The Big Bang Theory as Applied to the Question "What is the Island" by LaurelNev

I have started a blog at http://lost-questions-answered.blogspot.com/ to post all of my upcoming interpretations of the "unresolved questions". This theory is the first ont to be posted on this new blog. I thought I would submit it here as well, as no one knows about my new blog yet, so no one will see it.

During one of their many pre-finale interviews, Damon talked about people's need for answers, where answers may not exist. He quoted Mother's line about every answered question just leading to another question. Damon alluded to the scientific explanation for the creation of the universe: The Big Bang Theory.

“What came first...the big bang. Well, what came before that? A bigger bang.”

Damon was giving us a huge hint there. The light at the heart of the island stems from that big bang. And to understand that, we must learn a little about the big bang theory and what it asserts.

According to Wikipedia: “As used by cosmologists, the term Big Bang generally refers to the idea that the Universe has expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past (best available measurements in 2009 suggest that the initial conditions occurred around 13.3 to 13.9 billion years ago),and continues to expand to this day....”

“Without any evidence associated with the earliest instant of the expansion, the Big Bang theory cannot and does not provide any explanation for such an initial condition; rather, it describes and explains the general evolution of the Universe since that instant. The observed abundances of the light elements throughout the cosmos closely match the calculated predictions for the formation of these elements from nuclear processes in the rapidly expanding and cooling first minutes of the Universe, as logically and quantitatively detailed according to Big Bang nucleosynthesis.”

The core ideas of the Big Bang—the expansion, the early hot state, the formation of helium, the formation of galaxies—are derived from many observations that are independent from any cosmological model; these include the abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, and the Hubble diagram for Type Ia supernovae.

Now, let's try to understand the Big bang in more literary terms. There is this core of exotic matter at the basis of all life as we know it. This exotic matter may manifest itself as a glowing ball of light. There is a little bit of this light/matter in every human being. This exotic matter that caused the Big Bang is the root of life as we know it. This light is in an ever evolving state. However, if it is allowed to grow freely, it will reach its maximum state and begin to collapse upon itself, creating the reverse effect. In other words, if that light is allowed to go out, the reverse of the Big Bang could occur.

If we apply the Big bang to the Island, we could infer that the golden cave contains a part of that primordial ball of energy that created the Universe. The part of the Big bang that initially created the earth came to rest in a crater on the Island. For millions of years, the Island evolved around that energy. Therefore, the “source” is a metaphor for that big ball of matter that banged and created the universe. It is the origin of the earth, its mother, and the place from which all other parts of the earth grew.

The Earth's development paralleled that of the Universe; a concentrated blob of land began to spread farther apart. Pieces of the original land mass broke off, drifting away to evolve into continents and archipelagos. These pieces became fixed in their space once the Earth began to reach its point of maximum expansion. The Island, however, being the only earthly remnant of that original bang, never became fixed. Originally, its movement was essential to the evolution of the planet. As the earth spread, the island's purpose changed into one of correction, shifting along with all of the tectonic shifts of the earth itself. It's movements help eliminate the potentially devastating effects of things like erosion, tidal shifts, etc. It is flexible to help accommodate the effects of the continued expansion of the source.

Part of what the Island wants to do is keep all of her children in homeostasis. Being that it is the energy that started it all, it moves through space in time in a different manner than its descendants. And as the mother of all land, it tries to keep an eye on her children. As cataclysmic events occur, it shifts around so that its ever-emanating energy may heal the spots that need it most, restoring the state of homeostasis. That is why it was near the site of nuclear experimentation during the Cold War era; it moved there to help heal what was wounded during the testing of the Bomb. Its proximity to this testing is what allowed the American Military to collide with its shores, however briefly.

A big part of Big Bang also involves the concepts of dark matter and dark energy. The exact nature of the dark stuff is still an area of evolving theory. Scientists pretty much accept that there is a dark denseness associated with the light aspects of Big Bang. The nature of this dark matter and its relationship to Lost will be discussed later in the upcoming “What is the Smoke Monster” post (to be written at a later date—stay tuned!). For now, it's just important to understand that many different types of matter were involved in the Big Bang.

Now if the source is the remnants of Big Bng creating Earth, then the Island is also the source of all life on our planet. It consists of both light particles and dark matter. As long as there is room for it to expand, life as we know it will continue. When it runs out of room to grow, it will begin to collapse upon itself, meaning the end of our world.

So what was that stone cork covered in ancient hieroglyphics in the heart of the cave? Merely something Ancient scientists conceived of to stem the flow of that energy. If it were allowed to flow unstopped, the universe would expand too quickly, leading to its ultimate demise. When the world was in its infancy, and new continents were being birthed from the island's coasts, its current inhabitants would literally watch parts of their community drift away, never to be seen again. The energy propagated itself by setting its creations adrift to form new lands, across the sea. What if such birthings were preceded by volcanic-like eruptions from the source, similar to the one we saw when Desmond pulled the plug, and before Jack replaced it? Ancient brains would try to plug that hole to make those eruptions stop. Thus, I posit that the stone cork represented just that; a way to plug the flow of creationary matter to slow that growth and change for which the ancient people were not prepared.

So the Island contained the energy that caused the Big Bang. The “heart” of the energy was contained in that cave. But being that that energy is ever expanding, it also flowed throughout the island. This was manifested in “pockets of unusual energy” where some of the ancient inhabitants built wells. As the streams began flowing underground, at places they crossed this energy, endowing the waters with its energies. The energy was so vital, it expended into every underground nook and cranny it could find.

So what was the Hatch? The hatch was merely a more modern and “scientific” way to try to control the expansion of the Big Bang matter, a systemic release of ever expanding light and dark energy. The Temple Hot Tub was similarly a point where the creationary matter flowed through the waters, concentrating the matter so its effects were especially potent.

In sum, the Island represents the point at which the Big bang created this planet. It's source is the remnants of that exotic matter that “banged”. Because the matter is ever expanding, it emanates throughout the veins of the Island. It must be contained and controlled, because if it were allowed to flow unmanaged, it could reach the point of maximum expansion and cause the big collapse.

Of course, this explanation represents only the physical sides of the Island. There is a whole spiritual side that comes along with the science. Those spiritual essences will be explored later in this series.

My next entry will skip chronology a little and focus on the very end of the series. I will be attempting to explain the Flash Sideways and how they fit into the overall narrative. I picked this for my next topic, as it is one of the areas that is generating the most Internet buzz, and seemingly, the most confusion amongst a large contingent of fans. In the mean time, comment away on my attempt to explain the scientific answer to the island. Visit http://lost-questions-answered.blogspot.com/ to read the rest of this series.