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I had always assumed that Kubrick gave an explicit clue that HAL had "snapped" when he strangely repeats himself when he claims to have detected a problem. HAL
by xefer 10y ago
I had always assumed that Kubrick gave an explicit clue that HAL had "snapped" when he strangely repeats himself when he claims to have detected a problem. HAL suddenly says "just a moment... just a moment..."
It comes across as just the sort of error he was supposedly incapable of.
- mjevans 10y agoI agree with the hint at a timing cue but still don't think HAL 'went insane', I more agree that he found an 'insane' "solution" to a problem humans would find intractable. The "just a moment..." can be thought of more as an auditory interface representation of "processing", where HAL is exploring the solution space of ever more unlikely solutions until it has at last resolved a statistically superior solution.