Why did God, He would be the most advanced alien we could hope to encounter, take a human form, as Jesus? — Agent Smith
So, god/alien in human form was on old trope — Agent Smith
Why not a black, 10 ft. tall cuboid? Now, that's something no one's seen before; — Agent Smith
I think it is harder to believe when it appears in a human form. — javi2541997
No one seen before and so enigmatic and original. Sometimes simplicity makes the best impact. Now that I am deeply concerned about the archetype of the monolith... Most of the devices look like it. If you look at a cellphone closely you would see a lot similarities with a monolith. — javi2541997
Regarding violence, it is present in the prehistory, moon discovery, and the space voyage scenes. There was much establishment of a tense cold war problem in the moon scenes. HAL kills the whole crew except for one. Kubrick seems to be linking an element to each progression rather than transcending it. — Paine
could the monolith be a symbol for the Jungian shadow self? — Tzeentch
Revealing that the monolith is inspired by the theory of Jungian archetypes devised by Carl Jung, this concept is defined by images and themes that derive from the collective unconscious. Jung believed that certain symbols from different cultures are often very similar as they have been developed from archetypes shared by a collective human unconscious.
Yes! :smile: — javi2541997
It's supposedly far more likely that the monolith simply assembled itself from nearby matter & energy and did its thing than that it were constructed and placed at the watering hole by a super-advanced alien civilization? Interesting, oui? — Agent Smith
pointed out, the monolith appears to be rather simple. — Agent Smith
If the monolith were to represent the Jungian shadow, this leaves the question of why the monolith on the moon directs mankind towards Venus, though — Tzeentch
simplicity — javi2541997
It suggests what in my book are Platonic forms of minds with typical sets of ideas, attitudes, approaches, values, and so on. Am I correct? — Agent Smith
Will I dream? — SAL-9000
As long as I can remember I've imagined Kubrick/Clarke's "Monolith" as the ultimate intelligent descendant of terrestrial life interacting with its primeval ancestors (us) in "higher dimensional" quantum-level simulations (e.g. "pocket universes"). Symbolically, the "Monolith" is both mirror and window (i.e. "film screen") of the unknown – e.g. individual death; species extinction; event horizon; cosmic horizon; heat-death of the universe – the a priori strange attractor that self-organizes intellect: nonbeing ... emptiness (à la Nāgārjuna).
When (movie) Dave Bowman transforms (chrysalis-like) into the "Starchild", the Monolith's simulation, I imagine, becomes aware of itself as (manifested as an avatar of) the Monolith's simulation. (Book) Bowman's last transmission as his pod falls onto / into the Great Monolith "My God, it's full of stars ..." in which "stars" could mean souls, or minds, or intelligences ... perhaps all there ever has been and will ever be ... simulated. No doubt, another inspiration for Frank Tipler's cosmological "Omega Point"?
Anyway, 2001 is stll my all-time favorite cinematic experience. :fire:
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/741055
Time for bed. :yawn:
Will I dream?
— SAL-9000 — 180 Proof
Simplify,Simplify, Simplify — Steve Jobs
Symbolically, the "Monolith" is both mirror and window (i.e. "film screen") of the unknown – e.g. individual death; species extinction; event horizon; cosmic horizon; heat-death of the universe – the a priori strange attractor that self-organizes intellect — 180 Proof
Maybe we can "treat" the Monolith as an event whereby each encounter with it irrevocably changes all that has come before. Every encounter is the same encounter, there is only ever one Monolith for the intellects (us) within its simulations. Neither "an enemy" nor "an adviser", I imagine the Monolith is (for us) the enabling-constraint of becoming (fractally joining) the Monolith. A quasi-gnostic odyssey of re/turning to the source (pleroma), or the prodigal homecoming – monomyth – of all intelligences ...The monolith gathers all of these archetypes. But exactly in this concept... how can we treat the monolith? As an enemy or as an adviser? — javi2541997
Kubrick-Clarke's story is an odyssey, an endless(?) journey, rather than merely a "quest" to reach some definitive, knowable destination; and perhaps this is the Monolith's odyssey – it's simulations – not (just) ours? :chin: — 180 Proof
The question of simulation becomes one of who is making up who. — Paine
We don't know, we're ignorant of how we got to be so smart and so creative! The Monolith = Ignorance! — Agent Smith
I suppose the movie captures that wish as whoever the aliens are, they seem to possess such knowhow. — Agent Smith
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