This is probably my favorite scene from 2001.
It’s got everything you really want from a movie…
…if you want monkeys beating each other to death with bones.
Every time I see this scene, I have the same thought.
Wow! Religion makes all the difference!
You look confused.
So I’ll explain.
Two rival ape clans are battling over a waterhole.
Earlier in the movie, one clan possesses superior strength and aggression.
They run off the weaker clan and take the waterhole for themselves.
Then…suddenly, a monolith appears amid a swell of dramatic music.
The monolith is a primitive homeschool teacher that helps the apes learn the destructive power of femurs.
Things go badly for the unarmed apes during the next encounter at the waterhole.
(Replay clip if necessary.)
The bone-wielding apes don’t throw down their weapons and apologize to their vanquished opponents.
We’re sorry!
We didn’t mean to kill you guys!
We have behaved immorally!
Forgive us!
Let’s cooperate for the good of mankind!
Ape-men are primitive…not stupid!
At some point…
(though this isn’t covered in the movie)
…some ape-man came along and asked:
Would you like it if somebody clubbed you to death with a bone?
And the bone-wielders, being honest, had to answer:
Well…no.
Which goes against millions of years of evolutionary progress.
Pitiless, self-seeking progress.
Developing a conscience put the ape-men at a disadvantage.
It’s no fun being the strongest when you feel guilty about it.
Can’t even enjoy the rewards of your violent oppression.
Why would a blind, purposeless universe develop a sense of right and wrong?
HOW could morality exist in a world where survival is the only thing that matters?
Religion answers those questions.
Science does not.
Only a monkey would disagree.
75 Responses
Same song, different verse. Might get better, probably get worse.
If an atheists falls in the woods and no one was there to see it happen does that mean it didn’t happen? What evidence could they bring? Be sure to include a link.
Ark’s comments are sooooo repetitive, it’s a wonder he has trouble sleeping.
You’ll run out of sheep to count LONG before you run out of duplicate “questions” from him. (We’re up to 70 in this thread now… *yawn* )
I’d watch a movie about the point where Humanoids gained religion and decided to pursue the “right” thing rather than the most personally advantageous one…
So you reject evolution then?
They would never make such a movie as no such religion exists.
Have you seen 2001?
Plenty of times. Did you pop over and watch the TED presentation on evolution?
I was asking Amanda about the movie.
The TED presentation on evolution was riveting! Fabulous! I give it four stars. Absolutely stellar!
No, I haven’t seen 2001…
Why is Ark posting feverishly?
I hope he’s not having trouble sleeping.
The ape-men figure out how to make tools after they interact with the monolith. The movie shouldn’t be popular with atheists but I’ve encountered a few in the past who really like it. They tend to fixate on the monkey-men and ignore the obvious statement about evolution being influenced by “something” outside of nature.
Poor thinkers get excited about the obvious stuff while missing the nuance. (Kind of like asking people over and over whether they “accept Evolution” while apparently forgetting the dozen times we tried to have the conversation on a more grown up level.)
Yepper.
Hopefully he will make a screenshot of my admitting evolution as fact. He can hang it on the wall and it will make him smile during the wee hours of the night when he can’t sleep.
12:30am right now…
Let’s see how long he can talk about nothing!
Watching football as a matter of fact.
I see that defending fundamentalism is more important than your new baby?
Bears, beets, babies, Battlestar Galactica.
The movie that Diggety-Dug-Dug posted was really unique and different! It talked about a guy named Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Ground breaking!
I am surprised you had actually heard of him, JB.
No doubt you will be acknowledging evolution any time now, yes?
I’ve always acknowledged evolution, Jerome.
Really? You never said.
Shame on me.
I’m such a POS.
Are you?
So are you going to write, ”I accept evolution as fact.”
Or is that simply a bridge too far, JB?
“I accept evolution as fact.”
There we go! That wasn’t so hard , now was it?
Oops, I just noticed the speech marks.
Are you being a tad facetious, JB or are you being truthful and truly do accept evolution as fact?
Remember, it is considered sinful to tell lies, is it not?
I accept evolution as fact.
I, John Branyan, on this 31st day of January, in the year 2018, without facetiousness, accept evolution as fact.
Marvelous. Maybe you could help people like Wally and Bryan to understand?
Understand what?
Nice to see I still reside in your head in the wee hours of the morning LOL.
Tell Jerome that you accept evolution as fact.
It will comfort him.
I like Jerome to be uncomfortable, it keeps him scrambling to bolster his empty and void belief system. That means hope remains for him.
Ok. I’m not going to insist you see things my way. It wouldn’t be nice to do that.
Well, we could have a huge religious war. That would make Ark happy. Seems Amanda and I were suppose to have something like that a while back.
That’s right!
I can’t remember specifically what the battle was called.
Eh…I was hoping you would remember LOL. It had a catch name, though
You guuuuuys, it was a “butchering!”
Get it right!
THAT’S IT!
We need to stage a butchering!
That’s it! Thank you!
That evolution is fact. They do not believe it.
Why does it matter what they believe?
As individuals they are, of course, entitled to believe whatever they like.
However, do you not consider it is sad that in this day and age adults have been indoctrinated to believing that the nonsense Usher proposed took root?
Look at the utter farce that is Ken Ham’s Ark Experience.
And of course, worse is that such nonsense is taught to children as fact, and will negatively impact on almost every aspect of their future academic careers, not to mention the repercussions in general everyday life.
No.
I don’t care even a little bit about people’s views on evolution.
Fair enough …
I’m no fundamentalist.
Are you not a fundamentalist? You believe in the Resurrection of the biblical character Jesus of Nazareth, surely?
You are also a Trinitarian, yes?
“So what you’re saying is…”™
You admit we evolved from apes, and all creation-based religions are responsible for the vast majority of violence and division in the world?
“So what I’m saying is…”
Natural evolution does not explain our sense of morality.
Also, the idea that “mankind cooperates to foster survival” is ridiculous. Cooperation only helps the weak survive. The only reason a strong person would assist a weak person is out of moral obligation, which is derived from religion.
Of course Natural Evolution explains our morality.
It is only certain religions that pander the ridiculous notion that a god or gods were / was responsible.
Fortunately, normal people don’t believe this.
Would that make us Monolitheists?
Nah … just your god trying to making a monkey out of Creationists, I expect.
Got that, Bryan?
Your God is monkeying with Creationists…by creating stuff.
Strange way to do it!
Lol!
No, it is a perfectly accurate way of putting it.
This doesn’t mean there is any truth in the statement, merely adding a little bit more to the silly notion, that’s all.
This is a comedy blog after all, isn’t it?
Let’s be honest … that is presuming you are able to be, for a few moments at least; what sort of person actually believes in Noah’s Ark these days?
Now, while you are very likely several sandwiches short of a picnic, Amanda, I am pretty damn sure you don’t accept that degree of nonsense, now do you?
Let’s be honest… Bananas grow in bunches because leeches wear breeches.
Now, you’re not the brightest crayon in the toolshed, but I’m pretty damn sure Winston Churchill ate fried eggs!
*Smile*
Can’t argue with that!
Right. Can’t argue with stupidity.
Exactly.
Absolutely!
Sassafras!
Ptooi!
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Barmy, Blighted,Backward, Banal.
Maybe your god sent the monolith?
No.
It’s pretty clear from the movie that the monolith evolved from natural processes without intelligent intervention.
Your God is monkeying with Creationists, by creating stuff…
That’s a strange way to do it. Lol!
Really? Then you obviously never developed the intelligence to actually understand the premise behind the monolith.
Maybe you should consult Kubrick on this one, John?
Well, you know what they say about opinions and onions. So as far as Kubrick goes, if the Clockwork is Orange, you must acquit. I’d put a monolith up against god any day of the week and when the chickens come home to roost it’ll be a cold day in hell.
Nice video on evolution at my place…. it is very simple and straightforward and it isn’t funny. I had you in mind.
Come watch and educate yourself.
And it came to pass that in those days a decree was sent forth that all the world is a stage where the show must go on to the first star on the right.
That, and the warm embrace of reason, is what evolution has always proven to be.
Ah …and the head disappears into the sand leaving the arse sticking up in the air and the muffled cry can be heard: ”You can’t see me!”
Doesn’t it ever concern you that people may be laughing at you for all the wrong reasons, JB?
Surely you are not afraid of truth?
“The Truth”, said Felix, “Is whatever we decide.”
Gordy contemplated that for a moment. It had a certain ring about it that settled in the lower part of his abdomen like undigested cheese.
There was nothing to fear. He felt no anxiety or apprehension. At the same time, the Sphinx had proven itself unreliable in the past, unpredictable even. Prone to lash out with sudden, inexplicable rage. As Gordy turned to answer, he spied a patch of paint drying on a nearby table and decided it would be a better use of time to simply watch it dry.
Jerome considered that he would probably have a more productive conversation with the neighbours’ dog.
That said, there was always a chance this fool might compound his abject stupidity, and just like the dog, try to lick his own balls.
Gordy smirked.
Jerome was attempting to duplicate the cleverness of his initial comment but it wouldn’t work. The novelty had faded and Jerome’s vulgarity was a flaccid substitute for originality.
Jerome noted the smirk and realised that Felix would never get it. Not that Felix did not understand – of course he did – yet the man’s conceit was so ingrained that these days the only defense he had against truth and honesty was the self-deprecation that had become part and parcel of his persona, an almost living mask to hide behind.
Then the couple turned and parted ways. Jerome retreated to the kitchen where his medication waited. Felix disappeared into the recesses of the mirror.
Jerome, the coffee he regarded as his medication in hand, gave a short sardonic laugh and wondered, not for the first time, how people like Felix were able to confront that mirror everyday knowing full well that, deep down they were living a lie. What on earth could have caused such ingrained fear?