FWIW I also have never got what is supposedly ordinal about the simulacrum levels beyond 1, the honest one. The other ‘levels’ just look like various orthogonal breeds of fakery, to me. Haven’t scrutinised deeply.
(Off-topic but fun) I think it’s at least somewhat ordinal, e.g. Zvi’s “Level 1: Symbols describe reality. Level 2: Symbols pretend to describe reality. Level 3: Symbols pretend to pretend to describe reality. Level 4: Symbols need not pretend to describe reality.”
(Agree fun) These have looked post-hoc and overfitted to me, and the variety of apparent but incompatible explanations for the supposed ordering is a smell from my pov. Maybe I should look closer at some point.
(Off-topic but fun) I think it’s at least somewhat ordinal, e.g. Zvi’s “Level 1: Symbols describe reality. Level 2: Symbols pretend to describe reality. Level 3: Symbols pretend to pretend to describe reality. Level 4: Symbols need not pretend to describe reality.”
See also Thane’s attempt.
(Agree fun) These have looked post-hoc and overfitted to me, and the variety of apparent but incompatible explanations for the supposed ordering is a smell from my pov. Maybe I should look closer at some point.