2007-01-31 18:15:36 · 6 answers · asked by rolfesangel 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The monolith played several roles.
The first main role was as a beacon. The monolith was buried on the moon way back in human history when the Aliens 'updated' the pre-humans. The purpose of it was to send a notice to the aliens if humans ever advanced to the point of traveling to the moon. When the humans uncovered the monolith on the moon, they activated a signal that 'called' to the aliens and let them know that humans had advanced to the point of space travel.
In the second book, the monolith displayed its second function as a sort of Von Neumann machine. In short, a Von Neumann machine is a self replicating device that gathers materials to build a duplicate device. Then the two machines gather resources to build two more machines...and so on.
The books are all excellent reads. If you are interested I highly recommend that you try them out.
2007-01-31 18:32:41 · answer #1 · answered by RjKardo 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The monolith was....
1 x 4 x 9
2007-01-31 19:39:34 · answer #2 · answered by Holden 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That is a pretty "heavy" question you ask and there are many interpretations I would imagine. All of the answers above are right, though Kubrick left this movie open for interpretation.
I like this link. It is a cool little flash movie that kind of summarizes this decades old question.
http://www.kubrick2001.com/
2007-01-31 18:55:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I could write an essay answering this question, but I believe that would defeat its purpose.
It could be many things, but mostly it was an anomaly used as a tool to provoke thought.
2007-01-31 18:22:53 · answer #4 · answered by ___ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A communication device.
2007-01-31 18:22:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it was the back of an ipod
2007-02-01 00:04:36 · answer #6 · answered by ruwan521 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋