“You are free to speculate, as you wish, about the philosophical meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey.” - Stanley Kubrick

     I'm not really even sure how to write a short paragraph about or attempt to explain 2001. As Kubrick said we are free to speculate about the meaning behind the film and I'm inclined to believe I'm far from the only one who has felt at a loss for words (or lack, really) at this proposition to do so.

     Every time I try to analyze the film or interpret it's symbols I find myself speculating more and ending up with a seemingly endless list of possible interpretations. One theory I've toyed with was that Kubrick was presenting the argument that human evolution and our endless movement forward will eventually lead to and be the cause of our demise. The ultimate goal, Nietzche's Übermensch, will lead to a world where the "superhuman" is not human at all, and the necessity for human beings is questionable.

     Man's evolution is founded on his greatest creation; the tool. They evolve together. The evolution of man and tool are interdependent We see this in Kubrick's film; the apes discover tools to defeat their competitors. Fast forward to 2001 and man is surrounded by tools, he depends on them, they are the symbol and product of his evolution, they allow him to explore beyond the limits of earth to not only win and claim sources of food and water over other tribes but to claim the universe. 

     The ultimate tool is HAL 9000, a computer ---a tool who believes he is human, or more accurately, believes he is better than humans. At the end of their evolution the ultimate tool no longer needs man. HAL tries to replace man; he attempts to take over the mission for fear that the humans are incapable of properly carrying it out.