Possible worlds theory by Pete

Watching this and other forums, containing countless theories, some brilliant, others ridiculous, I thought not to post a theory until the writers themselves do not reveal this season what all that is actually about. Personally, I am more comfortable theorizing about finished works (paintings, books, etc.) simply because then we have all the information we need. Right now, even one scene from any of the following episodes could possibly ruin even the most plausible and brilliantly conceived theories.

Still, one thought came to my mind. I was trying to tie what I had thought were the established elements on the show, and give it some known framework. So, here is a brief summation (postulates for the theory, if you will), and afterward a framework would follow. After that, hopefully, the theory that would ensue would not be a complete miss. I would also like to add I do not plan give anything like a complete theory of every element of the show.

So, let us try to establish the things we know:

1. Time travel, as witnessed in 5x11, is based on the WHH principle, and time itself is not strictly linear. That said, I can be born in 1980 (t1), get married in 2005 (t2), but then time-travel and be transported at 1950 (t3), and finally die happy in Kansas in 1980 (t4), the t1-t2-t3-t4 sequence is perfectly understandable and linear, which is only thing that matters, even though the time is not linear, meaning that years corresponding to the t-s can be all jumbled up.
2. Universe is course-correcting. In other words, even if I were to kill my parents, the very same DNA I am made up of would probably be created by some other two people which would then be my parents.
3. There are two ways of traveling: complete travel and mental travel. The first case is Ajira 316 and (perhaps) Jughead, the other, of course Desmond.
4. Things might be changed through variables (people), but it is still questionable in terms of the things shown to us so far, in which way it can happen.
5. There are no alternate realities, both events - on island and off island are equally real.
6. As witnessed in Orchid video and couple of episodes, wormholes are possible. There are several special pockets of energy, and through Casimir effect these could be connected. That is how Ben or John could travel from island and wind up in Tunisia. Why Tunisia? In a small experiment, i pulled of a von Däniken and pierced through Tunisia with a long needle. It seemed like it exited on the other side where the island might exist. So, this could be a simple explanation. But it is besides the point.

Now, these are the suppositions. If any of these is wrong, the theory is for naught.

Framework: The following framework is what made me write this theory and it is a core of it. I was thinking about linking two things theoretically very well known: possible worlds and imaginary time.

Now, in the last couple of decades, logicians and philosophers developed an interesting way of solving various problems. The created a theory of possible worlds. The basic idea is this: we are asking ourselves what might be the case. For example, is it possible that kangaroos have no tails? We imagine such a world and try to look how close it is to our own. Closeness here means the degree of similarity between two worlds. So, if not much would be changed in a world with tailless kangaroos, the that world is pretty close to our own. On the other hand, if we ask ourselves if it is possible to have no gravity, than such an imaginary world but be too distant from our own to even matter.

Now, one famous logician (Lewis, who also had interesting theories on time travel) created a theory of possible worlds where each possible world was equally real as any other. So, if a world with tailless kangaroos, or three eyed people is possible, than it exists, and it is as real as our own.

Now, the imaginary time, which is something Stephen HAWKING (among others) theorized about, is a concept from quantum theory. Just like Lewis, some quantum theorists suggest many-worlds interpretation, where there exists infinite number of worlds and in each of them is the person same as you, making a bit different choice. So, there is another world, and it contains me not writing this theory. The real time is the one in which I am writing it, and the others exist in imaginary time. Needless to say, for a person in that other time, the time in which I am is, conversely imaginary.

Now, add the two theories together, apply it to Lost, mix in the postulates, and let us see what we have. We have two equally real worlds coexisting. The same people are (or were, because some are dead on island)in both. In one they made some choices, in other, they made different choices. Thus on island Jack is the one who had wife who left him (t1), crashed on island (t2), got back (t3), went again (t4), suggested the detonation (t5), pissed Sawyer off (t6) ending back in 2007 (t7), which forms one coherent sequence of events. On the other hand you have Jack with kid, but still divorced, trying at least to make things better, making at least some choices obviously in a different manner.

What does it all mean? My take on all this is as follows. The exotic properties of the island connect it via possible wormholes to other places. The island is the central pocket, and possibly due to its properties it bends time a bit more, and thus the time on the freighter is different than on the island (let us say that the freighter was beyond, for the lack of better term, its event horizon). Now, the importance of the island for the world, leaving aside the theological in which I dare not go into before the show progresses, could be the same as that of pressing those numbers for the fate of the island. One thing that makes me think I am right is the analogous debate in the two cases. In the hatch, Jack and Locke had opposing views, and just like Jack told him that these are just damn numbers, so Locke (or Flocke, or whatever) tole Sawyer that its just a damn island.

However, Desmond comes now into play with his special way of traveling. It is obvious that this amount of pocketed energy involves traveling on a different plane, and that only a constant can make you stop traveling. This other mode of traveling through time makes him special. It is obvious that his immediate remembering of Daniel's words outside the hatch means he is (perhaps the only one who is) mentally connected to the island even when not on it, and that, moreover, establishes an important personal continuity between two locations (hatch and off-island). The way we saw a glimpse of him from Jack in LA X, suggests he is mentally connected to that world as well (I do not believe that was actually Desmond on the plane, but even if that was really him, it does not matter), and I suppose that seeing what happened to him in that world would somehow prove crucial.

With that in mind, what is the role of that other world, equally real, and what is its spatio-temporal connection to the island? The writers told they plan to somehow merge the two. However, I do not believe it will be of the same modality as it was of reuniting Dharmites with the Oceanic 6. There was many talk that those flash sideways are actually glimpses into the future, where the island sunk somehow and all those people ended up with at least slightly different outcomes.

And, that might be the case. Maybe we see the big ol reset at the end of the series, where the island somehow sinks, everyone seemingly die, but those characters actually get their lives rebooted and end up as if there was never an island, with most of their memories intact or changed. What is obvious is that these worlds are on different planes, or otherwise there would be too many gaps to fill (e.g. - Locke and his dad, Claire pregnant and Ethan her doctor).

However, I think that the said merger is more tied to the famous game of black and white. Perhaps Juliet saying that it worked meant only that it was 2007 again, or maybe more. Maybe it meant that the island from 1977 sank and two sets of circumstances were created: Dharmites went to 2007, continuing the battle as if the island did not sink, and Losties were projected in 2004, having their lives made up as if the island, and no one on it ever existed (call it the sort of Schroedinger's island). How does the game figure into it both? Maybe the big game is not played on island with repercussions to the world (though existence of the island has such repercussions, as I said above). Maybe, as in psychology, there is a control group on island, and one off the island, and the alternatives are it existing and it not having any effect, so that the real outcome of the game has no people as its ultimate end but the fate of the island.

One might ask how can island have such grave importance, when its sinking obviously left the earth standing as it were? That is where the people come into play. We still do not now when in the LA X world did the island sink (though we see Dharma houses, so it could not be in the distant past). However, it sinking may leave traces on the people. Maybe the island is itself a sort of a scale, a prerequisite for maintaining a sustainable balance. If so, maybe the true joke would be not throwing away white rock but the scales themselves!

In any case, I said I dare not go into the fate repercussions, because there is simply not enough information. What seems most plausible, as the final conclusion, is the scenario where the two worlds we see are two possible worlds, existing in two times, two separate rooms, if you will, participating in a game between two sides (one light, one dark).

Do I like my theory? Sadly, no. What I wrote here was meant to be a sort of summation and suggestion, tied within some actual theories, well established. What I would prefer is that the people on and off island were the same people, and that there was only one Jack, only one island, etc..but it seems like we are speeding away from that alternative, and I will accept it as it goes.
Thanks to everyone for reading this overly long piece of rant.