I'm darn sure that the Monolith wasn't an ordinary black hole, but a sophisticated multipurpose device created by an ancient alien race in Clarke's universe. An

I'm darn sure that the Monolith wasn't an ordinary black hole, but a sophisticated multipurpose device created by an ancient alien race in Clarke's universe. And Bowman didn't just come back out of it - he was changed. Also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24940086 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24940086 - far richer source of this story