The Meaning of Stanley Kubrick's
2001: A Space Odyssey
.. in 233 words
Aliens discover earth in prehistory.
See apes, see that apes can evolve.
That apes have potential as thinking organisms.
Stone block teaches apes tool use and how tool use can
provide extra food.
Apes kill and eat anteater things.
Apes kill other apes who do not use tools.
Mental evolution starts and begins to match physical
evolution.
Tool use evolves.
4 million year jump cut from bone to spaceship writes off
all human history as simple learning process.
The aliens leave the next learning step buried on the moon.
Year 2001.
Humans have reached pinnacle of tool creation/evolution.
They have made a mental "copy/facsimile" of themselves.
They call this copy, HAL.
They find the next learning step, the block, on the moon.
It is set off by being unburied and exposed to the light
of the sun.
It points the way to one of the moons of Jupiter.
Back to HAL.
HAL is flawed, since like all (created) tools he is an
imperfect version of a thought.
HAL fails as a tool and succeeds as a person by showing
fear and (eventually) killing.
HAL is himself killed, by Bowman. "Evolution" shows that
Bowman is superior.
The aliens pick Bowman as the recipient of the next stage
of learning.
They "teach" Bowman the next step in thought.
Bowman changes into something incomphrehensible to us apes.
He "reappears" in the sky over Earth to teach.
Copyright (C) 2002 Alex Rieneck - All Rights
Reserved
There you go, 233 words.
Go to PAGE 2 More on 2001
Or, if you want or you can read more other films
here
If you still have questions that are not answered in the
above.
You can email me at tlaloc (et) netspace.net.au
and I will do my best
C/ Alex Rieneck 3 October 2001