HAL 9000: intelligence and evolution

To this day, the iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey continues to surprise, captivating viewers. It is incredible to think that this magic dates back to 1968. A film that has nothing, absolutely nothing, to envy of current science fiction. Masterful from start to finish, for many it is the best film that cinema has given us. Evolution and intelligence, machines and men, HAL 9000 and Bowman… and an ending that continues to leave us speechless make up one of the greatest works of cinema.

Few films survive the passage of time so well, few films from the 60s have effects that, today, still surprise. 2001: A Space Odyssey gives us the largest time ellipsis ever seen: from throwing a bone to a spaceship, This is how Stanley Kubrick summarizes human evolution.

The film barely has dialogue, it is a purely visual experience, accompanied by a soundtrack that could not have been chosen better. Without needing to speak, she speaks for herself, and puts before us the main reflections of humanity. It manages to unite science with the mystical, skepticism with spirituality, it questions technological advances and our own intelligence.. Inventions appear that were still unthinkable at the time and it even presents a character who, without being a man, is very human: HAL 9000.

It is impossible to summarize in a few words what it means. 2001: A Space Odyssey, not only for his great contribution to cinema, but also for the experience itself. Thus, we will focus our attention on the iconic HAL 9000 smart computer. Not before briefly reviewing the plot (or plots) of the film.

2001: A Space Odyssey, the experience

We cannot pretend that 2001 be a work of evasion, of pure distraction; It is a totally innovative film that generates an experience in the viewer. The script was the work of Kubrick and the writer Arthur C. Clarke, and was developed in parallel to his novel of the same name. Visually spectacular, we must not leave aside its soundtrack which, far from being an emotional complement, becomes a fundamental component which gives the film a formidable philosophical basis.

The film is based on philosophical, scientific and evolutionary issues that have always accompanied human beings. The chosen soundtrack is, for the most part, the work of Richard Strauss. The choice of composition is not accidental. Thus spake Zarathustra (Strauss, 1896), symphonic poem inspired by the homonymous work of Friedrich Nietzsche in which he exposes, among other arguments, his idea of Ubermensch or Superman. That idea of ​​Superman, as well as that of eternal return, are going to be two fundamental pillars on which the film is built.

We talk a lot about evolution, but little about the future. When we think about evolution, we immediately associate the concept with the idea that “we came from the monkey”, but rarely do we think about the future of our own evolution. However, when we see 2001we can’t help but think: What if we still have a lot to evolve? What if we are just a step towards, finally, reaching the Nietzschean superman?

At the same time, what Kubrick’s film proposes to us goes beyond the purely skeptical, uniting the idea of ​​evolution with that of a higher, more developed and, ultimately, alien intelligence. In parallel form In addition to the main plot, another plot linked to the HAL 9000 computer develops, which leads us to think about the nature of our own advances. and it leads us to doubt the very idea we have of what is human.

The main plot

It is linked to evolution. At the beginning, we observe a group of primates who, thanks to the appearance of a monolith, manage to develop the creation of tools. We witness the birth of the first men. Suddenly, a temporal ellipsis takes us to the moment when man has managed to conquer space.. The second monolith appears symbolizing that man is now prepared to evolve but, to do so, he must destroy his own creation to avoid being surpassed by it: HAL 9000. Next, the next monolith takes us to a new spatial and temporal dimension, to reflection on human life and the passage of time. Finally, the last monolith appears in a scene that has been linked to Adan creation by Michelangelo. And it is that What we see is the death of man and, in turn, the rebirth in a new being that will be returned to earth: the eternal return and the superman.

The plot of HAL 9000

The creation of man, perfection made into a machine that rebels against its creator. Is it a metaphor for humanity itself? HAL turns out to be surprisingly human, not even his creators can know if he has feelings; and, without a doubt, he has them. So, What is it that makes us humans?

The nature of HAL 9000

HAL 9000 is the fundamental piece of the mission to Jupiter on the Discovery spacecraft. The Discovery astronauts are unaware of the true purpose of their mission. HAL has been designed to never make any mistakes, it is simply perfect. It is programmed with a single objective: to carry out the mission and not reveal its nature to the ship’s occupants.

Everything seems to go along with the usual monotony on Discovery until, after a conversation between HAL and Bowman, HAL reports a bug to Bowman that, in the end, turns out to be wrong. How is it possible for a perfect computer incapable of making mistakes to make mistakes? This makes the astronauts distrust HAL and plan to disconnect it. HAL cannot hear them, but he is able to read lips and, upon discovering the astronauts’ plans, he experiences a very human feeling: fear.

What exactly has happened? HAL is programmed not to fail, but at the same time, not to reveal the nature of the mission. Bowman’s response awakens in HAL a certain uncertainty, a certain fear that the mission will not reach its objective. Thus, HAL must decide between telling the truth to Bowman so as not to jeopardize the mission or keeping the secret, something that could lead to a failed mission.. At this point, HAL finds himself faced with a dilemma from which it is difficult to escape and turns to something totally human: lying.

In this way, HAL 9000 stops being just a machine, he becomes obsessed with the mission and behaves irrationally as a result of his suffering. HAL owns his thoughts, his feelings and is aware of his own existence. When he finds out that they want to disconnect him, the most human fear of all appears in him: the fear of the end of his own existence.. Kubrick has just anticipated one of the dangers of our contemporaneity: the moment when machines surpass and dominate human beings.

Certain parallels have been seen between 2001 and the Odyssey of Homer, since the word “odyssey” already appears in the title of the film. But what is interesting is seen in the character of HAL 9000 and his similarity to the cyclops Polyphemus. Cyclops have only one eye, something that visually reminds us of HAL’s red “eye.”.

Polyphemus attacked and murdered Ulysses’ companions and, finally, it was Ulysses who defeated Polyphemus; and he did it by getting him drunk, stunning him. HAL rebels and ends the lives of the astronauts. Finally, Bowman manages to disconnect HAL who, little by little, loses consciousness until he dies.. Bowman is the only one who survives, he will become the superman.

In short, what it presents us with is a deep reflection about human nature, about intelligence. The film and, especially, its ending is quite an experience, quite a journey into the depths of humanity. Without hardly any words, Kubrick managed to capture a film that delves into countless philosophical questions and gave us a character like HAL 9000. A character who, without having a human form, is extraordinarily human.

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