Vol. 2 No. 2 (2018)
Feature Articles

2001: The Crystal Monolith

PDF
Editorial History
  • Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz
Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz
Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Spain
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13128/Substantia-57

Published 2018-09-24

Keywords

  • Crystals,
  • crystallography,
  • abstract thinking,
  • paleoneurobiology,
  • Kubrick,
  • 2001: A Space Odissey
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Garcia-Ruiz, J. M. (2018). 2001: The Crystal Monolith. Substantia, 2(2), 19–25. https://doi.org/10.13128/Substantia-57
Copyright Notice
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

In the famous movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur Clarke claim that an extraterrestrial civilization catalyzed the evolution of hominids on our planet. To represent such a powerful civilization, they use a crystal. To date, it seems that we have not been contacted by advanced civilizations and that we are alone to manage our own future. Yet Kubrick and Clarke perhaps intuitively touched a truth about the power of crystals. An argument is developed here that genuine crystals, mainly quartz single crystals, were the earliest catalysts of the abstract thinking, symbolism, and consciousness.

PDF
Editorial History