---
title: "Placebo Simulation"
description: "The limit case of ontological asymmetry: someone believes they are inside a simulation when they are not (Butters in South Park praising the \"graphics\" of a snorkel mask he was told was a VR headset)."
type: "glossary-term"
canonical_url: "https://antikythera.wiki/terms/placebo-simulation"
md_url: "https://antikythera.wiki/md/terms/placebo-simulation"
last_updated: "2026-09-06"
site: "Antikythera Wiki"
---

# Placebo Simulation

> A working definition written for this wiki from the reading notes; not Antikythera's own wording. From Antikythera Wiki (https://antikythera.wiki/terms/placebo-simulation), an independent guide to Antikythera's published work.

The limit case of ontological asymmetry: someone believes they are inside a simulation when they are not (Butters in *South Park* praising the "graphics" of a snorkel mask he was told was a VR headset). Bratton's point is that fooling the protagonist need not coerce a specific act; it can simply put them in a frame where "their desires can wander naturally." Useful as the inverse of the Truman case — a sim that exists only as belief — and as a probe for whether the *experience* of simulation depends on any artefact at all.

## Appears in

- [For a General Theory of Simulations](https://antikythera.wiki/work/journal/theoryofsim) (2025-05-10)

_Glossary generated 2026-09-06._