May
The discussion on the Sci-fi blogs should be a review of what you’ve read at home. Talk about what’s happening, the characters, the setting, your favorite moment, and of course even things that you are confused or unclear about. Respond to others.
There should be an average of five posts per person, per week over the next four weeks. Refer to specific page numbers and use quotes.
Be courteous and respectful.
Happy Blogging.
49 Responses
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Also, as Poole and Bowman say, “referred 2 themselves as caretakers or janitors aboard the ship that could really run itself.”So wat is the point of humans even going on the trip? Is it just for the fame? After all, Bowman thinks, “When I return rich and famous.” I find that kinda of stupid: how they get money by sitting in a spaceship for 7 years that only feels like a couple of minutes. Really, Hal is doing (or will be doing,) all the work
May 25, 2010 at 7:59 pm -
So the Hal is the computer system of the ship in which it cautions or tells the astronauts what to do or warn them. This program seems reliable because it wakes up the astronauts during a flight. It’s cool how the Hal 9000 manages the ship so if there is a problem it can warn the crew. Just to backup my conclusion I have a qoute. page 119 “The time might even come when Hal would take command of the ship”
May 27, 2010 at 10:05 am -
I agree with Sabina..the whole hibernation thing is kind of weird. Also it is starting to bug me that every part there is a different main character. Why can’t they just stick to one that way the story is easier to follow.
May 27, 2010 at 5:48 pm -
what i dont get is in the book it says how they want to go to jupiter….but thats impossible cause jupiter is a big ball of gas…
May 27, 2010 at 5:51 pm -
I dont get it….is discovery a team cause in the quote, “For Discovery, it would be a one-way trip–yet her crew had no intention of committing suicide.” p.108. Is Discovery a space ship?
May 27, 2010 at 5:53 pm -
is discovery a team cause in the quote, “For Discovery, it would be a one-way trip–yet her crew had no intention of committing suicide.” p.108. Is Discovery a space ship?
May 27, 2010 at 5:54 pm -
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I’m so confused!!!! It says “Discovery would enter a parking orbit around Saturn, becoming a new moon on the giant planet.” p.109. That doesn’t make any sense what so ever! If Discovery is a pace ship, it can’t just become one of Saturn’s moons!
May 27, 2010 at 6:00 pm -
“All the crew would go into hibernation; only the essential systems would continue to operate, watched by the ship’s tireless electronic brain.” p.109 i get that he didn’t know what space ships looked like but really…an electronic brain? That’s going a little over the edge.
May 27, 2010 at 6:02 pm -
Like i said earlier… I think Clark has gone a little to far…again like Sabina said the hibernation thing is so weird. I think Clark thought we would be able to invent all these things by 2001….we aren’t that smart.
May 27, 2010 at 6:16 pm -
Discovery is a ship. I think it is kinda weird that they call it she and her because it isn’t living. I think thats wat confused u. I agree with alex, the whole Hal thing is kinda cool. I mean even apart from being a very unique computor, it must also move around because it plays chess! I also agree with sami wen she says that the book is confusing because of the main character change, but in the 4th part, it stays kinda the same (ive only read 1 pg of it so im not sure yet:-)) Its like 1 of those movies like LOVE ACTUALLYLastly, sami, the whole crew isn’t hibernating at the same time; some r and some rnt.
May 27, 2010 at 9:28 pm -
Ok, to clarify somethings. Hibernation is created so that the humans are not bored and that they preserve themselves and the oxygen in the ship. Space travel takes a long time and one must travel millions of miles to get to the next destination. Discovery will become a “moon” once it establishes orbit around Saturn. Hal does not move around the ship but he does have access to all parts of the ship through viewers. Keep up the reading.
May 30, 2010 at 9:06 am -
ok sorry for not going on… oh and mr. rogers…
May 30, 2010 at 6:31 pm
haha now i see u just answered everybodies questions. -
and sabina, it makes sense that Discovery is called a she… because you know how when people go on ships in the water, they always refer to the ship as a she? it would make sense that the discovery is called a she too then
May 30, 2010 at 6:32 pm -
and the reason why the Discovery needs Bowman and Poole to work the ship is because they need to make sure everything is functioning normally, and so that they can report what is happening to earth.
May 30, 2010 at 6:33 pm -
samantha, i dont think that it is literally an electonic BRAIN its like computers! something that is in control, like for humans. its not like an actual brain for Hal
May 30, 2010 at 6:35 pm -
also, has anyone seen Back to the Future? Lots of people imagined that we would have lots of stuff in the future… its all science *fiction* anyway! but like in Star Trek, actually, some people developed technologies from that like the automatic sliding doors and such.. which i find pretty funny
May 30, 2010 at 6:36 pm -
and even though Hal can control the ship and can even play chess, I would never want to play chess with Hal, personally. It doens’t feel right, if Hal is programmed to sometimes lose, and sometimes not. It would feel strange! but then again, it might not feel weird at all, like a computer chess game. but it doesn’t feel different at all, but probably because the computer doesnt speak to you (!!!) and doesn’t work with you
May 30, 2010 at 6:38 pm -
wow.. i’m writing a lot! but anywayz,
May 30, 2010 at 6:41 pm
sabina for the “electronic childhood”
i don’t think Hal grew, Hal just developed the understanding that he would need for his sole purpose. like for us, we go to school to get a job, etc. for Hal, he had to “learn” basically be programmed to know how to do jobs, and so that he wouldn’t screw up *cough* during the actual journey -
Just to clarify, sally, wen i asked if he had grown, i didn’t mean in size, i meant in smartness. Also, i still dont understand why they call the ship she and her. and wat sally said about boats being called ships too, its like that quote that i cant remember exactly but is something like, “just because someone does something it doesn’t mean its right.” or “if i jumped off a cliff, would you?”
May 31, 2010 at 3:19 pm -
and mr rogers, r u posotive that HAL doesn’t move around? because he cant play chess if he’s a computor screen. Also, is everybody dead now but dave?
May 31, 2010 at 5:33 pm -
I agree with Sabina and Sami that it would be easier to follow if Clarke stuck to one character’s perspective.
May 31, 2010 at 6:33 pm -
I also agree with Sabina and Alex that Hal 9000 is cool BUT I do think that such invetions can be detrimantal(ww word!!) to the human race. The idea of ‘thinking’ technology is a little disturbing. I guess thats why this is a sci-fi book, but still.
May 31, 2010 at 6:37 pm -
And Sally, responding to one of your earlier comments, i think Hal actually does hav a brain because the book implies that Hal can think for himself. “Turing had pointed out that, if one could carry a prolonged conversation with a machine- whether by typewriter or microphones was immaterial- without being able to distinuish between its replies and those than a man might give, than the machine was thinking, by any sensible definition of the word. Hal could pass the Turing test with ease.” pg. 118-119
May 31, 2010 at 7:13 pm -
Adding to what Mr. R said about why hibernation is neccesarry: “Tons of food and other expendables would thus be saved; almost as important, the team would be fresh and alert, and not fatigued by the ten-month voyage, when they went into action.” pgs 108-109
May 31, 2010 at 7:20 pm -
“…while the future occupants of the other three cabins reposed in their electronic sarcophagi next door.” pg 124 THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! Aren’t sarcophagi coffins?????
May 31, 2010 at 7:44 pm -
another disturbing thought: ‘The Spaceborn’. I believe that Diana is the first of a new type human children.
May 31, 2010 at 8:20 pm -
I think a spaceborn is an adolescent in which he/she is born in a planet other than earth, because of the nature the child is raised in affects the way they are grown into exisentece and if the human civilizitation started to live and grow there, the technology and social connections would change and humans would evolutionize differently, in other words facial and body apperances and characteristics would probably be effected because of this.
May 31, 2010 at 8:31 pm -
Just imagine if apes(systematically speaken)through evolution changed into man by appearance and knowledge, imagine what humans would evolutionize into (hypothetically) aliens and that probably what the book is implying on the plan that the aliens wanted to do for so many years and that is probably why the aliens sent a monolith later known as TMA-1
May 31, 2010 at 8:35 pm -
Answering Samanthas question from before the characters and time zone is now in the future so electronic sarcophagi are probably what they called pods considering the fact that their in the future and not in the ancient world concludes that it probably just is another form of the word pods
May 31, 2010 at 8:38 pm -
I don’t think hal can be trusted. HAL Does have a mind of his own and would probably do anything for the sake of the mission. Because Hal has humanlike thoughts and ideas and i think that he might even try to mutiny or something extreme like that.
May 31, 2010 at 9:16 pm -
I also think that the death of poole was no accident. Because in Hals thinking, Poole might have been a threat
May 31, 2010 at 9:18 pm -
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In my opinion indidnt like how Clark described the planets so much although for some parts it was okay
May 31, 2010 at 9:32 pm -
I think that the hibernation thing is an extremely good idea. Because the journey is extremely long and resources are scarce compared to the long journey. Hibernation is the best way to save valuable resources.
May 31, 2010 at 10:15 pm -
I think it was a bad idea for mankind to create computers with the ability to learn like HAL. “A snake had entered his electronic Eden.” (P 191)and had resulted in HAL killing all the crew but Bowman, jeopardizing the mission,
June 1, 2010 at 9:18 am -
I find it amazing that the discovery can maintain connection with the earth. Somehow, the Discovery can have “TV programs beamed to the from earth.” (P 123) while they are thousands of miles away
June 1, 2010 at 9:23 am -
I feel sorry for Diana. She has never been to earth and most likely will not go for a long time. All she knows is the mechanical bleakness of the moon. Although she does think earth is a nasty place, she is really missing out by not going.
June 1, 2010 at 9:25 am -
The “carousel” (P 125) on the discovery is a good invention. The spinning allows a person to “handle hot drinks” (P 124), use the toilet, and shave.
June 1, 2010 at 9:28 am -
I wonder where the concept of giving ships feminine names came from. Boats on earth were always called “she” and on the discovery the repair pods were given names such as “Betty”
June 1, 2010 at 9:31 am -
I agree with Alec that the death of Poole was on purpose not an accident. Because the time when poole was in the room and the pod was about to fall on him. And at the last second poole screams “Hal Braking system” on page 74 and i do believe that Hal considering the fact that it is so sophisticated could’ve stopped the pod in time saving Frank. And another part was when Hal interrupts with the transmission for the Discovery, that was kind of strange and conspicuos in my theory.
June 1, 2010 at 5:12 pm -
I also agree that the murder was no accident because Hal could work faster and better than a human brain, and had control over the ship. Therefore, if he wanted to save Poole, then it was inside of his power to do so.
June 1, 2010 at 7:10 pm -
I also agree with Alec that the hibernation is a good idea because not only does it preserve resources such as food and oxygen as well as keeping the crew primed and ready to go when the actual work begins.
June 1, 2010 at 7:12 pm -
Cole, it is amazing that they can get messages from earth, but as it was mentioned earlier, the messages can only travel at light speed, and therefor take a while to get to the ship.
June 1, 2010 at 7:14 pm -
and samantha, part 3 so far hasn’t tied into the first two parts, but i think that the unusual happenings on the ship are connected to the monolyth flying to jupiter in part one.
June 1, 2010 at 7:16 pm -
I also agree with Alex that the spaceborn will be rased and develope differently then a child which is born on earth.
June 1, 2010 at 7:18 pm -
isn’t this about the end of the book?
June 6, 2010 at 4:15 pm
the conversation is more like the one from last week.. -
oh nvm just the beginning
June 6, 2010 at 4:17 pm
anyway, this author has a really really good imagination. from around like 200-2006 or something like that. That was the part when Bowman was thinking about the different theories of TMA-1 and stuff. Clarke used theories that people would think today… during that part I actually forgot that this book was written before man had landed on the moon!
Well there aren’t any comments so I guess I’ll start off. I think the whole hibernation thing is a bit weird. I mean how is that even possible. The book says that it saves food and is a time consumor, but don’t the people still need nutrients? Anyway, I didn’t understand what Clarke meant wen he talked about Hal “electronic childhood”. Does that meen that it grew?
May 25, 2010 at 7:53 pm