Baudrillard continues onward with his theory including an example of Rameses II. Specifically the fact that he was kept in a museum for a long while. I found this Rameses II example challenging but something struck me as I read: "Our entire linear and accumulative culture would collapse if we could not stockpile the past in plain view" (19 Simulations). This is exactly what we do in museums. We collect the past and put it up for visitors to view, for its audience to attend. And sometimes we have too much of it and we have to store it away.
But why would "accumulative culture" collapse? Perhaps because the stockpiling is what keeps us aware of the simulacrum. Without it there is sure to be a downfall of some sort.
Baudrillard goes on to say humans know better than to use science for the repairing of Rameses II as a mummy to restore a visible order (19 Simulations). I believe that he is getting at the fact that our culture prefers the 'visible' as opposed to the 'hidden'.
Your blog just make me even more confused than before, you have some really engaging and thought-provoking points... Our culture wants to make everything visible and keep record because we think time pass in linear form and keep the chronological specimen means we keep the history. But maybe Baudrillard thinks we are not doing anything or keep anything in the real form by putting everything into the museum, the ultimate truth exist in another dimension...
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