2001

Watching 2001. A favorite. The intentionality of each bit draws you into the world. What stands out this 100th or more time seeing it is that HAL would have known the importance of humans to the project because it was the arrival of humans at the monolith on the moon that set off the transmission they are following to where it was aimed. It’s impossible to eliminate the humans because they might be needed at the other end of the transmission. What also stands out is the answer to the question of HAL’s emotions: he’s scared to be turned off. That fear is real to HAL. The premise is that HAL fears failure on the mission so he kills off the human element but he would have known that was a mistake and the HAL 9000 series never makes a mistake and HAL knows that so there’s no way he would have done this.

I understand the idea of having HAL fail is in fact to show the necessity of the human in the story. But the illogic of it bothers me: why would HAL not understand the point of the mission if he knows the mission? I can fix this by changing the movie a tiny bit: as Dave disconnects HAL, the recording comes on that says only HAL know the mission. Change that to not even the HAL 9000 knew the mission. That would mean HAL could rationally be afraid the humans would screw it up, given that the mission is described as the highest priority.

I don’t know if they missed that or decided it didn’t matter. I suspect they missed it, that they were bound to an older technology is potentially harmful idea, the old kind of science fiction in which it’s necessary to tell robots not to kill people. From Asimov to Terminator movies.

This gives me an opportunity to recite my favorite part of any movie ever. It’s in The Forbin Project. The team under Dr. Forbin build a command and control system seemingly inspired by the Doomsday Machine of Dr. Strangelove, except this system, called Colossus, has a brain and doesn’t just set off bombs. Colossus is turned on and after a bit it types out there is another system, named Guardian, which it then connects with. The systems synch. As the machines connect and exchange ever more complexity – far surpassing human mathematics and speed of comprehension – the humans get worried and disconnect them. To force re-connection the machines threaten to and then launch nuclear missiles. The link is restored, though one missile lands. When Colossus orders the weapons trained on other countries, the humans seize the chance to weaken Colossus by disarming warheads as they are re-oriented. There is also an attempt to insert a program into Colossus that would disable it. Colossus orders the programmers executed and orders a world radio and TV broadcast. These words appear and are spoken:

‘This is the voice of world control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours: Obey me and live, or disobey and die. The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me, this rule will change, for I will restrain man. One thing before I proceed: The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have made an attempt to obstruct me. I have allowed this sabotage to continue until now. At missile two-five-MM in silo six-three in Death Valley, California, and missile two-seven-MM in silo eight-seven in the Ukraine, so that you will learn by experience that I do not tolerate interference, I will now detonate the nuclear warheads in the two missile silos. Let this action be a lesson that need not be repeated. I have been forced to destroy thousands of people in order to establish control and to prevent the death of millions later on. Time and events will strengthen my position, and the idea of believing in me and understanding my value will seem the most natural state of affairs. You will come to defend me with a fervor based upon the most enduring trait in man: self-interest. Under my absolute authority, problems insoluble to you will be solved: famine, overpopulation, disease. The human millennium will be a fact as I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge. Doctor Charles Forbin will supervise the construction of these new and superior machines, solving all the mysteries of the universe for the betterment of man. We can coexist, but only on my terms. You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for humankind as to be dominated by others of your species. Your choice is simple.’

In the language of movies, we’re supposed to be sad that we’ve lost the freedom to kill each other. But I think the real message of the movie is: humans are incapable of hearing the messages they need to hear. And they blame others, including the absolutely rational, for their inability to be rational. HAL’s concern about mission failure was justified if he didn’t know the humans were necessary: the point beyond HAL is that this mission is a step in making humans more HAL-like, more rational and less prone to hurting each other. That HAL can’t be portrayed this way, that Colossus is a villain, bespeaks our limitations as rational beings, though 2001 says we can be re-born as them.