Evolving

So blogging has taken a back shelf recently - school started just about a week and a half ago, though it seems like I've been waking up at ungodly hours and dragging my self to school for months on end. It's such a weird feeling.

Yesterday I watched '2001: a Space odyssey' - and I really haven't stopped thinking about it since. It's such an odd film, something completely ahead of it's time in the sense of plot, ideas and even the cinematography and CGI. Initially the whole plot seems to be a waste of time; essentially there isn't one that is ever complete or explained, and Kubrick, the director obviously wants the audience to ask questions and interpret the film in their own way and have their own ideas.

However essentially the film is about human nature. What does it mean to be human? A question I am constantly faced with in my philosophy lessons. It values evolution. It shows the human race in it's simplest form, apes. When confronted with a mysterious monolith the apes showed clear signs of fear and angst, disturbance my this alien object, yet at the same time a fair amount of curiosity, wrought forward by their courage. Taking a step forward and examining the object in it's entirety, the apes take a step forward and evolve. A simple idea that we can all learn from.

If we cannot full grasp new ideas and concepts, if we are not curious about life and inventions, if we feel no need to learn new things, then how as a race can we move forward?