Doc Jensen at EW first mentioned an Omega Point connection to Lost a few years ago. His review of “The Incident” gives a small blurb on the idea after noting that Jacob was reading a collection of Flannery O’Connor short stories entitled "Everything that Rises Must Converge." The title of O’Connor’s book comes from a quote by Jesuit priest, mystic, war hero and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Both Teilhard and Jacob seem to believe progress is discernable if history is viewed on a large enough scale. Jensen’s treatment of Omega is not good. It is easy to mistakenly undervalue Teilhard’s Christianity and Jensen avoids this trap by going too far in the other direction. He links the Omega Point to defeating Satan - something totally alien to Teilhard’s system of thought. I want to give a brief sketch of how Teilhard’s thought provides an interesting lens for viewing the series.
I. True Union Liberates – The Losties Loose their Baggage as a Group
Teilhard believed two types of unity existed – unity that produces homogeneity and unity that differentiates. For Teilhard, unity that differentiates is the more desirable form of unity. He saw certain unity as actually allowing individual members to more fully be themselves. In his time as a stretcher bearer in WWI, Teilhard never felt more alive and never felt more willing to give up his life because he was a member of a truly unified group. This experience on the frontlines of an identity larger than himself offered a prefiguring of the final unity he saw the cosmos being lured toward - Omega.
Unity that differentiates is an idea of Teilhard’s that anticipated a lot of the insights of chaos/complexity theory on emergence. Water behaves in ways that hydrogen and oxygen do not. Therefore, union unlocks potentialities that the constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen are unable to realize when isolated.
In this view, individual fulfillment comes with true unity rather than through individualism – Asking “What about me?” did not impress Jacob. Consider that if my hand is severed it is “free” and it can do nothing. Without the specialization of labor we’re all hunting and gathering, but by uniting we are able to actually become more self-actualized than a rugged individual can be. Live Together, Die Alone and “You, All, Everybody” might represent a creative take on Teilhard’s views of unity that differentiates. It also might explain Anti-Jacob’s pessimism as he sees humanity on the island as continually fighting something that happens when things fragment and unity frays. The various factions that arise may represent the tendency toward fragmentation (beach vs. caves, 815 vs. others, tail 815ers vs. beach 815ers…).
II. Diversity – the 815 Microcosm
Jensen presents Teilhard almost in the same light as the Rapture crowd who envision a purging of all non-Christians. Teilhard saw all of human effort as contributing to Omega. One of Teilhard’s quotes, “The Age of Nations is past. It remains now, if we do not wish to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudices and build the earth.” adorns a building at Georgetown University.
Teilhard said that the humans in the future would need to draw upon insights from pantheism (aboriginal religions), monism (eastern religions) and monotheism. Teilhard saw the Christianity of his day as terribly disembodied and almost entirely other worldly. He said Christianity needed the insights of pantheism to see that the value of this world just as pantheism needs Western eschatology to give a goal to strivings in this world.
His ideal is that many strands of human effort will be drawn together into one grand synthesis (kind of like weaving many strands into one grand work). The 815ers are from many walks of life and in some cases multiple religious/cultural outlooks. Charlie and More sensibilities are present among the 815ers than a simple Anglo-American worldview. Teilhard’s book L’ Avenir de L’Homme/The Future of Man contends that secularists (Jack?) and non-Christians are welcome to work toward this Grand Option as the true struggle is between those that view the future as worthwhile and those who as of now do not.
III. True Power Persuades
Teilhard’s views on providence are a bit unclear/poetic as is most of his writing. Teilhard uses terms such as persuasion and attraction to describe divine action. For Teilhard, God is the lure at the end of cosmic history drawing the universe forward toward greater complexity, unity, and consciousness. Persuasion is how Teilhard sees power working. A party choosing to enter into relationship due to being persuaded or attracted toward that end is more desirable than a forced unity. God counter intuitively is truly powerful only if God allows for the possibility of refusal. A God that can have a real relationship is more interesting/more powerful than one that only has master-puppet relationships. The inability to coerce actually allows for something more interesting to exist than a dictatorial God can achieve. This is not a disinterested clock maker God either as God is actively persuading and attracting the cosmos toward various ends but never violating its sovere! ignty through coercion either.
Jacob seems to accept a non-coercive view of power in some circumstances (although deception & manipulation are not what Teilhard is getting at). Consider what Christian tells Locke when Locke is asking for help to turn the wheel when his leg is broken. Not a perfect match by any means but an interesting lens for analysis nonetheless.
IV. Omega is the point of maximum unification and differentiation - the culmination of cosmic history is a point of maximum unification
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke is a fictional look at what this might resemble on a planetary level. I am doubtful that the 815ers or the entire island hit a point of union that would achieve Omega, but Jacob may believe that progress is occurring in that direction – hence the O’Connor book. Maybe the 815ers give some evidence of this to the Anti-Jacob by truly forming a corporate identity in spite of their lowly/humble/deeply flawed starting points. Fragmentation vs. Unity as the Meta-Theme of the Show?
I. True Union Liberates – The Losties Loose their Baggage as a Group
Teilhard believed two types of unity existed – unity that produces homogeneity and unity that differentiates. For Teilhard, unity that differentiates is the more desirable form of unity. He saw certain unity as actually allowing individual members to more fully be themselves. In his time as a stretcher bearer in WWI, Teilhard never felt more alive and never felt more willing to give up his life because he was a member of a truly unified group. This experience on the frontlines of an identity larger than himself offered a prefiguring of the final unity he saw the cosmos being lured toward - Omega.
Unity that differentiates is an idea of Teilhard’s that anticipated a lot of the insights of chaos/complexity theory on emergence. Water behaves in ways that hydrogen and oxygen do not. Therefore, union unlocks potentialities that the constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen are unable to realize when isolated.
In this view, individual fulfillment comes with true unity rather than through individualism – Asking “What about me?” did not impress Jacob. Consider that if my hand is severed it is “free” and it can do nothing. Without the specialization of labor we’re all hunting and gathering, but by uniting we are able to actually become more self-actualized than a rugged individual can be. Live Together, Die Alone and “You, All, Everybody” might represent a creative take on Teilhard’s views of unity that differentiates. It also might explain Anti-Jacob’s pessimism as he sees humanity on the island as continually fighting something that happens when things fragment and unity frays. The various factions that arise may represent the tendency toward fragmentation (beach vs. caves, 815 vs. others, tail 815ers vs. beach 815ers…).
II. Diversity – the 815 Microcosm
Jensen presents Teilhard almost in the same light as the Rapture crowd who envision a purging of all non-Christians. Teilhard saw all of human effort as contributing to Omega. One of Teilhard’s quotes, “The Age of Nations is past. It remains now, if we do not wish to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudices and build the earth.” adorns a building at Georgetown University.
Teilhard said that the humans in the future would need to draw upon insights from pantheism (aboriginal religions), monism (eastern religions) and monotheism. Teilhard saw the Christianity of his day as terribly disembodied and almost entirely other worldly. He said Christianity needed the insights of pantheism to see that the value of this world just as pantheism needs Western eschatology to give a goal to strivings in this world.
His ideal is that many strands of human effort will be drawn together into one grand synthesis (kind of like weaving many strands into one grand work). The 815ers are from many walks of life and in some cases multiple religious/cultural outlooks. Charlie and More sensibilities are present among the 815ers than a simple Anglo-American worldview. Teilhard’s book L’ Avenir de L’Homme/The Future of Man contends that secularists (Jack?) and non-Christians are welcome to work toward this Grand Option as the true struggle is between those that view the future as worthwhile and those who as of now do not.
III. True Power Persuades
Teilhard’s views on providence are a bit unclear/poetic as is most of his writing. Teilhard uses terms such as persuasion and attraction to describe divine action. For Teilhard, God is the lure at the end of cosmic history drawing the universe forward toward greater complexity, unity, and consciousness. Persuasion is how Teilhard sees power working. A party choosing to enter into relationship due to being persuaded or attracted toward that end is more desirable than a forced unity. God counter intuitively is truly powerful only if God allows for the possibility of refusal. A God that can have a real relationship is more interesting/more powerful than one that only has master-puppet relationships. The inability to coerce actually allows for something more interesting to exist than a dictatorial God can achieve. This is not a disinterested clock maker God either as God is actively persuading and attracting the cosmos toward various ends but never violating its sovere! ignty through coercion either.
Jacob seems to accept a non-coercive view of power in some circumstances (although deception & manipulation are not what Teilhard is getting at). Consider what Christian tells Locke when Locke is asking for help to turn the wheel when his leg is broken. Not a perfect match by any means but an interesting lens for analysis nonetheless.
IV. Omega is the point of maximum unification and differentiation - the culmination of cosmic history is a point of maximum unification
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke is a fictional look at what this might resemble on a planetary level. I am doubtful that the 815ers or the entire island hit a point of union that would achieve Omega, but Jacob may believe that progress is occurring in that direction – hence the O’Connor book. Maybe the 815ers give some evidence of this to the Anti-Jacob by truly forming a corporate identity in spite of their lowly/humble/deeply flawed starting points. Fragmentation vs. Unity as the Meta-Theme of the Show?
