The fourth time I watched "2001: A Space Odyssey", I was still impressed by Kubrick’s great philosophies, as if staring from the emptiness of the universe, which inspires us to face the unknown fear and even the humility of the gods all the time. I was exposed to higher latitude thoughts and couldn't relax for a long time. In the face of such a great thought that is not based on human will, any interpretation is futile. I can only write down my feelings as much as possible to express my inner admiration.
"To survive or to destroy" is Shakespeare's philosophical proposition. Kubrick went a step further and put forward the philosophical proposition of "destroy or rebirth". Destruction is the extinction that a species has evolved to the limit and will inevitably usher in. Humans have evolved to this critical point. Whether we can skip the inevitable destruction and usher in rebirth is the key to Kubrick's discussion in the movie. He re-examined the history, present and future of mankind from an absolute objective perspective of the universe; he summarized the nature of human evolution from an abstract perspective of physiological science; he answered the ultimate question of where mankind will go in a cold and even cold tone.
What exactly is evolution? Darwin's theory of evolution? Modern science only explores the essence of evolution from the physiological level. It conforms to the laws of biology and can explain changes on the material level, but what about higher levels? How to explain the mental changes above the material? All living things will gradually adapt to a more perfect physiological structure according to environmental changes, but why only humans have thoughts, and where do human thoughts come from? Kubrick attributed it to an epiphany, an enlightenment, and an oracle. The existence of higher latitudes opens up human thoughts like gods, crosses the physiologically insurmountable gap, and realizes true evolution. Blackstone is the concrete existence of this kind of high-latitude thought in our world. It is a deep and endless darkness, as endless as the truth of the universe, guiding the leap of human thought.
In the original living environment of apes, there were both threats from predators and competitions of the same kind, but after contacting Blackstone, they learned to use animal bones as weapons, thus conquering their prey and their non-civilized counterparts. This is a great leap in thinking. The apes have the basic conditions to evolve into adulthood at the ideological level. This is the dawn of mankind and the hymn of life. In the cheers, it threw the bones high into the sky, accompanied by the majestic and passionate Zarathustra said, Kubrick created the greatest montage in the history of film-the thrown bones suddenly became spacecraft. A simple screen switch skips millions of years of human evolution, breaks beyond the limitations of material and thought, and reveals the essence of evolution in a highly symbolic generalization: the use of tools. Bones are tools, and spaceships are still tools. In the process of evolution, humans use tools and create tools to ultimately serve themselves. However, Kubrick held a contradictory attitude towards the use of this tool. While Blackstone gave mankind this kind of thinking, it also gave mankind a means of self-destruction. While tools bring convenience to mankind, they are also weapons of killing. Apes and monkeys kill each other with their bones. When we look closely at the spacecraft millions of years later, we can see that it is actually a missile launcher. This is a weapon that can destroy mankind. Even though the times change, killing has never changed. Tools are self-interested assistants for users, and deadly weapons for others. The dual attributes of tools themselves also point to the fate of human beings who will eventually be buried in their own hands.
If the title is literally translated, it would be "2001 Space Odyssey Journey". The Odyssey Journey represents the struggle against nature through an arduous journey in order to pursue one's own goals, and ultimately dominate one's own destiny. It celebrates the indomitable spirit of hard struggle and the greatness of man's determination to conquer the sky. Human beings have been pursuing the mysteries of the universe and transforming nature with their own abilities. In the movie, the apes throwing their bones to the sky represents the desire of human beings to always pursue "rising", not only the rising of the body, but also the rising of the mind. Millions of years later, mankind has realized the dream of flying to the sky, but because of the reappearance of Black Stone, it has moved further, going deeper into the universe, and exploring the ultimate mystery. This is the journey of a space Odyssey. In the mythical Odyssey, Odysseus confronts a cyclops, and the image of Haer 9000 is a "one-eyed" artificial intelligence with only one light on. The spaceship they ride is the sailing ship of the Odyssey. He embarked on an Odyssey journey to find Blackstone. Ironically, what humans need to overcome this time is not nature, but artificial intelligence created by themselves. Blackstone gives human thoughts, and humans give tool thoughts. It seems that humans can play the role of God. However, in the final analysis, artificial intelligence is also a tool of mankind. It also has the dual attributes of a tool. After having thoughts, it accelerates self-awakening. Humans try to approach God, but they don’t know that if they fly too high, they will encounter the sun. Ha'er 9000's betrayal It proves once again the truth that human beings use tools will eventually be countered by tools.
Every time the Black Stone appeared, Kubrick created a composition of people, black stones, sky, and planets connected in one line, expressing the unity of nature and man vividly through images, just like a solemn miracle, which is breathtaking. Upon reaching Jupiter, the Black Stone appeared. At this time, the spacecraft, the huge Black Stone, and Jupiter were once again connected in a line. In the face of the wonders of the universe, human technology seemed so small. Through Blackstone David, he traverses a highly abstracted space and time. Kubrick has exhausted all possible colors to show this spectacle. In fact, it is a condensed image from abstract to concrete, from thinking to existence, David After another leap of thought, the audience witnessed this process in amazement. Finally David arrived in a classical-style room, which was not limited by time and space. It was obviously a higher latitude space. David experienced his life in an instant, and finally turned into a star child and was sent back to the earth. , Overlooking all beings. Kubrick’s interpretation of this paragraph is that David was captured by creatures of higher latitudes and kept in a "cage" for research, just like humans catching animals, and arranged in a comfortable environment according to his own understanding. After the study, David was transformed into a super existence and sent back to Earth.
With the help of the background Zarathustra said that we can better understand the connotation of the movie. Blackstone, like Zarathustra, gives human thoughts enlightenment, and the theme of the movie is also similar to Nietzsche’s superman doctrine. Unanimous. Nietzsche believes that human beings are just a transitional state from apes to "superman", either to become a "superman" or to take a step back and be destroyed in nothingness. Nietzsche believed that new moral standards must be established to save fallen humans. Kubrick also revealed the "animality" of humans through the backlash of tools. It has not changed since the era of the apes, from bones to spaceships to artificial intelligence. Tools are always used for the purpose of destruction. This morbid paradox cannot be solved by itself. Only by evolving into a higher existence can one avoid the fate of self-destruction and obtain rebirth.
After going through the Odyssey to find the ultimate mystery of the universe, David defeated the backlash of tools and obtained another leap-forward oracle. In the words of Zarathustra that sounded again, he evolved into a "superman", God Is dead, mankind will eventually replace God!
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