Life without Technology

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Recommended: Impact of technology in society

Today life seems unimaginable without technology. We depend on it for things like; keeping in touch with family, getting back and forth to work, protecting our homes from intrusion, and propelling the economy, just to name a few. As marvelous as technology is it can have unintended consequences that can be profound. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction film released in 1968 directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film examines the human relationship with technology in depth. Arthur C. Clark wrote a short story called The Sentinel on which the film was based. It is an epic story about the evolution of the human species and how technology plays an integral part in that process. 2001 has four major acts and begins with the genesis of human evolution. A mysterious alien intelligence plants a solid black monolith near a group of apes. The apes are initially frightened of it but soon find the courage to move close and touch the strange object. As they do the monolith begins to make a sound that emulates a resonant vibration and the apes begin to evolve. The monolith appears throughout the film whenever human evolution happens serving as a catalyst for it. Before the incident the apes lived in harmony with their environment and their fellow creatures. Soon after the contact they start to exhibit the origins of complex thought by inventing the first technology, primitive tools. Using bones they realize they can intimidate and even kill their rivals, but also kill small mammals for food. Consuming a flesh diet allows their brains to develop rapidly and become the top species on Earth.

The film skips ahead to 2001 and portrays humans at the zenith of evolution and also the speedy pace technology has developed with us. Kubrick presents...

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...inal monolith appears and his unsteady hand reaches to touch it. In his final act he sheds his physical body and begins a next stage of evolution and existence being reborn as a star child. He is then returned to earth and gazes upon it as the film ends. Kubrick was warning us with this film that technology is wonderful, but we can never let it be all-important in our lives and risk becoming a slave to it. We must temper our thirst for “progress” with wisdom and never forget our humble beginnings. Our evolution may have a fantastic future comparable to Kubrick’s vision or it might lead to extinction, but we must use technology sensibly and never loose our admiration for all creation.

Works Cited

Ager, Roger. "An In-depth Analysis of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY." Collectivelearning.com. 2008. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. .

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