The 5th TOE – Theory Of Evolution
The application of the TOE is not simply to human society but to the Universe itself.
The 'Overmind', which presides over the universe, is essentially mystical and, by that token, is almost incomprehensible to human intelligence. Man is shown to be a kind of experiment, unable to understand his place in the wider scheme of things, a cosmos presided over by a kind of mental energy/intelligence.
The 6 year show paints a motif, that of new evolutionary developments within humans which are part of some larger process not fully understood by 'rational' intelligence alone.
The producers have laced the tale (often 'epic' in proportion and vision) with wonder after wonder. Just try to chart the various surprises and twists of the novel as it unfolds. Try, then, to map out the various stages of the novel, and the ways in which it leads the reader to develop and then reformulate hypotheses.
They introduce various ideas, including those connected with "racial premonitions" of images of devils, or in the very idea of the "Overmind". What, in particular, does the show demonstrate in terms of insights into, or perspectives on, the human race, human identity and human desires and aspirations? What implications do their ideas have for theories of religion, of society, of history, and of man's place in the scheme of things?
Humans remain suspicious, as the Overlords never appear in person. The Overlords' representative does speak with them, but is always hidden behind a pane of one way glass.
The Overlords begin to pay a discreet interest in the human experience of the occult and psychic research. An experiment reveals a special number, which causes quite a commotion. People become obsessed with finding out what the numbers represent.
Some sects believe their innovation and independence is being suppressed and that culture is becoming stagnant. In response, those sects establish an island colony.
The colonists have children. We learn that the Overlords have a special interest in some of the children and are watching them. After some time these children begin displaying special abilities and as a result, become estranged from their parents.
The Overlord eventually reveal their true purpose, they themselves are in service to the Overmind. The Overlords are not themselves capable of joining the Overmind, but the Overmind has charged them with the duty of fostering humanity's transition to a higher plane of existence and merger with the Overmind.
Their memory of the devil in human folklore is now revealed not as a memory of past events but as a prescient "memory" of the Overlords' role in the extinction of all man kind that results from the special children's evolution. They announce that the children with special powers will be segregated from the rest of humanity on a continent of their own, and only these children will merge with the Overmind. No more children are born; the existing children evolve towards merging with the Overmind. The island is destroyed by its leaders, by the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
The Overlords express an envy of humanity; their race is trapped as humanity is, as they are not capable of joining the Overmind, though they hope they will eventually learn how to do so.
The island seems ultimately pessimistic, anti-utopian and even bleak in its final apocalyptic vision of the human race, and of human notions of progress and civilization.
We are presented with the ultimate futility of purely human-centred notions of progress, including faith in science and technology.
Is the ultimate reveal humanist, or a kind of mystical transcendentalism within which human values are simply irrelevant when set against the cosmic scheme of things?
The synopsis above was compiled and edited from university lecture notes on Childhood’s End, by Arthur C Clarke.
The application of the TOE is not simply to human society but to the Universe itself.
The 'Overmind', which presides over the universe, is essentially mystical and, by that token, is almost incomprehensible to human intelligence. Man is shown to be a kind of experiment, unable to understand his place in the wider scheme of things, a cosmos presided over by a kind of mental energy/intelligence.
The 6 year show paints a motif, that of new evolutionary developments within humans which are part of some larger process not fully understood by 'rational' intelligence alone.
The producers have laced the tale (often 'epic' in proportion and vision) with wonder after wonder. Just try to chart the various surprises and twists of the novel as it unfolds. Try, then, to map out the various stages of the novel, and the ways in which it leads the reader to develop and then reformulate hypotheses.
They introduce various ideas, including those connected with "racial premonitions" of images of devils, or in the very idea of the "Overmind". What, in particular, does the show demonstrate in terms of insights into, or perspectives on, the human race, human identity and human desires and aspirations? What implications do their ideas have for theories of religion, of society, of history, and of man's place in the scheme of things?
Humans remain suspicious, as the Overlords never appear in person. The Overlords' representative does speak with them, but is always hidden behind a pane of one way glass.
The Overlords begin to pay a discreet interest in the human experience of the occult and psychic research. An experiment reveals a special number, which causes quite a commotion. People become obsessed with finding out what the numbers represent.
Some sects believe their innovation and independence is being suppressed and that culture is becoming stagnant. In response, those sects establish an island colony.
The colonists have children. We learn that the Overlords have a special interest in some of the children and are watching them. After some time these children begin displaying special abilities and as a result, become estranged from their parents.
The Overlord eventually reveal their true purpose, they themselves are in service to the Overmind. The Overlords are not themselves capable of joining the Overmind, but the Overmind has charged them with the duty of fostering humanity's transition to a higher plane of existence and merger with the Overmind.
Their memory of the devil in human folklore is now revealed not as a memory of past events but as a prescient "memory" of the Overlords' role in the extinction of all man kind that results from the special children's evolution. They announce that the children with special powers will be segregated from the rest of humanity on a continent of their own, and only these children will merge with the Overmind. No more children are born; the existing children evolve towards merging with the Overmind. The island is destroyed by its leaders, by the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
The Overlords express an envy of humanity; their race is trapped as humanity is, as they are not capable of joining the Overmind, though they hope they will eventually learn how to do so.
The island seems ultimately pessimistic, anti-utopian and even bleak in its final apocalyptic vision of the human race, and of human notions of progress and civilization.
We are presented with the ultimate futility of purely human-centred notions of progress, including faith in science and technology.
Is the ultimate reveal humanist, or a kind of mystical transcendentalism within which human values are simply irrelevant when set against the cosmic scheme of things?
The synopsis above was compiled and edited from university lecture notes on Childhood’s End, by Arthur C Clarke.
