There have been a number of posts indicating that Ben must have known the losties when they came to the Island in 2004 because (as we will see) he knew them as a boy since they have now appeared in DAHRMA time. However, the view that Ben already knew them all at that point in time is not consistent with the version of time travel given to us in LOST. Lets look at two examples:
1. 2007/2008 Charlotte suddenly remembers right before she dies that Daniel Faraday is a creepy old guy that warns not to come back to the Island. This memory only now occurs because the time skips will now cause Daniel to stop in DHARMA time and become the guy who warns here. Prior to the time skip, while they were close friends Charlotte never had this memory.
2. 2007/2008 Desmond suddenly wakes up with a memory he has not had up until that point of Faraday telling him to seek out his mother.
We need to understand one very important aspect: THERE IS NO LOOP only a single and very possibly immutable time-line.
LOST’s view of time travel is that time is like traffic travelling on a one way unstoppable street with a specific horrible end. What we have also learned is that the Donkey wheel can allow cars on that street to move out of their place to the back of the line or to the front of the line and anywhere in-between, but ultimately no matter what they do they are still in that line heading all toward the same end. There appears to be no way to get off the road.
Now, back to 2004 when all of our Losties crash on the Island we know they will not travel to DARMA time until 2007/2008. Therefore 2004-2007 Ben would have no memory of them. However, 2008 Ben will now suddenly begin to have memories of them (much like Charlotte and Desmond did ) flooding his brain since they are now back in time affecting that time period. This is precisely why it would appear that even with the possibility of time travel no one can really change anything. As we know, the 2004 Losties will not travel to 1974-77 until 2008 and therefore they when they first crashed they would have had no memory at that point of DHARMA, Ben, Alpert ect. The 2008 Losties that are now in DHARMA time now knowing everything that occurred from 2004-2008 will still be unable to affect the future because the line to 2004 has already happened, and while their place in that time-line has now changed, the direction has not. Even if they use the Donkey Wheel to now go back to 2! 004 with all the knwoledge thay have gained and play it all out again they could change nothing. (This is because time itself would have compensated and course corrected for 2008 losties going to 1974-77 in an effort to come back and change 2004-2008.) Likewise, as 2008 Ben starts to have memories of the 1974 Losties in his past, there is nothing he can do to change anything because he is now in 2008 with those memories and time will have already course corrected from 1974-2008 to make sure everything ends up toward the same end. There may have been been some changes in exactly how that time period played out in Ben’s 2008 mind, but still the same ultimate conclusion and he would have no memory of a different timeline or play out of those events leading to 2008. This is what is driving Faraday nuts. Everybody is looking for a way to change the end but everything one can do, even with time travel, brings one to the same place. Desmond Hume is the one guy with the abil! ity to remember all the different time lines in his mind and c! ould be the key to creating a tangent line that changes the ending. Christian Sheppard and John Locke both dead and now alive are now anomalies of the time line. Time cannot compensate or course correct as they are not even supposed to be in the time line anymore. They as well might have thje ability to have what Faraday and gang are looking for: a way to change the end.Theory by Donald A Salerno
1. 2007/2008 Charlotte suddenly remembers right before she dies that Daniel Faraday is a creepy old guy that warns not to come back to the Island. This memory only now occurs because the time skips will now cause Daniel to stop in DHARMA time and become the guy who warns here. Prior to the time skip, while they were close friends Charlotte never had this memory.
2. 2007/2008 Desmond suddenly wakes up with a memory he has not had up until that point of Faraday telling him to seek out his mother.
We need to understand one very important aspect: THERE IS NO LOOP only a single and very possibly immutable time-line.
LOST’s view of time travel is that time is like traffic travelling on a one way unstoppable street with a specific horrible end. What we have also learned is that the Donkey wheel can allow cars on that street to move out of their place to the back of the line or to the front of the line and anywhere in-between, but ultimately no matter what they do they are still in that line heading all toward the same end. There appears to be no way to get off the road.
Now, back to 2004 when all of our Losties crash on the Island we know they will not travel to DARMA time until 2007/2008. Therefore 2004-2007 Ben would have no memory of them. However, 2008 Ben will now suddenly begin to have memories of them (much like Charlotte and Desmond did ) flooding his brain since they are now back in time affecting that time period. This is precisely why it would appear that even with the possibility of time travel no one can really change anything. As we know, the 2004 Losties will not travel to 1974-77 until 2008 and therefore they when they first crashed they would have had no memory at that point of DHARMA, Ben, Alpert ect. The 2008 Losties that are now in DHARMA time now knowing everything that occurred from 2004-2008 will still be unable to affect the future because the line to 2004 has already happened, and while their place in that time-line has now changed, the direction has not. Even if they use the Donkey Wheel to now go back to 2! 004 with all the knwoledge thay have gained and play it all out again they could change nothing. (This is because time itself would have compensated and course corrected for 2008 losties going to 1974-77 in an effort to come back and change 2004-2008.) Likewise, as 2008 Ben starts to have memories of the 1974 Losties in his past, there is nothing he can do to change anything because he is now in 2008 with those memories and time will have already course corrected from 1974-2008 to make sure everything ends up toward the same end. There may have been been some changes in exactly how that time period played out in Ben’s 2008 mind, but still the same ultimate conclusion and he would have no memory of a different timeline or play out of those events leading to 2008. This is what is driving Faraday nuts. Everybody is looking for a way to change the end but everything one can do, even with time travel, brings one to the same place. Desmond Hume is the one guy with the abil! ity to remember all the different time lines in his mind and c! ould be the key to creating a tangent line that changes the ending. Christian Sheppard and John Locke both dead and now alive are now anomalies of the time line. Time cannot compensate or course correct as they are not even supposed to be in the time line anymore. They as well might have thje ability to have what Faraday and gang are looking for: a way to change the end.Theory by Donald A Salerno
