During the second season of Lost, I proposed the analogy between Lost and previous works of science-fiction such as Sphere and Dark City. Spoilers aside, both of those stories involve the existence of technology that operates in conjunction with human thought in order to manipulate physical reality. Dark City has always been one of my favorite films, and I immensely enjoyed Michael Crichton's novel Sphere (much moreso than the film adaptation). In season two, the re-appearance of Kate's horse, Charlie's heroin, Hurley's food stash, etc. indicated that characters thoughts and desires impacted the physical world. Little did I know at the time, but a more dedicated message board poster by the name of Vozzek69 had also begun to circulate his "Everything Happens for a Reason" theory, more commonly known now as the "Manifestation Theory." The most recent episode, The Man From Tallahassee, provided the most direct evidence yet in support of the theory, when Ben tells Locke that the island contains a magic box that makes things appear on the island. Many people who were persistently skeptical of Vozzek's theory finally seem to have bought into it. The big picture finally makes sense to people, and everything is great, or so it would seem.
In light of the recent revelations in season three, however, I have come to reject many key elements of my initial Dark-City/Sphere analogy, and accordingly many elements of Vozzek's manifestation theory. The occurrences on the island have proceeded in a very unique way, very much unlike the events of other science-fiction stories. In my newly formed theory, which I will now propose, no manifestations have ever occurred on the island in the same sense as the manifestations in the novel Sphere. Take, for instance, a specific example from Crichton's Sphere: the character Norman has fearful thoughts about poisonous seasnakes and causes those snakes to appear in the underwater station to attack him. Two key elements are important to note here: one, the snakes literally appeared out of nothingness (and then later disappear); and two, Norman's thoughts were both the necessary and the sufficient cause of the snake's appearance. Judging from the evidence in the show, none of the occurrences on Lost that could be considered manifestations of character's thoughts possess either of these two characteristics. To think of it another way: at time one, the snake does not exist; at time two, Norman experiences intense thoughts concerning the snakes; at time three, the snakes now exist in the physical world. The technology in Dark City operates under the same chain of events, any time that John Murdoch wills an object into existence. Apparent manifestations on Lost do not follow the same three-step linear path. In each case, a chain of events caused the event to take place, well before that person ever experienced their thoughts/desires/fears. We can (mistakenly) think of a person's beliefs as the 'reason' for the event to take place, but this reason did not cause it to take place. A completely separate chain of events ensured that all the pieces would be in place at the exact time when the person desired or feared it.
Example: Walt reads a comic book with a polar bear, which apparently results in the appearance of polar bears on the island. However, the Dharma Initiative brought polar bears to the island as part of zoological experiments decades earlier.
Example: An old van driven by Roger Workman crashes in the jungle during the 80s. Hurley later discovers the van after contemplating Hurley has memories concerning his father's run-down Camaro.
Example: Centuries ago, tropical storms carry the slave ship Black Rock miles inland. Rousseau eventually leads Locke to the ship precisely when he needs the dynamite to open the hatch.
Example: The Nigerian drug plane containing Yemi crashes on the island many years ago. Mr. Eko is then reunited with his brother after while remembering the loss of his brother.
Example: Desmond's battle with Kelvin and his failure to push the button causes a system failure at the Swan station. Inadvertently, Desmond causes a spinal surgeon to fall from the sky the day after Ben receives his tumor diagnosis.
I could continue to provide many more examples (both small and large), but I think you get my point. I will now propose all of the elements of my alternative theory.
First Premise: There is one and only one timeline. The timeline is never interrupted or corrupted in any way. Time is the universal invariant.
Second Premise: No events in Lost violate the physical rules that govern our reality. Ben talks about a magical box on the island only as a metaphor to describe the effects that he perceives. Teleportation, psychokinesis, and mental conjuring are not possible on Lost.
Third Premise: Free will is inviolable. With the massive number of coincidences in the past, the power of fate seems very strong. However, each character's actions are determined by his or her own free will. Fate (i.e. the initial arrangement of the universe) influences their decisions only indirectly.
Fourth Premise: The flashbacks are absolutely reliable. The numerous coincidences we see in flashbacks are not the result of false or collective memories. Every small detail in each character's flashback in fact occurred exactly as shown on screen.
At the beginning of season two, when Desmond recognizes Jack from their encounter in the stadium, Locke comments ironically: "that would be impossible." However, even such an unlikely coincidence is not impossible, but instead just severely improbable. The huge complex web of connections among the castaways, however unlikely and coincidental as it may seem, is not impossible. One of the most beautiful thematic elements of Lost has always been the clash between science and faith. I refer to my theory as the Unity theory, because it suggests that every event contains both a rational and a spiritual explanation. Instead of presenting a dichotomy, the man of science and the man of faith are both absolutely correct in their explanations. More recently, the episode Flashes Before Your Eyes provided a meditation on the parallel conflict between fate and free will. The episode suggests that Desmond was fated to end up on the island, but Desmond still makes his decision to follow that path for different reasons altogether. Desmond tries to eschew responsibility for his decisions by blaming fate, but Penny calls him a coward for not accepting his role. The show demonstrates that fate and free will are united as well.
The events of Lost seem to be guided by some sort of omnipotent force. Locke creates the personification of this force as The Island. Everyone (from the Black Rock, to Rousseau, to the Nigerian drug plane, to Dharma, to the Hostiles, to Henry Gale, to the 815 survivors) was brought to the island for a reason. Whatever all-powerful entity guides the events, its power extends far beyond the geography of the island and throughout the lives of all its characters. This force does not cheat, whether by violating anyone's free will, or by violating the laws of physics.
It may be true that everything happens for a reason, but nothing happens without a cause.
Theory by Luhks
In light of the recent revelations in season three, however, I have come to reject many key elements of my initial Dark-City/Sphere analogy, and accordingly many elements of Vozzek's manifestation theory. The occurrences on the island have proceeded in a very unique way, very much unlike the events of other science-fiction stories. In my newly formed theory, which I will now propose, no manifestations have ever occurred on the island in the same sense as the manifestations in the novel Sphere. Take, for instance, a specific example from Crichton's Sphere: the character Norman has fearful thoughts about poisonous seasnakes and causes those snakes to appear in the underwater station to attack him. Two key elements are important to note here: one, the snakes literally appeared out of nothingness (and then later disappear); and two, Norman's thoughts were both the necessary and the sufficient cause of the snake's appearance. Judging from the evidence in the show, none of the occurrences on Lost that could be considered manifestations of character's thoughts possess either of these two characteristics. To think of it another way: at time one, the snake does not exist; at time two, Norman experiences intense thoughts concerning the snakes; at time three, the snakes now exist in the physical world. The technology in Dark City operates under the same chain of events, any time that John Murdoch wills an object into existence. Apparent manifestations on Lost do not follow the same three-step linear path. In each case, a chain of events caused the event to take place, well before that person ever experienced their thoughts/desires/fears. We can (mistakenly) think of a person's beliefs as the 'reason' for the event to take place, but this reason did not cause it to take place. A completely separate chain of events ensured that all the pieces would be in place at the exact time when the person desired or feared it.
Example: Walt reads a comic book with a polar bear, which apparently results in the appearance of polar bears on the island. However, the Dharma Initiative brought polar bears to the island as part of zoological experiments decades earlier.
Example: An old van driven by Roger Workman crashes in the jungle during the 80s. Hurley later discovers the van after contemplating Hurley has memories concerning his father's run-down Camaro.
Example: Centuries ago, tropical storms carry the slave ship Black Rock miles inland. Rousseau eventually leads Locke to the ship precisely when he needs the dynamite to open the hatch.
Example: The Nigerian drug plane containing Yemi crashes on the island many years ago. Mr. Eko is then reunited with his brother after while remembering the loss of his brother.
Example: Desmond's battle with Kelvin and his failure to push the button causes a system failure at the Swan station. Inadvertently, Desmond causes a spinal surgeon to fall from the sky the day after Ben receives his tumor diagnosis.
I could continue to provide many more examples (both small and large), but I think you get my point. I will now propose all of the elements of my alternative theory.
First Premise: There is one and only one timeline. The timeline is never interrupted or corrupted in any way. Time is the universal invariant.
Second Premise: No events in Lost violate the physical rules that govern our reality. Ben talks about a magical box on the island only as a metaphor to describe the effects that he perceives. Teleportation, psychokinesis, and mental conjuring are not possible on Lost.
Third Premise: Free will is inviolable. With the massive number of coincidences in the past, the power of fate seems very strong. However, each character's actions are determined by his or her own free will. Fate (i.e. the initial arrangement of the universe) influences their decisions only indirectly.
Fourth Premise: The flashbacks are absolutely reliable. The numerous coincidences we see in flashbacks are not the result of false or collective memories. Every small detail in each character's flashback in fact occurred exactly as shown on screen.
At the beginning of season two, when Desmond recognizes Jack from their encounter in the stadium, Locke comments ironically: "that would be impossible." However, even such an unlikely coincidence is not impossible, but instead just severely improbable. The huge complex web of connections among the castaways, however unlikely and coincidental as it may seem, is not impossible. One of the most beautiful thematic elements of Lost has always been the clash between science and faith. I refer to my theory as the Unity theory, because it suggests that every event contains both a rational and a spiritual explanation. Instead of presenting a dichotomy, the man of science and the man of faith are both absolutely correct in their explanations. More recently, the episode Flashes Before Your Eyes provided a meditation on the parallel conflict between fate and free will. The episode suggests that Desmond was fated to end up on the island, but Desmond still makes his decision to follow that path for different reasons altogether. Desmond tries to eschew responsibility for his decisions by blaming fate, but Penny calls him a coward for not accepting his role. The show demonstrates that fate and free will are united as well.
The events of Lost seem to be guided by some sort of omnipotent force. Locke creates the personification of this force as The Island. Everyone (from the Black Rock, to Rousseau, to the Nigerian drug plane, to Dharma, to the Hostiles, to Henry Gale, to the 815 survivors) was brought to the island for a reason. Whatever all-powerful entity guides the events, its power extends far beyond the geography of the island and throughout the lives of all its characters. This force does not cheat, whether by violating anyone's free will, or by violating the laws of physics.
It may be true that everything happens for a reason, but nothing happens without a cause.
Theory by Luhks
