Let me preface by saying that this observation is not unique in any particular way, nor is it a thorough analysis of the complex, and deeply intriguing mythology of the show. It is simply the result of a focused curiousity that yielded some interesting results that I thought I'd try to generalize for your pleasure. This is a summary of the concept of eternal recurrence as it applies to my, as well as your favorite show, LOST.
Eternal return is a concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur in a self-similar form an infinite number of times. That is, time is viewed as being cyclic, not linear. According to several online sources, this concept takes root in ancient Egypt, and was later adopted by the Pythagoreans and Stoics, and finds its expression across several different cultures as well. As you can see, an interesting coincidence has occured (although Locke would have admonished "Don't mistake coincidence for fate"), that is, a connection between eternal recurrence and ancient Egypt has been established, and as we all know LOST shares a similar connection(heiroglyphics). Anyways, this will be easier to understand if I just enumerate the connections between LOST and this concept:
1. Indian religions use the "Wheel of Life", or "Dharma Wheel" to express this concept. DHARMA Wheel you say?...hmmm, even the depiction of the wheel is curiously similar to the one Ben was seen turning at the end of Season 4. Here is a link for your viewing pleasure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dharma_Wheel.svg
2. Physicists such as Stephen Hawking and J. Richard Gott have proposed models by which the (or a) universe could undergo time travel, provided the balance between mass and energy created the appropriate cosmological geometry. More philosophical concepts from physics, such as Hawking's "arrow of time", for example, discuss cosmology as proceeding up to a certain point, whereafter it undergoes a time reversal. Thus, a cause precedes its effect: the causal event occurs before the event it effects. Birth, for example, follows a successful conception and not vice versa. Thus causality is intimately bound up with time's arrow. Interesting facts:
a.David Hume (whom our friend Desmond is an homage to) discussed the causal arrow of time as being "problematic" since one only perceives a sequence of events, not the causal relation itself.
b.Mrs. Hawkins, the character created as an homage to Stephen Hawkins, also bounds this concept to LOST by the writers intentionally naming her after the famed physicists with the purpose of bounding his theories to the show.
3. Friedrich Nietzsche also discussed the concept of eternal recurrence at great length and believed that in order to comprehend eternal recurrence was to not merely come to peace with it but to embrace it, thus requiring amor fati, "love of fate." As we all know, John Locke certainly possess this devotion.
Well, hopefully this theory makes some sense and possesses some sort of logical structure, although I doubt this very much. It doesn't explain a lot, but it certainly does provide some insight into the writer's thought process, and hopefully I did my part in trying to present the profound and very abstract concept of eternal recurrence as it relates to LOST.
Theory by deLizardKing
Eternal return is a concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur in a self-similar form an infinite number of times. That is, time is viewed as being cyclic, not linear. According to several online sources, this concept takes root in ancient Egypt, and was later adopted by the Pythagoreans and Stoics, and finds its expression across several different cultures as well. As you can see, an interesting coincidence has occured (although Locke would have admonished "Don't mistake coincidence for fate"), that is, a connection between eternal recurrence and ancient Egypt has been established, and as we all know LOST shares a similar connection(heiroglyphics). Anyways, this will be easier to understand if I just enumerate the connections between LOST and this concept:
1. Indian religions use the "Wheel of Life", or "Dharma Wheel" to express this concept. DHARMA Wheel you say?...hmmm, even the depiction of the wheel is curiously similar to the one Ben was seen turning at the end of Season 4. Here is a link for your viewing pleasure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dharma_Wheel.svg
2. Physicists such as Stephen Hawking and J. Richard Gott have proposed models by which the (or a) universe could undergo time travel, provided the balance between mass and energy created the appropriate cosmological geometry. More philosophical concepts from physics, such as Hawking's "arrow of time", for example, discuss cosmology as proceeding up to a certain point, whereafter it undergoes a time reversal. Thus, a cause precedes its effect: the causal event occurs before the event it effects. Birth, for example, follows a successful conception and not vice versa. Thus causality is intimately bound up with time's arrow. Interesting facts:
a.David Hume (whom our friend Desmond is an homage to) discussed the causal arrow of time as being "problematic" since one only perceives a sequence of events, not the causal relation itself.
b.Mrs. Hawkins, the character created as an homage to Stephen Hawkins, also bounds this concept to LOST by the writers intentionally naming her after the famed physicists with the purpose of bounding his theories to the show.
3. Friedrich Nietzsche also discussed the concept of eternal recurrence at great length and believed that in order to comprehend eternal recurrence was to not merely come to peace with it but to embrace it, thus requiring amor fati, "love of fate." As we all know, John Locke certainly possess this devotion.
Well, hopefully this theory makes some sense and possesses some sort of logical structure, although I doubt this very much. It doesn't explain a lot, but it certainly does provide some insight into the writer's thought process, and hopefully I did my part in trying to present the profound and very abstract concept of eternal recurrence as it relates to LOST.
Theory by deLizardKing
