31 OCT 2012 by ideonexus

 The Difference Between Pretend and Simulation

To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is to feign to have what one doesn't have. One implies a presence, the other an absence. But it is more complicated than that because simulating is not pretending: "Whoever fakes an illness can simply stay in bed and make everyone believe he is ill. Whoever simulates an illness produces in himself some of the symptoms" (Littré). Therefore, pretending, or dissimulating, leaves the principle of reality intact: the difference is...
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When a person pretends to be ill, they just lie in bed; but when they simulate illness, they produce actual symptoms, thus blurring the lines of reality.