1968: The Year the Future Began

By Gordon Hopkins “I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.” – HAL 9000 In the year 1968, five of the most important and influential science fiction movies ever made premiered: “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Charley,” “Barbarella” and “Night of the Living Dead.”Each one of these movies is, in its own, unique way, seminal, and their influence is still felt today. Yes, I know. Technically, “Night of the Living Dead” is a horror movie, but it is also a science fiction movie. At least, it is if you remember that one minor scene where a newscaster reports that a “Venus Space Probe” returning to Earth was discovered to contained high levels of a strange and unknown radiation. Clearly, this was intended to provide a possible explanation for the zombie plague.But I'm not going to talk about that, which makes everything I just said about “Night of the Living Dead” a waste of time. Instead, I want to talk about “2001: A Space Odyssey.”People love to point out the various (and very rare) predictions in science fiction that eventually turned out to be true. It gives some folks the impression science fiction is trying to predict the future, which it isn't. Given science fiction's abysmal track record of accurate predictions, that's probably for the best. After all, the closest we've gotten to robot butlers so far is the Roomba.Far from trying to predict the future, many science fiction writers are actively trying to prevent the very futures they describe by providing a warning.And that brings us to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” While generally viewed as a space/alien contact movie, Odyssey has something else to say, which is disconcertingly relevant to today's world.I won't to get too heavily into the plot. Contrary to those who complain the movie is weird and convoluted and confusing, it is actually a pretty straightforward story about mysterious aliens giving the human species the occasional evolutionary step up.However, a big chunk of the film is about astronauts on a spaceship and their relationship with the ships artificial intelligence (AI) called HAL 9000. That's the stuff everybody remembers and that's the part that relates to the world we live in right now; far more now than it did back in 1968.Hal is more than just a computer with a terrible acronym (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) for a name. Hal runs everything. The crew thinks nothing about having every aspect of their lives run by a machine that sounds like a political science professor that knows he's never going to get tenure and has basically just given up.It all goes fine. Until it doesn't. Then HAL turns into the most reasonable-sounding homicidal maniac ever. The crew is completely at HAL's mercy. Which is unfortunate since, being a computer, HAL doesn't have any.There is no diabolical scheme here. The astronauts think they are in charge. HAL's response to this delusion? “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”How does HAL reassert his dominance? Well, he doesn't shoot anyone. He doesn't have to. HAL just shuts off life support, which he can do because he controls the life support. He locks astronaut Dave Bowman outside the ship because he controls the doors. All the while explaining, quite reasonably, “This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.”With the rapid advancement in AI technology, which is freaking people out on a daily basis, most people point to the “Terminator” movies, in which an AI constructs heavily-armed cyborgs with Austrian accents to slaughter the human race.Forget “Terminator.” The AIs won't have to take up arms against humanity. We've already freely handed them all the weapons they could possibly need: our bank accounts and our cars and our telephones. With firepower like that, who needs guns?

The Best Cattle Dog Ever

Juveniles Cited for Liquor Store Robbery

Related Articles

Things That Go Squeak in the Night

The Real Problem with Fake News

Gage County Newsletter

Tree of Life