Simulacra are not a recently discovered human ploy. Purposely creating reality distortions is at least as old as socialization. Some distortions are artful, (Picasso), some are dystrophic, (The Matrix), and some are intentional disseminated constructs designed to implement reality change, (Trumpism). In his Sophist, Plato speaks of two kinds of image making. The first is a faithful reproduction, attempted to copy precisely the "original". The second is intentionally distorted in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers.
This may have sufficed for Plato's readers, living in a more stable "original", but today we have lost all pretence of there being an "original". As I have said in previous posts, we are now only able to intuit among competing narratives/simulacra. Accordingly, we are socially interacting from as many different motives as there are spinning narratives. Seemingly we have chosen against strong, laser like, coherence, and further, even chosen against chaotic divergence.....no, we favor flat out turbulence. Hold on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
Sam Harris says that humanity was pretty much fucked up until the Enlightenment when "reason" gained a foothold against the magic that dominated the ancient brain. I think he would conclude that today's turbulence can be held in check and managed into optimum coherence with a concerted adherence to the art of reason.
Jordan Peterson believes that the need for a higher level of coherence is not possible with help only from a "reason compass". He argues that today's extreme divergence can only be harnessed by a social consensus that the archetypical stories of the species contain bedrock narratives that have been validated by evolution to be life sustaining, and accordingly should be socially revered and adhered.... with or without the support of reason based arguments.
Personally, I am just pleased that there is still some social consensus that "red means stop and green means go". Sadly, I don't trust either the primitive right, nor the effete left.