, with their constitutive multiplicity, if not these ants which enter and leave through the fracture in the I?" [[Ideas]] are not transcendent unities but [[multiplicities]] that invade and exit personal consciousness. Like [[emergence]] in [[complex systems]] or [[phase transitions]] in physics. | | [[fracture in the I]] | The crack in personal identity through which [[Ideas]] as [[multiplicities]] enter and exit. This breaks the [[representational]] subject-object structure. Like [[symmetry breaking]] or [[bifurcation points]] where new orders emerge. The [[impersonal]] breaking into the personal. | | [[Systems of Simulacra]] | "Systems in which different relates to different through difference itself" - no representational mediation through identity or resemblance. Pure [[differential relations]] without original/copy structure. Like [[category theory]] where objects are defined by their morphisms, not internal properties. | | [[intensive systems]] | Systems that "rest ultimately upon the nature of intensive quantities, which precisely communicate through their differences." Unlike [[extensive]] quantities that add, [[intensive]] quantities relate through [[differential]] coupling. Like [[temperature]] gradients or [[potential]] differences in physics. | | [[communication through differences]] | [[Intensive quantities]] don't communicate despite their differences but precisely through them. Like [[coupling]] in [[dynamical systems]] where differences drive interaction. Mathematical parallel: [[differential equations]] where rates of change determine evolution. | | [[conditions for communication]] | "Small difference, proximity, etc." - the specific constraints needed for intensive communication. Like [[resonance]] conditions in physics or [[matching]] conditions in [[category theory]]. Not arbitrary but systematic requirements for [[coupling]]. | | [[different relates to different]] | The formula for [[simulacra]] - direct differential relation without mediation through identity. This escapes [[Platonic]] original-copy structure. Like [[rhizome]] connections that don't go through central organizing principle. | ## Philosophical Implications - **Positive Multiplicity**: Groundlessness contains infinite differences rather than empty uniformity - **Intensive Ontology**: Reality organized by intensive rather than extensive relations - **Beyond Original-Copy**: Simulacra operate through pure differential relations - **Impersonal Ideas**: Thinking exceeds personal consciousness through multiplicitious invasion - **Mathematical Resonance**: Intensive systems suggest [[field theory]] and [[differential geometry]] ## Connections ### Internal Connections - Develops [[Thought Without Image]] - the positive alternative to representation - Links to [[Stupidity Forces Thought to Think]] - what forces thought are these intensive encounters - Connects to [[Deleuze Reads Leibnizian Expression]] - differential relations as expressed ### External Connections - [[Spinoza - Ethics]] on modes and affects as intensive relations - [[Bergson - Matter and Memory]] on pure memory as virtual multiplicities - [[Simondon - Individuation]] on pre-individual field and metastability - [[Category Theory]] - morphisms defining objects relationally ## Questions & Further Investigation 1. How do [[topoi]] in [[category theory]] model "systems of simulacra"? 2. Can [[field theory]] in physics formalize intensive quantity communication? 3. Is there connection to [[neural networks]] and [[distributed cognition]]? 4. How does this relate to [[Badiou]]'s [[forcing]] and [[generic sets]]? 5. Can [[differential geometry]] model the "fractures in the I"? ## Notes for Synthesis - Central for [[Essay - From Representation to Simulacra: Intensive Systems]] - Links to [[Essay - Ideas as Multiplicities: Beyond Personal Consciousness]] - Develops [[Essay - Mathematical Models of Intensive Communication]] --- ## References - Screenshot: [[01-03-25 Difference and Repetition (60).jpg]] - Book: [[Difference and Repetition MOC]] - Related Notes: [[Thought Without Image]], [[Intensive vs Extensive]], [[Multiplicities]] ## Processing Status - [x] Passage transcribed - [ ] Initial analysis complete - [x] Key concepts defined - [x] Connections established - [x] Questions identified - [ ] Ready for integration