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- ani-pockdotnet, on 10/11/2007, -12/+319Got it:
The island is largely black rock - a naturally occurring magnetic mineral. It has the uncanny property of storing electromagnetic currents - like a big magnetic tape.
Magnus Hanso - grandfather of Alvar Hanso and venture capitalist - captained his ship The Black Rock to the island in the nineteenth century. He intended to use slaves and dynamite to mine the fabled black rock and sell it. However, he was caught in a storm - as many have been near the island - and was shipwrecked.
He survived, but the slaves were lost. Whilst making a boat to leave the island, Magnus thought he could hear the screams of his cargo as the ship sank. He thought the melancholy would pass, but it did not; in fact, it was as though he could literally hear their thoughts in the last moments of their lives - even in their foreign tongue.
The whispers, the voices, the memories were stronger in those areas that were predominantly black rock. They were coming from the black rock itself. As lava cools it records the earth's pattern of magnetic currents at the time; in a similar way, the black rock was storing all electromagnetic activity - light, sound, thought, memory.
Of greater significance to Magnus was that the black rock also held the pattern of the future. Magnus was able to faintly sense how things would be.
Magnus made a boat, returned home, kept his mouth shut about what he'd discovered, and bought the island. He came back many times and was able to navigate the safest approach. On the island, he would meditate on what the future held - what the rock was telling him - and then commit this to paper. He would then return to centres of commerce and use these predictions to speculate and invest in forthcoming wars, selling munitions. He amassed a great fortune. The secret of the island and the wealth was passed down through the Hanso family to Alvar Hanso in the 20th century.
. . .
A mathematician named Valenzetti calculated a mathematical formula for the end of the world, the 'core numbers' of which are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. These numbers occur everywhere, he said, and predict earth's destruction. This finding was presented to the United Nations; they did not believe or care and so discarded it.
Alvar learnt of this formula and knew that it was correct as it correlated with what the island had revealed to him. He enlisted the help of Valenzetti and many others to form the DHARMA Initiative, the purpose of which was to change these numbers - and so avert the predicted destruction of earth.
DHARMA was based on the island. Although the organisation was highly secretive, Alvar felt he had to share the island for the greater good of mankind. The greatest scientists he could find were brought to the island - as were gifted children who had great mental ability bordering on psychic.
Various stations were set up on the island to perform these experiments: the objective of which was to change Fate itself. One experiment was the Swan; initially, it was just a Skinner Box - a psychological experiment to test two subjects' willingness to repeatedly press a button because they were told it was important. The intention here was to see if their faith in their 'duty' was sufficient to budge Fate a millimetre. It didn't work.
Another station - the Pearl - was set up. This experiment was based on another pair of subjects who were told to observe the actions of the occupants of the Swan. The objective here, based on Quantum Theory, was to see if - by observation alone - the outcome of the Swan could be affected. It was not and neither was Fate.
. . .
It was decided to try and dam the flow of Destiny from the island to the outside world - to stop the current.
Jacob was selected as the most gifted child. He was able to move small objects with his mind, which is shown in the Orientation film.
It was hoped that if the rock could store human memory electromagnetically then, perhaps, the reverse could happen and a human mind could absorb this electromagnetic memory from the rock. The intention was always to change Destiny.
Jacob was placed at the epicentre of the island's power in an underground chamber. Powered up, wired up, and observed by a team of scientists including Dr Marvin Candle, Jacob attempted to absorb Destiny from the black rock. Unfortunately, he failed; there was an explosion, referred to later as the "incident".
At that moment, Jacob lost all corporeal form and was merged with the black rock itself. But he survived. His consciousness was embedded in broken fragments of the rock. His consciousness was able to move objects - as he had in human form... but now it meant he could lift himself - in the form of rock fragments and move freely. The naturally-ocurring electromagnetic field around the area of the Swan assisted in his mobility and sustained his life.
Jacob was able to move as a black cloud of dust and re-form himself into different shapes. He soon learnt that he could also use electromagnetism to conjure up images and sound. And later still, that he could 'read minds' as we saw he did with Eko.
DHARMA had failed in changing Destiny for the better and had actually made things worse by creating a massive anomaly. Alvar was despondent. He and his wife returned to the island to die. They laid themselves down in two alcoves and allowed Jacob to peacefully end them. In Alvar's pocket was a pouch containing two stones - one black and one white - one for him and one for his wife. They thought that if they could, after death, find these two stones and reside in them as separate consciousnesses then they would allow Jacob to absorb them into his form. As long as the black rock existed, they would be immortal. It worked; and Jacob became a 'three-headed' entity, referred to as 'Cerberus' on the blast door map created by Radzinsky. (Cerberus was the three-headed guard dog of Greek mythology).
. . .
The 'incident' (as described by Dr Marvin Candle - who lost an arm - in the Orientation film) now necessitated the periodic release of the electromagnetism. The periodic build-up of power sustained Jacob/Cerberus and allowed for continued analysis of Destiny by the remaining scientists; the periodic release prevented another disaster. The whole area of the 'incident' was concreted. And now the Swan had a genuine use: to release electromagnetism every 108 minutes to an orbiting satellite with a 5 minute pass-over. For this task they conscripted the help of two people they knew to be spies: Radzinsky and Inman for USSR and USA respectively.
They realised they could not - or should not - try to change Destiny. However, the long-term effect of the incident was to create an anomaly in Destiny that might itself be the cause of the predicted cataclysm on earth. This needed to be corrected now. The anomaly had pulled in a ship of scientists - including a pregnant Rousseau - and shipwrecked it. [What was left of] DHARMA realised that this ship was never 'meant' to be shipwrecked on the island and that their meddling with Destiny would create anomalies of wider and potentially more dangerous significance.
The scientists sought to correct their mistake before it snowballed. It was a difficult task to perform without screwing up Destiny further but they had the resources.
. . .
Bea Kulgh, a DHARMA initiate, sensed a shift from an idealistic community in 'Otherville' towards a totalitarian cult headed by a powerful triumvirate leader. She reached out for others who felt the same, but it was impossible - any disobedience meant being brainwashed in the re-programming room (where we saw Carl). During her tour of duty in the Pearl, which was still active at the time, she was able to secretly communicate with Radzinsky and Inman via the computer. She fed them information from which - with their own reconnaissance - they were able to produce a map of the island and the hatches, which John Locke saw on the blast door in Lockdown. They removed part of the Orientation film that forbade communication via the computer so that, if they were found out and replaced, their replacements would not be hindered by that rule. And they formulated a plan to escape.
Radzinsky had been seeing images of his past - as all of the Losties have. He saw people he had tortured whilst working for the KGB. These visions were actually produced by Jacob/Cerberus. The point of the visions was as intense, life-changing therapy. It is believed that a person can overcome their own past, nature and fears to transcend into something pure and fit for DHARMA. Radzinsky had been seeing visions of a person he had tortured; he had cut out the prisoner's eye.
The culmination of the 'therapy' is a Test. We saw Eko fail his Test by refusing to repent for his past - this ended badly for him when he chased after Jacob/Cerberus. We also saw Hurley fail his test when he refused to take a leap of faith off a cliff - as urged by his imaginary-turned-real friend Dave.
Radzinsky's Test was to cut out his own eye - "an eye for an eye". He knew none of this was real, but they had a plan to escape for which he would do anything. Kneeling before his victim, as Eko would do, Radzinsky used Inman's US Army knife to cut out his own eye, thereby passing the Test.
. . .
When Radzinsky awoke, he was greeted by Benjamin Linus and the other Others. He was given a tour of 'Otherville', told the rough outline of DHARMA and what it meant. He was given a glass eye and was put to work. He appeared to be receptive to DHARMA's aims but, in reality, all he wanted was to escape. He proceeded with the plan.
At the right time, he blew up the Arrow hatch, killing several people. He radioed Inman, in the Swan, immediately and ran across the island towards him. It did not take long before Jacob/Cerberus tracked him down, but he timed it right so that his dash would coincide with the rain showers to give him the biggest headstart possible.
Radzinsky made it to the Swan where Inman had prepared the trap. It was dark by now, and a bright light shone from the hatch; Jacob/Cerberus followed it down. Inman could see Jacob/Cerberus through his array of mirrors from the safe vantage point of the Swan lounge area. He saw Jacob/Cerberus approach; Jacob/Cerberus moved toward the open door. Radzinsky fused the lockdown door bringing it crashing down and turned the water on. The area outside the door - where Jacob/Cerberus was - filled with water. An exposed fusebox near the ladder caused a massive electrical current to pass through Jacob/Cerberus. Unfortunately, a small part of Jacob/Cerberus got under the door before being completely disabled. This part reformed as someone from Inman's past - a daughter perhaps, or a fallen comrade - whoever it was, Inman had not yet had the visions and was frozen with emotion. He could not act to destroy this loved one in front of him and would not heed Radzinksy's frantic pleading that it was not real and that they needed to escape now while they could. Radzinsky left him behind.
[The fusebox and water pipe are seen by Jack the very first time he goes down the hatch ladder - season 2, episode 1.]
Radzinsky continued with the plan and left the Swan with the film cutting. He made his way to the Flame where he knew he would be able to communicate with the outside world and be rescued. When he got there, he was surprised to find it deserted and, what was more bizarre, prepared for him: there was a plentiful supply of Vodka, there was a computer that played chess, there was a cat, there was even a picture of Nadia Comaneci on the wall - the Olympic gymnast who shared his birthday. He sat in front of a bank of monitors and began trying to reach the outside world - it had been such a long time. Flicking through the channels, it became apparent that the Berlin Wall had fallen and so had the Soviet Union with it. Communication was pointless. He spent the next few days in a drunken stupor. At last, Benjamin and the Others came to him.
They agreed on a truce; he had killed some of them but he could not be held completely responsible as he had not passed the Test in truth and had not been truly ready to join DHARMA. They allowed him to live so long as he never came to their camp, never fraternised with any of them, and worked at the Flame as their communications man. He would be completely autonomous, with his own livestock. He asked about Inman; they told him that Inman had been 'persuaded' that Radzinsky had killed himself - they had placed a faceless corpse in the Swan for him to discover when he woke up, which he would assume to be Radzinsky's and so bury him without questioning.
At this point, the cat changed shape becoming a swirling mass of black dust - it was Jacob/Cerberus albeit temporarily smaller. Jacob/Cerberus renamed Radzinsky as Bakunin - after the famous Russian anarchist - as he had rejected his leadership. He told him that his trap in the Swan had interfered with the release of electromagnetism and had created another anomaly: a light aircraft from Nigeria was brought down. The crashing of a small plane and the loss of a few lives in itself might not be such an anomaly - as Destiny can 'course-correct' to a certain extent - what was more problematic was that the plane was carrying drugs. The consequence of the plane crashing - when it had never been destined to crash - was that there would be a massive slump in supply of the drug, affecting many more lives (including Charlie's) - and the knock-on effect was incalculable.
Bakunin was tasked with tracking down the effects of the anomaly as it spread through the world and to profile each person whose life would be significantly affected by it. These people were connected one way or another to this crash or to each other and the anomaly would ripple outwards creating greater and greater waves. Bakunin tracked them down using the Flame. These people were - one way or another - put on the same plane at the same time and brought to the island so that Destiny could be corrected.... Jack, Kate, Charlie, Sawyer, Rose and the rest of Flight 815. Destiny and DHARMA were course-correcting.
. . .
Bakunin returned to the burntout Arrow station. He was remorseful. He deposited his hollowed-out Bible containing the film cutting, his glass eye which had been a gift from DHARMA, and the radio he had used to communicate with his friend Inman.
. . .
When Desmond turned the failsafe key in the Swan and caused it to implode, he was rescued by Jacob/Cerberus, but not before he had absorbed much of the Swan's power. Now, DESmond does not see the future but DEStiny - how things are planned to happen - not necessarily how they will happen.
. - nomojunkscience, on 10/11/2007, -6/+143I like how people make posts about choosing Heroes over Lost like its some contest. Guess what you can watch them both, like them both, and be thankful for both! Isn't life great?
- seattlephantom, on 10/11/2007, -9/+129Holy *****. I just spent my entire lunch hour reading that. Damned interesting though.
This weeks LOST did kick some ass for the first time in a long time. - Nudar, on 10/11/2007, -7/+112Although unlikely to be the true story behind Lost, props to the man for his theory.
- zepolen, on 10/11/2007, -9/+90I somehow think that whenever a good theory, that has some correct predictions, is posted on the internet, the writers of Lost change the script to make it not so.
- j00b, on 10/11/2007, -4/+75Agreed. Great read. First theory I've actually read in a while then felt compelled to actually sit there and contemplate it.
- Pooball, on 10/11/2007, -4/+43It's amazing to me that people are still trying to figure out LOST. There's a formula to the mysteries and their reveals, folks! There's always ONE LAST PIECE of the puzzle that the show gives away before they answer a 'question' or mystery (typically in the same episode), thereby making most guesses moot. It's really quite hard/impossible to come up with some of the answers without all of the puzzle pieces. They make it that way on purpose you know.
A few recent(ish) answers for instance:
1) Claire being kidnapped - actual cause was because the island didn't allow babies without the mothers dying. How in the hell could we have guessed that there was some huge baby's momma problem, and that was the reason why they abducted her?
2) Locke’s paralysis – uhm, getting pushed out of a window by his Dad. Couldn’t have really figured that one out without knowing his Dad lived on the 8th floor.
3) Why nobody has found the losties yet – We thought the real world couldn’t find them because of the magnetic waves, but really it’s because they stopped looking after they thought they found the 815 wreckage? New info there, spinning the story in a new direction.
4) What’s in the hatch (circa season 1) – Dharma initiative? Who in the hell could have thought up the whole Dharma initiative just by looking at the door?
I love the show, but personally it’s just more fun letting the damn thing unfold. Some mysteries are solvable, yes (e.g. Ben being ex-dharma), but do people HONESTLY think they have all the answers to solve a show that still has 50+ episodes to air?
If you’re counting, the show is a little over half-way through its storyline. Did we know halfway through “Matrix: Revolutions” that Neo would be bargaining with some giant bee-machine at the end of the series? Did we know that while Marty was staring at his Mom’s gigantic alternate-universe jugs, that he’d be hitching a ride off a damn steam train in 1885 in the end of “Back to the Future III”? Anyone think Luke would be attempting to save Darth’s life at the end of Return of the Jedi, while he’s farting around Dagobah in the middle of “Empire Strikes Back”?
Some storylines aren’t as predictable, especially when the writers aren’t done writing them yet. :) - chemam, on 10/11/2007, -10/+46that is the dumbest thing i've heard today.
- Itazura, on 10/11/2007, -3/+37Good theory, but why the hell doesn't anyone mention the broken statue foot from before? Where the hell did that come from and are the producers just gonna forget about it?
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+29Someone that was born in 1989 is 18 years old. God, I'm starting to feel old!
- LavaHot, on 10/11/2007, -7/+31... There's a problem though. Blackrock is a type of limestone, with absolutely no magnetic properties whatsoever. In addition, there is no evidence to suggest that Brain waves can be stored magnetically or that a person can be subjected to such stored patterns and recall them as his own. In fact, human brainwave patterns produce so little EM, that you couldn't power a light bulb, even if you had a great idea, let alone be able to store them in magnetic ore in the throws of death. Sound is not EM activity.
The Swan explanation makes no sense, neither does the application of bad QT in explanation of the Pearl. Jacob is not a Dharma child, he's too old to be so. Instead, it is much more likely that he is a "hostile" a native, perhaps of the four-toed variety. Cerberus is not Jacob. Alvar is alive and well. Radzinsky is NOT Mikhail, despite his odd ability to come back to life, even when blood gushes from his ears.
There are too many other things to discount. Although, I have to give credit for such imagination. - Gratch, on 10/11/2007, -2/+26ummm, yes. The theory involves info through the episode last wednesday.
- lolhax, on 10/11/2007, -14/+37So you're here, why? ***** off troll.
- holdemrico, on 10/11/2007, -2/+24link
http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23991 - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+21A rather impressive theory! It covers the black smoke nicely as well as the "ghosts". It also covers how a plane can blow up at 10,000 feet and have survivors.
However, I think the part about collecting people who were impacted by the Nigerian crash is weak because removing 40+ people from the timestream would tend to cause even more disruption.
I also don't think it covers how an 18th century ship got to be MILES inland (over rolling hills and jungle).
It doesn't cover how this island remains hidden. I suppose one could argue that the very wealthy Hanso foundation keeps the whole world (and satellites) from looking at this area. Possible, but a stretch.
I don't think it explains the 1st or second anomaly well. Why are there no lingering consequences from the second anomaly? No one is pushing any button now. - DougO, on 10/11/2007, -2/+21Dugg in recognition of the fact that the poster refrained from adding EVER to the title.
- Cl1mh4224rd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+19This theory doesn't address what was revealed in the last episode; that the Others, with the exception of Ben, are NOT the DHARMA Initiative. Every other member of the DHARMA Initiative was killed by the natives/hostiles, who then moved in to "Otherville".
- robdiggity, on 10/11/2007, -0/+19This theory is neat and all, but it does not address Life Extension Project, the box that produces anything, Walt, the fact that Martin (and other folks?) hasn't ever aged, pregnancy/conception issues, and so on...
- michaelb1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+19That must be in. I think you figured it out.
Lost is a pre-lude to Children of Men. - mesmeriffic, on 10/11/2007, -2/+19What? A compromise?!
But...WE MUST HAVE CONFLICT!
/sarc - raeldc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17I don't even have any ads on my blog. Sorry if you thought it was a blog spam. Here it is then.
Here’s my response.
Instead of the island being just a black rock, why not make it an electromagnetic anomaly that serves as a gateway to an alternate reality(Quantum Theory/Multiple Universe) - that’s why one episode was also entitled “A Tale of 2 Cities”. This reality has different constants, and slightly different laws of physics. Hence explaining why women from our reality can’t get pregnant properly, and faster cell regeneration. It also explains why the outside world can’t see it. And perhaps why the compass’ north points to a different direction.Dharma or Hanso wasn’t the first to get there. There have been people throughout the ages who accidentally got there and perhaps built a small civilization - thus explaining the 4-toed foot. Or we can also take it further that this reality has a different kind of humans. Humans that have exceptionally higher psychic powers. And perhaps Humans that have 4 toes? The islands’ natives communicate through their mind and have psycho-kinetic abilities. The power of these natives can only be disrupted through loud sounds - thus the Sonar Fence. Guns aren’t meant to kill them, only to drive them away. Alex gave a gun to Lock to drive Jacob away in case Jacob does something. It can also explain the loath of Jacob to human technology. The Dynamite that Jack used against the Black Smoke drove it away. These natives are also able to take forms of people from a person’s memory, or perhaps induce these illusions. The Black Smoke is not Jacob but the native’s defense system or primary weapon against intruders.
This electromagnetic gateway opens up when there’s an intense storm, or a surge of electromagnetic anomaly. Dharma knew about this that’s why they built the swan to release the anomaly in 108 minute intervals. There’s no satellite from the outside world involved here. When Desmond tried not to push the button, the gateway opened up for a while making Flight 815 crash. Take note that the others had no idea that a plane will crash, that’s why Ben had to order a profile search for each of the passengers. During the crash, the reality of the Losties split into 2. One was left in the our world, the other was on the island. The original world found the crashed plane.
Dharma also made an artificial underwater gateway, that’s why people had to go there through a submarine. Also, the cable serves a line of communication between this dimension and the outside world (The cable passes through the artificial gateway).
When the Swan imploded, the anomaly was detected by the outside world. Pen(Desmond’s lover) has put up a search team that will constantly monitor the electromagnetic anomalies around the coordinates where Desmond disappeared during his quest. They were lucky to identify the exact coordinates, so Pen sent a search and rescue team. But the SaR Team can’t find the island since it’s on another dimension. However there was a storm during the search, which opens holes to this reality. Naomi got in, but her chopper didn’t, Desmond and his gang only heard the sounds of chopper crashing.
The results of the Swan’s implosion also resulted in the destruction of the artificial gateway that Dharma built. Thus the Others can’t communicate anymore with the outside world. The can’t go out anymore also. Also, Desmond acquired some ability to see the past and future of alternate realities. We don’t know if Jacob has anything to do about that.
Ben didn’t like Dharma. The natives used the memory about his mother to entice him to join them. There are also people from Dharma that revolted against Dharma and joined the natives. Those are the people that we saw with Ben when they killed everyone in Dharma. Ben now took control of the Dharma’s research. Now this is where there is still a gray area. Who are the people that Ben has contacted outside. If he’s Dharma’s enemy, how could he have that much resources to do business outside of the island. I’d guess that Dharma didn’t know what really happened inside the island since they are still sending food to the station. Right now, I guess that Ben’s Research Objective is not for the Human Race but for the Native’s own reasearch. The natives are using Ben to research about humans. It seems that the purpose of the natives is to teach humans their kind of morality and discipline. They want to know why humans can’t reproduce on the island. They’d want to breed humans there to “make them better”. So far, some of the Losties like Cindy and the kidnapped Losties are already brainwashed with the Native’s doctrine.
Desmond on the other hand was sent there by Dharma as a replacement for Radzinsky. Pen’s father is perhaps related to Dharma. Dharma used the race and the boat to stir Desmond into the island perhaps because Pen’s father think that he should be away from Pen. It seems that Ben led Dharma to believe that there was a contamination or an outbreak of some sort(Explaining the sudden deaths of most of the workers). That’s why they’re cautiously using protective suits(at least on camera). Inman already knew what is really happening on the Island, he knew that the natives already took control. He just wanted to fool Desmond and Dharma so he can get out of there. Dharma used a pacific storm to bring Desmond into the island. Of course they already knew that there will be a storm on that area, they just led Desmond there.
Whether this Electromagnetic Anomaly is accidental/natural or purposely created by the island’s Natives as a prelude to a world invasion, we don’t know. Dharma knew that the world is destined to meet a great crisis. Perhaps they’re trying to stop the Natives. It also seems to me that the natives have already started influencing the original reality. Explaining why Hurley won the lottery using the numbers. We still don’t know the extent of their influence on the relationship of the Losties. The Natives perhaps is also instrumental in giving Ben the resources he need to get connections outside of the island. His connection is not necessarily Dharma’s.
Just my 2 Cents :) . - alf86, on 10/11/2007, -3/+20@cwgannon:
That is the last step before transcendence. - shableep, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15i don't think Lost has been scientifically legit for quite some time. it's been science of the fantastical variety since the beginning.
- Murrabbit, on 10/11/2007, -4/+18This read has spoilers the likes of which you can't possibly imagine.
- hilo4321, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15i _love_ cleaning lint traps, seriously, especially after a rather fuzzy load
- joaob, on 10/11/2007, -3/+151989...so I'm assuming you're 18?
Can you read at 18?
The producers have said numerous times that the answer IS NOT a dream, nor is it purgatory/hell. - Jrr6415sun, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12They said they will get to it in season 4
- michaelb1, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14"sophomoric writing and idiotic attempts at social commentary"
are you referring to Lost or yourself? - uptown, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13Either that, or the writers really have no clue what to do next, and are just scanning the internets to find their next storyline ....
- Sabredog, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9@laserblazer
You've been trolling this article's comment section far too much. Welcome to my block list. - logicalnoise, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11the producers have been hinting that the island has many more strange properties( constant references to volcanoes during this past week was a giant clue). I'm waiting on the heroes season 1 dvd to start on that but LOST has been throughly entertaining to me.
- zenatek, on 10/11/2007, -6/+15If I had to stop watching the show that would at least satisfy my questions so I could move on with my life.
- Murrabbit, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12Wow good theory, I like how, though necessarily sci-fi (no way to avoid it at this point) it still allows the series, when seen from above, to be about the past of the characters, and their own redemption and arcs, which, duh is the source of nearly all the drama in the show, and as such really does need to be crucial in some way to the over all scheme.
What this theory fails to touch on, though, is the supposed Disease on the Island that Rousseau and Inman were convinced of (Both apparently independently of one another, though it may be described as a trick of the others).
It also doesn't really explain what all the experimentation on pregnant women is about, or why babies conceived on the island kill their mothers before they are born.
Furthermore it doesn't really explain the nature of the Others themselves. As we saw in the last episode the others are NOT the DARHMA project (Possibly break-aways from the DARHMA project, though that's not likely as they described them as "natives"). The Others did apparently kill the members of the DARHMA project along with help from Ben, and then just took over their stuff.
Nor does it explain why eyeliner guy hasn't seemed to aged a day since Ben was a small boy, or what the creepy healing factor on the island is all about (the one that healed Locke, made Jin fertile again, now allows Ben to Walk and so on).
Oh and of course, four toed statue WTF?
This theory is incomplete at best, but I wouldn't be surprised if some very major pieces of it are in fact accurate. - phantom_mullet, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Cool set of images here:
http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23991&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=855&sid=05cfc806d1a09e3f36af0b8b6aee9543 - starfir3, on 10/11/2007, -4/+12i like the theory a lot.. alot of if makes sense.. i think the following theory makes a lot of sense also.. maybe if we combined the two..
Let's go back to shortly after the turn of the Twentieth century, the days of Einstein and other early theoretical physicists. This was the dawn of the age of quantum mechanics, which provided new understanding and insight into physics at the sub-atomic level. New mathematics described the behavior of the tiny particles that make up all of matter in the universe. The math was clearly described in terms of numbers, symbols, formulas... however the application to nature as we know it was strange, weird, bizarre.
It was very difficult to wrap the human brain around many of the concepts of quantum mechanics, and the math alone was inadequate to explain the problems. Thus, physicists and mathematicians turned to "Gedanken Experiments," German for Thought Experiments. Applying the known concepts of quantum mechanics to situations in the "real world" allowed a conversation to take place in a way most anybody could (sort of) understand.
Before I lose you, here is an example. In the mathematics of quantum physics, time travel is THEORETICALLY possible. One of the most famous Gedanken Experiments is the Grandfather Paradox. If you could travel back in time, could you kill your grandfather? Logic tells you that no, you could not, for if you did, you would not exist. (Pause here and consider why Locke insists that "he can't" kill his father, he needs somebody else to do it.) The beautiful thing about Gedanken Experiments is that they are both scientific and philosophical, perfect fodder for a creative writer. In the case of the Grandfather Paradox, while they logic is clear, the actual experience of it is a mystery. Imagine actually standing there in the past, holding a loaded gun to the head of your grandfather... what would actually prevent you? "Something" would, some unknown mechanism of physics... and that is where the writers of "Lost" imagine for us.
"Lost" is a grand Gedanken Experiment, a test of science and philosophy. It asks the question, What if time travel were not only possible, but real, with technology developed in a manner as realistic and consistent with known theoretical physics as possible? And to make it even more dramatic, What if you could travel back in time, AND NOT KNOW IT? The passengers of Flight 815 have done exactly that, and the writers have made the audience go along with them, sharing the same sense of confusion and mystery.
Let's talk about what we know about time travel today. We are not talking about cheesy movies of the past, where one can travel back to the age of dinosaurs or the middle ages. In fact, in the "real" science of time travel, a few things are known by the constraints of physics and quantum mechanics.
There is a conceptual model of a real time machine, and it works something like this:
A time machine must have two parts, essentially two portals, connected by a wormhole (or black hole or whatever you want to call it). Door #1 is built alongside Door #2. Door #1 is allowed to continue along the "present"
timeline, while Door #2 is encapsulated in a bubble within space-time, thus separated from the present timeline. This would require a great amount of energy and technology obviously unknown today... but thanks to the writers of "Lost," it has been solved by Dharma Industries. The amount of separation would be only slight to begin with... say, 108 minutes. Since Door #1 exists in the present timeline, it can safely be located anywhere (Dharma headquarters?). Door #2, now operating in a different place in space-time, in the past, must be safely located in a remote location, for any type of interaction with it from the outside could be catastrophic.
There is a very important concept in time travel here, which is that you can NEVER travel back further in time than the creation of your time machine; Hence the impossibility of visiting the dinosaurs, etc. Now, if the two doors of your time machine were separated by only 108 minutes at the initial "event", but then allowed to just sit there, then both timelines would progress at the same pace, forever separated by only 108 minutes. Traveling to the past, but only by 108 minutes, would not be very interesting. Much more exciting would be to keep Door #2 back at the original time of its inception, while Door #1 continues to move forward in time. You could do this by continually "resetting" the clock on Door #2. Over time, the separation between the two doors would grow and grow, from minutes, to hours, to days, to years.
If you actually had the technology to achieve time travel in this manner, there are MANY profound questions you would have to test and answer in order to be confident that you could safely operate the time machine without catastrophically altering the future. The Grandfather Paradox is the most obvious, but actually only one of many questions.
ANSWER #1: What is the Dharma Initiative? It is the building and testing of a time machine, as described above. Door #1 is at the Dharma Headquarters, Door #2 is on the Island in the remote South Pacific.
The question isn't, Where is the Island? The question is, When is the Island? The answer to that depends on how long ago, in the present timeline, the time machine was created... approximately 14 years ago, I believe.
ANSWER #2: Why must the button be pushed every 108 minutes? This "resets"
the clock of Door #2 of the time machine, essentially holding it at the time of its inception in the relative past. If allowed to pass 108 minutes on the clock, then the time machine will lose the ability to reset itself. Why, then, must it be pressed by a person, and not just programmed to reset itself? This is because the controllers at Door #1 do not have control over Door #2 in the past, and should disaster strike, and nobody is left alive in the past at Door #2, it should be allowed to pass 108 minutes and no longer reset. ANSWER #3: What happened when the clock was allowed to pass 108 minutes? Door #2 of the time machine lost the ability to reset, and will now continue to progress along a timeline into the future, locked at approximately 14 years separation from Door #1.
What are some of the other critical questions, like the Grandfather Paradox, that must be answered when considering time travel? Here is a great one:
What if a childless woman travels back in time and conceives a child? ANSWER
#4: A childless woman cannot travel to the past and conceive a child, because if she did, she would not have been a childless woman. In "Lost", both mother and child die before the birth, thus preserving the timeline and laws of nature. Perhaps the Others do not fully understand this, and brought in fertility doctor Juliet to see if they can overcome this obstacle.
Consider another:
What if a child travels back to a time before he or she was born? Perhaps nothing... but what if the child dies in the past, before being born? Again, impossible. ANSWER #5: The Others abduct children on the Island to protect them at all costs, for they cannot allow the catastrophic violation of the laws of nature of a child dying before being conceived.
And yet another:
If you travel to the past, will you be the "you" of the present timeline when you arrive, or the younger "you" of the past, or some combination of the two? I do not know, but I believe this offers insight into why John Locke can walk on the Island despite being paralyzed. ANSWER #6: Locke can walk not because the Island has powers to cure, but because he has traveled back to a time BEFORE he was ever paralyzed. He is somehow a blend of the Locke of the present and the Locke of the past.
Who is Ben? I believe he is the creator of the time machine. The Others are his associates living in the time-space bubble around the Island and Door #2 of the time machine in the "past." They are managing it and testing the effects of time travel, and strictly controlling who exits this bubble into the outside world.
How does one arrive at the Island? There are two methods of traveling to the site (and time) of the Island. First is the controlled method via Door #1 at Dharma Headquarters. It is not via plane, submarine, or any other traditional method of transportation.
The other method is in the accidental collision with the time-space bubble that surrounds the Island, as happened with Oceanic Flight 815, the Portuguese woman's helicopter, etc. Despite the many theories that abound in online forums, the Others did not know that Flight 815 was coming or going to crash at the Island. It was a chance encounter. It was a disaster that created a paradox... what happens to a plane that crashes in the present, while entering the past? This leads to the question of whether the passengers are alive or dead, answered by talking about a cat.
Schrodinger's cat, to be specific. Again, quantum mechanics can be very strange. One of the strangest behaviors in particle physics is known as Superposition, which is the ability of a particle to occupy two different states simultaneously (like up and down, left and right, here and there, etc.). In the world we know, you cannot be both here and there, but in particle physics, a world of probability, chance, and duality, you can. How can one imagine this? Another great Gedanken Experiment was conceived, as follows:
Place a cat in a sealed, steel box, along with a bottle of poison. In addition, a radioactive element is placed within the steel box. The decay of this radioactive element triggers a hammer, which breaks the bottle, releasing the poison and killing the cat. For the observer, outside of the box, you do not know when this radioactive decay happens. Because of the laws of Superposition, the radioactive element can occupy both states simultaneously, for the briefest moment. For that blink in time, the bottle is both broken and intact... the cat is both dead and alive, at the same time. This is a puzzle of science, but more important perhaps is the philosophical question of what does it mean to be both dead and alive?
ANSWER #7: The passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 are dead at the bottom of the ocean. AND they are ALIVE on the Island. They are both dead and alive. I told you that you would love this one. Since they are alive in the "past" of the Island's timeline, can they return to the present in which they are dead? I guess that is the ultimate question that we will have to watch the show to find out.
A suggestion of an answer is found in Locke's/Sawyer's father. We were led to believe that he died in a car accident, and finds himself here on the Island. Of course he would think he's in hell! We believe that somehow Locke "willed" him here, but that was actually never said on the show. In fact, Ben said to Locke, "you brought him here." Perhaps what he means is this:
ANSWER #8: Locke's father did not die in the accident. I believe that we will find soon that Locke is going to leave the Island. The question that nobody asked Locke's father was when did the accident happen? See, Locke is going to return to the "present" timeline, and is going to pursue his father. He is going to find him, perhaps he is even going to cause his accident. He is going to drug and kidnap him, unable or unwilling to kill him by himself. He is somehow going to get him to Door #1 of the time machine and send him to the Island, where he already knows that Sawyer will kill him. Locke is going to "bring him here" to the Island... he just hasn't done it yet. When he is on the "outside" in the present, why is he going to do this? Because he has to, because it is destiny... for on the Island, it has already happened. You know Locke loves destiny.
I could go on and on. Why is there a zoo with polar bears? ANSWER #9: The animals are on the Island for testing the effects of the various paradoxes associated with time travel. Perhaps another reason is that by keeping and preserving endangered animals, like polar bears, within this bubble in the past, there is a resource for their recovery should they become extinct in the future. Consider it a Noah's Ark.
How do the Others know so much about the passengers of Flight 815? ANSWER
#10: The Others have had perhaps years, with Dharma Industries in the present timeline at Door #1, to research each of the individuals, and transmit this information to the Island. To the audience and the survivors of 815, it seemed like the Others instantly knew about them. However, it likely required years of research to compile the files.
There are still mysteries that remain, and stories that we do not know how they will play out. With this explanation, though, the behavior of the Others is understood. They must protect the timeline AT ALL COSTS. That makes them seem evil to the survivors of 815, but in reality their intentions are to prevent catastrophe.
There are many other stories I haven't touched, but they are all consistent with this basic theory. This includes Desmond's apparent "time loop" he is experiencing, and many others.
So there it is. Or, I'm out of my mind. Time will tell. - trappermark, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Said this above, but your comment deserves it even more:
Your supposition is nonsense in light of what was all over the news for the past two weeks. The producers of LOST accomplished something almost unprecedented in the history of network series television: they negotiated the demise of their own series way in advance. They were finally successful in convincing ABC to go with a plan they had been pushing for at least the past year: the show will end after a fixed number of episodes spread over the next three seasons. Why did they do this? Because they actually care about the story and the story's fans. They have said time-and-again on the official podcast that LOST is a story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and for it to be successful and satisfying, it must be allowed to end at the proper time. Now that hey have a definite end-point in site, the producers and writers have promised they will bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. - Eleo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Blood gushes from my ears all the time. Just a little brain damage. No big deal.
- jtorkbob, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10Umm, sort of. Yes. Yes, it does.
- swgc5, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8@Cl1mh4224rd
You are correct, this theory is ruined. - troyfoley, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6@excalpius
"The "mystery" numbers spell P-A-R-A-D-I-S-E if you flip them around (mirror/photoshop) when rearranged..."
Show your work... - michaelb1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Pretty much every article posted on digg has its own comments section or forum.
Whats your point? - Mutton, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6@ bleeblaow
Repeat after me:
The box is a metaphor.
The box is a metaphor.
The box is a metaphor.
The box is a metaphor.
The box is a metaphor.
Ben explicitly said this. Why don't people understand this? Do they not watch the show? Don't complain about not getting answers if you skip episodes! - BrewBeau, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I wonder if the pregnancy research and the babies killing mothers has something to do with how Ben was born. The island is "testing" him with it and it's his big fear.
- sunexplodes, on 10/11/2007, -8/+14He has a point, though, however crude. Why spend your time arguing with people about a tv show you don't even like, when you could be doing something you DO like?
Seems like a waste of time and energy to me. - kidmaninwar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6there are 48 more ep after this season, we'll find out one way or another
- tanside, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Anyone who hates the show can stop watching it, personally i believe its the best show EVER. This Theory, while not correct for many reasons, is very good, the writer has a very active imagination which isn't a bad thing. If you do like the show, and you are patient, you will be rewarded at the end of the series run, i know i will be.
- morgrar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5thank goodness for the block button.
- MOJIRA, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5zepolen, I agree. Unfortunately there are some good and satisfying theories on the internets and if too many are posted the LOST writers won't have anything good to actually use.
I've also noticed the LOST writers using (to a very small extent) some of the theories on the internets. Not using, but more like directly disproving through character dialogue. - apoc06, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5i think the same also applies to linux, HD movies, game consoles and any of the dozens of internet rivalries that digg users carry on about.
- michaelb1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Who needs to get a life? The guy that posts a lost theory or you for your brief but meaningless insults.
At least he added something to the Lost discussion. You just say, and I paraphrase here becuase its difficult to convey your stupidity, 'get a life morons, your such a loser for posting Lost theories'. -
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