If I remember correctly Damon & Carlton have often said that the theory of time travels they were trying to follow would avoid time paradoxes. If now we admit that the Losties can really change the future, then, a series of paradoxes might follow.
Consider time from the point of view of Jack & crew. Some of them were in 2004, some in 2007, but they all ended up in the 70s. Each of them is living his own life, and to them 1977 is the present.
From the point of view of an external observer, though, time is linear, i.e.: all the events happening in the 70s happened obviously before the 80s, the 90s, and so on. Then, anybody who has followed the linear flow of time without being detached from it, would clearly experience the second coming of the Losties in the 70s, and only later the first coming in 2004.
Think about Faraday's mother. She met the Daniel from the future in the 70s (what we saw in Ep. 5.14). The Daniel from her present would grow up exactly to be that Daniel who would go back in time. She already knew that, because she experienced it.
We know that in the show, people who have gotten in contact with the Losties in different moments in time do remember them. Think about Richard and Locke, or the meeting between Richard and Sawyer.
Now, the Losties hope they can change the future, because to them the 70s are the present. The problem is: all the events they are experiencing belong to a past that has already been written. Who wrote it? They did! They made all those things happen, because
all that belong to the past. So to them, it might seem that they can change the future, just because they are living their own present.
Daniel thinks he can change the future. The problem is that that is what he was always going to do. Daniel went back to the past to change the future, and his mother knew it. His willingness to change what happened had already happened. There is no escape. Whatever the Losties try to accomplish is exactly what has happened from the point of view of an external observer in the line of time.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the Losties can really change the future. Then, there would be another timeline different from the one they left. So, if they are going back to the future, to which future would they be going back? To their old future, or to the new one? If they go back to the new one, where Flight815 made it to LA, they might meet themselves! But if they go back to the old one, what is the point in changing a future that you cannot even experience and enjoy? What would the consequence be if they could really change the future?
It is pretty obvious that the classical time paradoxes would pop up and complicate the credibility of the story. It seems to me that is exactly what Darlton wanted to try to avoid.
Anyway, as we all know, the magic of Lost is that all these theories can be blown away surprisingly leaving us breathless!
Consider time from the point of view of Jack & crew. Some of them were in 2004, some in 2007, but they all ended up in the 70s. Each of them is living his own life, and to them 1977 is the present.
From the point of view of an external observer, though, time is linear, i.e.: all the events happening in the 70s happened obviously before the 80s, the 90s, and so on. Then, anybody who has followed the linear flow of time without being detached from it, would clearly experience the second coming of the Losties in the 70s, and only later the first coming in 2004.
Think about Faraday's mother. She met the Daniel from the future in the 70s (what we saw in Ep. 5.14). The Daniel from her present would grow up exactly to be that Daniel who would go back in time. She already knew that, because she experienced it.
We know that in the show, people who have gotten in contact with the Losties in different moments in time do remember them. Think about Richard and Locke, or the meeting between Richard and Sawyer.
Now, the Losties hope they can change the future, because to them the 70s are the present. The problem is: all the events they are experiencing belong to a past that has already been written. Who wrote it? They did! They made all those things happen, because
all that belong to the past. So to them, it might seem that they can change the future, just because they are living their own present.
Daniel thinks he can change the future. The problem is that that is what he was always going to do. Daniel went back to the past to change the future, and his mother knew it. His willingness to change what happened had already happened. There is no escape. Whatever the Losties try to accomplish is exactly what has happened from the point of view of an external observer in the line of time.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the Losties can really change the future. Then, there would be another timeline different from the one they left. So, if they are going back to the future, to which future would they be going back? To their old future, or to the new one? If they go back to the new one, where Flight815 made it to LA, they might meet themselves! But if they go back to the old one, what is the point in changing a future that you cannot even experience and enjoy? What would the consequence be if they could really change the future?
It is pretty obvious that the classical time paradoxes would pop up and complicate the credibility of the story. It seems to me that is exactly what Darlton wanted to try to avoid.
Anyway, as we all know, the magic of Lost is that all these theories can be blown away surprisingly leaving us breathless!
