Man progresses to a certain point in evolution, then begins again from scratch on a higher level.
Much of 2001's conceptual originality derives from its being both anti-Christian and antievolutionary in its theme of man's progress controlled by an ambiguous extraterrestrial force, possibly both capricious and destructive. Although some sequences are gone, most of the cutting consists of shortening lengthy shots that dwelled on slow and difficult operation of space-age machinery. Kubrick's dilemma in terms of satisfying an audience is that his best work in 2001 is plotless slow-paced material, an always successful creation of often ritualistic behavior of apes, men, and machines with whom we are totally unfamiliar. This laborious preparation may appear initially repetitive until Poole's computer-controlled pod turns on him and murders him in space, thus justifying the prior duplication by undercutting it with a terrifyingly different conclusion. Throughout 2001, Kubrick suggests a constantly shifting balance between man and his tools, a dimension that largely vanishes from this particular scene in cutting the first half and making the murder more abrupt dramatically than any other single action in the film.