...Namely, a more philosphical investigation into the inseparable dualities of life & death, creation & destruction, the personal & the cosmic. The "tools" in the movie are destructive -- the bone kills people, HAL kills people -- but they also lead to new realities which are infinitely beyond the comprehension of the tool-users (monkeys, men). The monkeys reaching towards the monolith (which is basically a representation of "the unknown") are expressing the same yearning as the dying astronaut, and, beyond their lives, both come to basically the same fate (is the "star child," from our perspective, any more out there than the "astronaut" is, from the monkey's perspective)?. In the different acts of the movie, Kubrik demonstrates the eternal nature of this dynamic; ultimately, the monkeys and the men aren't very different from each other.

In encapsulated form, I guess that 2001's lessons, for me, are:

1.) As individuals, our process of striving and transformation is basically a mirror of the cosmos' process.

2.) All creation is inseparable from destruction (or is it the other way around?)

3.) In the grand scheme of things, we are still, and will always remain, monkeys -- in that the unknown will always confront us.

Maybe you have to be on a lot of drugs to get this out the movie, but in any case, that's what I got. ;-)

Cheers,

Nathan