2001: A Space Odysee

 

I was 13 years old when the movie came out in 1968. One of the more intriguing images in the movie was the sporadic appearance of the monolith,  which for many years has mystified me and was a little too much for a 13-year old to comprehend.

As with many elements of the film, the monolith has been subject to numerous interpretations. The Monolith in the movie seems to represent and even trigger epic transitions in the history of human evolution, evolution of humans from ape-like beings to civilized people, hence the odyssey of humankind.

In the final segment of the movie, the monolith appears to "Dave," who is an astronaut traveling on a space mission, and must de-activate "Hal 9000," a supercomputer who is running the space mission and has apparently taken over the mission in an act of self-preservation. 

Arthur C. Clarke, author of "2001," probably didn't realize it, but he stumbled upon the notion of artificial intelligence (AI), which 56 years later has become a hot topic as to whether it is right or wrong and whether we humans can handle it and use it correctly or not.

Fifty-six years later, the movie continues to inspire, intrigue, and confound us. In a 1980 interview, Kubrick explained the intent of the film's ending. God-like beings of "pure energy and intelligence" place the astronaut in a human zoo, where he passes his entire life with "no sense of time." Intriguing indeed.


Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was born December 16, 1917, and died March 19, 2008, and was an English science fiction writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. His most famous work is arguably "2001," but he wrote many other things as well,

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