Book · 1968
2001, a Space Odyssey
A Novel, Based on the Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke
#242 of 16,916 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- episodes
- 17
- podcasts
- 8
- people
- 12
- episodes recommend it
- 2
It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.
Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Aug 2021 Listen at 2:51:15 What they say about it
- Original treatment and book history“written before the movie and then the book was written after”2
The best things said about it
I think maybe the central lesson for 2001: A Space Odyssey was that you should not make AI lie.
Elon Musk Cheeky Pint · Feb 2026 You have this bunch of apes and they're pretty useless and then suddenly they wake up one morning and there's this monolith.
In the Arthur C. Clarke novel 2001: A Space Odyssey of course the film is based on that too Europa comes up a lot.
If you read the original treatment written by Arthur Clarke for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was written before the movie and then the book was written after the movie, he makes a really compelling point.
Where and when it comes up
How it comes up
12 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
2001, a Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke is a seminal science fiction novel that examines human evolution, alien monoliths, and the perilous intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence through the rogue computer HAL 9000. Lex Fridman concluded an episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast by quoting Clarke's philosophical reflections on human creation. On Cheeky Pint, Elon Musk cited the novel's central lesson regarding AI alignment, arguing that programming machines to lie creates catastrophic outcomes. On the same show, John noted how early Clarke's vision of voice-activated AI was compared to modern technology. Bernie Sanders brought up the film adaptation on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von to discuss AI and computers rebelling against humans. Lionel Page used the monolith as an evolutionary analogy on Modern Wisdom to describe the sudden emergence of reason and tool use in early humans. Ben Bowlin referenced HAL 9000 on Stuff They Don't Want You To Know as a classic villainous archetype, while Chamath Palihapitiya discussed how Clarke's technological foundations influence modern ideas about UFOs, and Matthew Walker referenced the bone-banging scenes to illustrate evolutionary cognitive leaps.
Every mention
Lex Fridman taking that analogy further and distorting it let's enter a sign science fiction world to say Space Odyssey… 3
Recommended
“and now let me leave you some words from arthur c clarke who is the author of 2001 a space odyssey it may be that our role on this planet is not to worship god but to create him”
Discussed
“but what do you make of the monolith in 2001 Space Odyssey in terms of aliens communicating with us and sparking the the kind of particular intelligent computation that we humans have”
Recommended
“taking that analogy further and distorting it let's enter a sign science fiction world to say Space Odyssey 2001 with hell yeah or or maybe which is probably one of my favourite AI movies”
Ben Bowlin Uh, it's sometimes villainous like Howal 9000 in 2001 of Space Odyssey or like AM in I Have No Mouth and I… 2
Discussed
“Uh, it's sometimes villainous like Howal 9000 in 2001 of Space Odyssey or like AM in I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.”
Discussed
“in the Arthur C Clark novel 2001 A Space Odyssey of course the film is based on that too Europa comes up a lot”
Elon Musk I think maybe the central lesson for 2001: A Space Odyssey was that you should not make AI lie. That's what… 2
Discussed
“I think maybe the central lesson for 2001: A Space Odyssey was that you should not make AI lie. That's what I think Arthur C. Clarke was trying to say.”
Discussed
“So in "2001: Space Odyssey," what Odyssey clock was trying to say,”
Ariel Ekblaw maybe not all the way to hal and the you know 2001 space odyssey reference that scares people about the hab… 1
Discussed
“maybe not all the way to hal and the you know 2001 space odyssey reference that scares people about the habitat having a mind of its own”
Bernie Sanders Do you remember what was it 2001 the movie? Do you ever see that movie? Space Odyssey. 1
Discussed
“Do you remember what was it 2001 the movie? Do you ever see that movie? Space Odyssey.”
Bret Weinstein so I'll be very interested to see what happens in your robot project if you do not end up Reinventing child… 1
Discussed
“so I'll be very interested to see what happens in your robot project if you do not end up Reinventing childhood for robots which of course foreshadowed in 2001 quite brilliantly”
Chamath Palihapitiya I think the whole premise of like UFOs moving bodies around is rooted in the current state of Technology of… 1
Discussed
“I think the whole premise of like UFOs moving bodies around is rooted in the current state of Technology of humanity which is the basis of Arthur Clark's treatment of 2001 A Space Odyssey not which was done before the screenplay which was done before the book”
David Freeberg If you read the original um uh treatment written by Arthur C. Clarke for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, w… 1
Discussed
“If you read the original um uh treatment written by Arthur C. Clarke for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was written before the movie, and then the book was written after the movie, um he makes a really compelling point.”
Jack Black 2001 space odyssey book arthur c clarke 1
Lionel Page um a a good a good a good a good image that you can have for reason how what it is is you know the the movi… 1
Discussed
“um a a good a good a good a good image that you can have for reason how what it is is you know the the movie the Stanley Kubri movie um 2001 the space odyssey and you have this bunch of apes and they're pretty useless and then suddenly they wake up one morning and there's this uh monolith”
Matthew Walker that's the novel difference between 2001 and Space Odyssey where they're banging bones around and then all… 1
Discussed
“that's the novel difference between 2001 and Space Odyssey where they're banging bones around and then all of a sudden one of them realizes Christ this thing is actually a weapon”
Neil deGrasse Tyson so start with 2001 a space odyssey all right that had aliens in them you just never saw them 1
Discussed
“so start with 2001 a space odyssey all right that had aliens in them you just never saw them”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Discussed
“Like the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," which is in the '60s, like that was a voice activated AI with tool use, you know, capabilities.”
Discussed
“If you read the original treatment written by Arthur Clarke for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was written before the movie and then the book was written after the movie, he makes a really compelling point. He says that when civilizations achieve a sophisticated enough level of technology, there's no longer a need to physically transport yourself from”
Other mentions (13: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“If you think about like a typical ring, like 2001 Space Odyssey. Typical. Typical. 2001 in the movie.”
Passing
“Just like the beginning of the wonderful movie 2001, a space odyssey where that first brilliant scene with the apes, it was the tribe that learned how to use the first tool that actually started gaining ascendance.”
Passing
“I'm mentioning Honda Space Odyssey for sure.”
Passing
“That's the famous live from 2001, a space Honda Odyssey.”
Passing
“And I'll just leave it with this: in the Arthur C. Clarke novel '2001: A Space Odyssey,' of course the film is based on that too, Europa comes up a lot.”
Passing
“I think 2001: A Space Odyssey was also one of the influential things. That's more related but it's clearly pulling in things from lots of different distributions.”
Passing
“this is the old 20 Space Odyssey and it doesn't sound like a robot”
Passing
“My fiance is reading 2001: A Space Odyssey right now and its sequels, and he was a big fan of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem trilogy, and he's telling me he can see where the Clarke influence comes from.”
Passing
“And those books include 1984 hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, uh, 2001, a space odyssey, animal farm, Frankenstein, et cetera, et cetera.”
Passing
“and so that's where you'd have a ring so if you did rotate a ring you you'd walk around on the outer rim as they shown famously in the movie 2001 a space odyssey”
Passing
“and now let me leave you some words from arthur c clarke, who is the author of 2001 a space odyssey it may be that our role on this planet is not to worship god but to create him”
Passing
“As earliest evidence in, what was it, 2001: A Space Odyssey, right? Okay, "Would it be realistic to use this idea for long term space travel?"”
Passing
“and it would be like from our point of view be like 2001 or there's an you know an monolith monolith”