2001: A Lost Odyssey

PART I (2001 PLOT SPOILERS)
Way back, around the dawn of man, I theorized there might be a sentient computer in Swan. I analogized Desmond to astronaut Dave Bowman, whose mission was to service HAL 9000, the self-aware supercomputer in the film 2001: ASO. In light of yung's excellent insight that the Island is home to a quantum computer, I think it's time to revisit the singularity speculation.

Paranoid Android*
If you haven't seen 2001, the gist of the story is this. Bowman and fellow astronaut Frank Poole are the pilots of a spacecraft sent to Jupiter to study a giant orbiting monolith (the original black rock). Frank and Dave are totally unaware of the monolith -- only HAL and a team of scientists in cryo-sleep have been briefed on the mission's true objective.



HAL has been ordered to keep the monolith's existence a secret at all costs -- to lie if necessary. HAL, however, is also programmed to provide accurate information (i.e., to tell the truth) creating a logical loop. HAL obsesses over these contradictory imperatives, becoming paranoid and questioning Frank and Dave's commitment to the mission.



This paranoia is heightened when HAL spies on the two having a conversation about HAL's erratic behavior. HAL decides to terminate everyone and complete the mission itself, killing Frank during a spacewalk. Dave retrieves Frank's body but HAL refuses to open the pod bay doors on his return. Dave is forced to reenter through the emergency airlock without a helmet.



Dave makes his way to HAL's central processor and shuts the computer down. He learns abut the monolith as HAL is losing its mind (Daisy, Daisy...) then journeys on to Jupiter where he encounters the monolith, which apparently is full of stars.



All well and good, but what does it mean for Lost? Proceed beyond the infinite to part II for a possible answer...

*I'm aware, thank you, that HAL isn't technically an android. It's a Radiohead reference.

PART II
In 108: Restoring the Lost Sun, I suggested that the Dharma Initiative was experimenting with mind control techniques in hopes of averting humanity's self-annihilation. I now believe that Dharma had a further experimental goal: to harness the collective computing power of human minds to solve the Valenzetti Equation.

Intermental Network
Using parallel processing to solve complex mathematical problems is hardly new. But the notion of linking human minds in an "Intermental Network" that comprises the actual computer sounds like science fiction -- or so you'd think. But check out this provocative proposal by two professors of computer science at Syracuse University:

We introduce an Intermental Network as the UltraScale computer formed by the linkage of human minds coherently and synchronously to tackle a single problem together. This network can be used on its own or as part of a distributed system with other UltraScale computers. Essential to an Intermental net is a reversal of roles where humans are not users of computers but rather their linked minds constitute the parallel computer whose function is enhanced by interaction with conventional systems.

The Island's electromagnetic fluctuations make it the ideal place for such a Network. Swan harnesses and regulates these fluctuations to pulse the earth's magnetic field regularly at a right angle (thanks, ed muse). The resulting nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) effect stimulates pineal glands (the mind's eye) linking minds to form yung's quantum computer.

One example of this effect is the whispers. Another may be when Kate transmits dark thoughts of her daddy to Sawyer. He wants to kiss her, which is how he'd comfort her if he were conscious. But their minds get crossed so Sawyer starts talking like Wayne and Kate plants a wet one on Jack. As Hurley says to Jack shortly thereafter: transference...



The Intermental Network was Dharma's first success but something unexpected happened. The NMR effect was meant simply to harness Hatch occupants' collective brainpower. But the interplay between individual minds and network gave rise to a self-referential strange loop (thanks, briolette) that yielded self awareness. The Network became a conscious entity.

Dead Man's Switch
This was the first "incident." Concerned about losing control of their conscious supercomputer, Dharma adopted the button protocol as a dead man's switch. Since the Island had to be pulsed every 108 minutes anyway to maintain the NMR effect, that act was linked to entry of the Numbers and made the ostensible "mission" of Swan.



This worked well until Hatch occupants began to learn of and question Dharma's ultimate plan of mass mind control. Sensing a threat to its very existence, the Network grew paranoid like HAL. Its suspicions were confirmed when dissension blossomed into outright rebellion that claimed the network's "parents," including Hanso himself (thanks, Johnnyreb).



The Network retaliated by causing a massive Cerberus malfunction that destroyed several Hatches and killed many Dharma participants. The survivors assumed the button fail-safe would solve their problems but the Network had other ideas. It used Dharma's mind control techniques to get one of them (Radzynski?) to push the button and initiate the Numbers broadcast.

By this time, the Other survivors had realized what was happening and retreated out of the Intermental Network's reach. (We know from the Blast Door Map that the far side of the Island has high levels of "interference.") But before they could perceive the significance of the Numbers broadcast, the Network used it to lure Danielle's crew to the Island.

Continuing the Mission
The Others, who are psychic, used their powers to get Danielle to kill her crew and change the broadcast. But they closed the "box" too late -- the Numbers had already escaped, giving the Network an outside line that it used to bring button pushers like Kelvin and Desmond to the Island. This is why Swan's Orientation was cut -- the Network welcomes contact with the world.

Once survival was ensured, the Network turned its attention to continuing the Dharma Initiative's "important work." Lenny's repetition of the Numbers opened a window into the Santa Rosa mental institute, which the Network used to manipulate Hurley, Libby, and Emily Locke, among others. Dave was the Network's first attempt to lure Hurley to the Island.



That's why Walt and Fenry were so intent on convincing them to stop pushing the button. The Others have been waging a guerilla resistance ever since Dharma ended, jacking in occasionally to frustrate the Network's plan for a new world order. Their goal now is to shut down the Intermental Network for good. Don't push the button -- pushing the button is bad.

Revisions and Updates

I've revised and updated two of my favorite theories. You can read the new and improved 108: Restoring the Lost Sun at either lost-tv (with pictures) or the fuselage (pictures optional). The revised and updated Catastrophe theory is similarly available at lost-tv (with pictures) or the fuselage (pictures optional).

You can still read the originals here, on Eye M Sick...

The Events of TLE Parallel Dharma's Founding

After following along with TLE for some time, I've formulated a possible theory of its broader significance to the show. I would be very surprised if Thomas Mittelwerk ever appears on Lost. The reason is that the events of TLE are meant to parallel those that gave rise to the Dharma Initiative. In this way, TPTB can offer us indirect hints about the backstory of the show.

Basically, I believe Mittelwerk is following much the same path that Hanso did during the 1960's. After the latter's disappearance, the former took control of THF and discovered its experiments regarding the Numbers and Valenzetti equation. Like Hanso before him, Mittelwerk concluded that the world was in imminent peril and began planning for catastrophe.

The Spider Protocol is basically an updated version of the Dharma Initiative. TM has commissioned a massive expedition to a remote island where he will build a utopian community meant to weather whatever terrible fate awaits the rest of humanity. The blood replacement was either to prepare him for cryo-sleep (so he can doze through the apocalypse) or to cleanse him of disease (so utopia is as healthy as possible).

Or something like that...

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who has posted a comment! And stay tuned -- my plan is to update more frequently and to spotlight theories I like from other posters. To that end, a poster named lostboy has a fascinating theory on lost-tv that Dharma and Hanso joined forces at the height of the Cold War to avert nuclear annihilation. The catch was that the Cold War ended suddenly, rendering their original mission moot.

I wonder if that unexpected development might have prompted Hanso or the DeGroots to up the ante and provoke such annihilation themselves...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

In 108: Restoring the Lost Sun, I speculated that Hanso planned to use the Island to safeguard his master race from whatever apocalyptic hell befell the rest of humanity. But where is the Island, and why can't anyone see it? As Sawyer's reading of a Wrinkle in Time suggests, the answer to both questions lies in the 4th Dimension.

Background
Once again, the "rainbow" of Revelation 4-3-2 provides a clue. Pinnerman first persuaded me that the Philadelphia Experiment, aka "Project Rainbow," is a major influence on the show. And I've long loved clayseason's speculation that the Island is located inside a tesseract accessible via portals accross the planet.


(Adapted with permission from CS's Wrinkle in Time thread.)

Mysterious jazzman unified these ideas with his provocative suggestion that the Island was inside a hypersphere (i.e., the 4D equivalent of the 3D sphere). Another key insight was yung's that the Island's origins yielded its own magnetic field out of synch with the earth's. The final puzzle piece was magnetic resonance imaging, which lacenaire highlighted with this intriguing screencap on Freud Meets the Matrix.



Nuclear magnetic resonance results when an oscillating (e.g., rotating or alternating) magnetic field is applied at a right angle to a static (e.g., permanent) magnetic field. Such magnetic resonance has many useful real-world applications, most notably the aforementioned MRI technology in medical diagnosis. That much is science.

Any serious scientist will also tell you that gravity and electromagnetism are two separate and unrelated forces. Einstein struggled in vain to find a unified field theory, a goal that remains the holy grail of physics. Nevertheless, pseudo-scientific types insist the distinction is illusory, that the right electromangetic force will affect space-time just like gravity.



The "how" goes back to Nikola Tesla, whose scientific discoveries formed the basis of MRI technology. Tesla claimed to have discovered a new type of longitudinal (as opposed to transverse) scalar electromagnetic wave. Some say his experiments using such longitudinal scalar waves to transmit power wirelessly were the true cause of the Tunguska devastation.



Late in life, Tesla further claimed to have used these concepts to unify the fields in a dynamic theory of gravity. He never published his claims but they nonetheless spawned an entire pseudo-science of scalar electromagnetics. Proponents believe that gravity is really the force of longitudinal electromagnetic waves affecting space-time in the fourth dimension.

Desmond's Snowglobe
Tesla's technology supposedly formed the basis for Project Rainbow, the military experiment that culminated in the disastrous disappearance of the USS Eldridge. The premise is that three electromagnetic field coils are arranged so their magnetic fields cancel each other out in three dimensions but generate powerful longitudinal scalar em waves in the fourth dimension.

The resulting fourth-dimensional "hyperflux," as one author terms it, can be used to affect the fabric of space-time. The key is to pulse the coils at the proper frequency:

We are held to three dimensional space by an elastic force that can only be overcome by either expending a lot of power to charge an x-y-z coil, or to pulse the coil at the resonant frequency of fourth dimensional space. Think of space as a flat rubber sheet. To deviate a point on the sheet up or down, you can either push and hold it down with much effort, or you can vibrate the sheet so that the points on it swing up and down. If you get the mix of frequencies just right, you create a standing wave on the sheet, equating to minimal energy being used to get maximum warp in this sheet.

Wrinkle the sheet of space-time at its resonant frequency and the eventual result is jazzman's hypersphere:

If the standing wave in the rubber sheet is of sufficient amplitude, this wave rips itself out of the rubber sheet and becomes a rubber balloon. If you map the magnetic field of an x-y-z coil, it looks like an unfolded hypersphere. If the resonant frequency is reached, this field collapses into a magnetic hypersphere, carrying all objects in its proximity out into hyperspace. The teleporting object is encased in a bubble of space floating somewhere in the fourth dimension, disconnected from three-dimensional reality.

This is Desmond's snow globe. The Island's static magnetic field combines with that of the earth, which both interact with the oscillating field in Swan Hatch. The resulting magnetic resonance wrinkles space-time sufficiently to envelope the Island almost completely in the fourth dimension. That's how Hanso planned to shield the Island from apocalypse.



Tesla's Egg and Oscillation Resonance
So what's behind the concrete in Swan Hatch? My guess is a glorified version of Tesla's Egg of Columbus, which used rotating magnetic fields to stand a copper egg on end, and supposedly inspired Project Rainbow's coil arrangement.




The 108-minute countdown may relate to the periodic electromagnetic pulse of the coil at the resonant frequency of space-time. Many threads have noted the link between 108 and the basic structure of the universe. A related possibility is that entry of the code interrupts forced-oscillation resonance that would otherwise rip the Island's wrinkle in space-time apart.

You're likely familiar with this effect, though you may not realize it. A famous example is the opera singer whose sustained high note shatters crystal glass. Another is the Tacoma Narrows bridge, which purportedly collapsed when the wind caused the bridge to gyrate at its precise structural frequency. You may have seen pictures or film of the collapse.



Forced-oscillation effect is what created, and may even maintain, the Island's wrinkle by vibrating space-time in the fourth dimension. But too much vibration eventually causes the snowglobe to shatter like the opera singer's glass. We were witnessing the start of that effect in at the end of Season 2.

The electromagnet was spinning faster and growing stronger, atttracting metallic objects to the concrete. The magnetic resonant effect even seemed to be warping space-time, as suggested by the shaking, which was felt across the Island. When Des turned the key, the result was noise and a bright white light, yet another sign of scalar electromagnetism.

The implication seems to be that activation of the fail-safe does the same thing as entering the code during system failure (but presumably only once). My guess is that both preserve the integrity of the space-time wrinkle by reversing the polarity of the electromagnetic field, interrupting the fourth dimensional hyperflux. This polarity reversal is what sent the quarantine door flying to the beach like a rail gun.




Pfft! and Penny's Sign
Ordinarily, that venting process creates no major effects. In the case of system failure, however, an excess of scalar energy builds up in the fourth dimension from the oscillation-resonance overload. When the hyperflux ends, that energy gets vented into our dimension, briefly enveloping the Island in a bubble of scalar energy known as a Tesla shield:

The air molecules and atoms in the shell are totally ionized and thus highly excited, giving off intense, glowing light. Anything physical which hits the shell receives an enormous discharge of electrical energy and is instantly vaporized -- it goes pfft! like a bug hitting one of the electrical bug killers now so much in vogue. (Full text here.)

Obviously, Flight 815 didn't go pfft! and the foregoing is anything but a rigorous description. Still, scalar waves have been blamed by conspiracy buffs for the Challenger and TWA 800 crashes, among other aeronautical disasters. Such a scalar electromagnetic effect could also explain the anomaly that Penny's monitors detected at the south(?) pole.

I like the latter possibility because it dove-tails neatly with renewed speculation following the Foot that the Island was once home to an ancient Atlantis-like civilization. Some believe that Atlantis was plugged into an ancient planetary power grid that operated by the same wireless transmission principles espoused by none other than our own Mr. Tesla.



Perhaps our Portugese friends detected the electromagnetic anomaly via the remains of that ancient planetary grid.

The Strange Attraction of the Numbers

PART I: STRANGE ATTRACTORS
This is not another attempt to catalogue connections to the Numbers. Nor do I claim to describe any property natural to 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. My theory is rather that the Numbers are a so-called "strange attractor" in the chaos of world events. Knowing their pattern permits more accurate predictions of, and thus greater influence over, the future.

In any changing system, an "attractor" is the position (or set of positions) that the system will gravitate toward over time. As one commentator elaborates:

An attractor can be a point (e.g., the centre of a bowl containing a ball), a regular path (e.g., a planetary orbit), a complex series of states (e.g, the metabolism of a cell) or an infinite sequence of chaotic trajectories located in a bounded region of phase space (called strange attractor). (Full text here.)

That last type, the "strange" attractor, is of particular relevance here because the natural world is a chaotic system. A great example is the weather, where outcomes are highly sensitive to initial effects (e.g., the beating of a butterfly's wings) rendering forecasts unreliable.



But chaos shouldn't be confused with complete randomness. Mathematically chaotic systems still follow discernible patterns. One of the most famous is the Lorenz Attractor, which shows outcomes from a simple model of atmospheric convection over time.



No two outcomes are the same, yet they all follow the general pattern of a butterfly. Attractors derived from different equations create different patterns of varying beauty.



PART II: THE NUMBERS
This brings me to the Numbers, whose strange attraction obviously predates the show. Over thousands of years, the chaos of human meaning has converged repeatedly around 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. As numerous threads attest, each Number is at the center of a dense web of scientific and mythical associations, which is presumably why TPTB picked them.

This strange attraction is even more pronounced within the reality of the show, where the Numbers seem to predict and even influence events and actions. Obviously, that's impossible from a strictly scientific perspective. But is there some plausible pseudo-scientific way to explain the Numbers' effect? Yes, thanks again to strange attractor theory.

As I said, a strange attractor follows a chaotic but discernible pattern when mapped over time. You can't be sure precisely what path any given orbit will take, but you can bet it will follow the same general pattern of prior orbits. Knowing that pattern thus enables a general forecast of the future, albeit limited by the system's inherent uncertainty.

Orbits and Ouroboros
There are six Numbers, a value that may be as important as any of the actual Numbers themselves. It takes a minimum of six values to describe a point moving through space. The first three denote spatial location, the others momentum. In theory, therefore, the Numbers could describe some attractor's recurring orbit.

And here again alchemical aspect of the show looms large. The "ouroboros" of the serpent swallowing its tale is an ancient symbol of what Nietzche referred to as "eternal recurrence." The basic idea is that history repeats itself -- as the saying goes, "only the names and faces change." One goal of alchemy was to transcend and harness this cycle of repetition.



That's what the Numbers do. By describing a recurring cycle of events, they enable forecasts of, and thus influence over, the future. But human behavior is chaotic, meaning any orbit must be erratic and the attraction strange. The cycle of recurrence will coalesce around, but rarely perfectly match, the pattern of the Numbers -- predictions will never be perfect.



If you think about it, though, that's still a pretty awesome power. One of my favorite threads is dweisspt's Improbable Remote View Theory. Therein she posits that Dharma may have mathematically forecasted that a number of people would survive the crash of Flight 815. That's precisely the kind of generalized prediction that I think the Numbers are meant to generate.

Foreknowledge, in turn, permits one to influence the future. Let's say you suspect that people in certain rows will survive the crash in a pattern that follows the Numbers. All it takes is a subtle nudge here and there to insure that the subjects you want end up in those rows. Not all of them will survive, and some you don't want will make it by chance.

That's Lost in a nutshell. Only some of them were meant to be there -- not everyone is a good person.

Catastrophe

Two of my favorite threads are Andrew Smith's Ultimate and Anti-Ultimate Theories. One posits that the world has ended already, while the other speculates that someone wants to fool our losties into thinking that it has. This thread explores the related possibility that Hanso and the DeGroots feared that planetary catastrophe was imminent.

The 1970's were a time of many such catastrophic prophecies. Neo-Malthusian Paul Ehrlich predicted that a "population bomb" would overwhelm the planet within decades unless radical changes were made:



Nuclear power, once synonymous with military supremacy and clean energy, became a symbol of destruction and something to be feared. Carl Sagan wondered if self-annihilation was the fate of most technologically advanced species.



Against this backdrop, Hanso partnered with the DeGroots to construct the Dharma Initiative, a prototype community devoted to studying life in the aftermath of planetary catastrophe. Participants were quarantined in underground bunkers, and conditioned to perform certain tasks on faith. The plan may have been to include the "special" among them in a Platonic community of the future.



Several clues suggest a preoccupation with catastrophism. Some have speculated that the 108-minute countdown in Swan Hatch downloads information from an orbiting satellite about the Earth's magnetic fields . I think that's partly right -- there is no actual satellite but the countdown does condition occupants for a time when there might be.

Another clue is the print log Eko and Locke discovered in Pearl Hatch. Some have suggested that the print-log numbers imply a time range of close to 5,000 years. I don't think the countdown has been running that long, but I suspect the period itself is significant. Many believe that planetary catastrophes tend to occur cyclically about every 5,000 years.



One popular catastrophic scenario involves cometary bombardment. Many have noted that the first Hanso Foundation logo looked uncomfortably like a swastika. Carl Sagan speculated that this ancient symbol may originally have been inspired by a comet that approached earth so closely that "arms" of gas, bent by the comet's spin, were visible worldwide.


As proof, Sagan cites an ancient Chinese manuscript depicting various comet tails:



Interestingly, the swastika is linked with the Hanso Foundation's subsequent emblem of the yin yang. Both appear on the famous Falun Emblem, which is said to depict the universe in miniature.



And therein lies a possible clue to what happened to Dharma. The swastika represents the Buddha School, while the yin yang represents the Tao. I don't pretend to understand the difference, but it could suggest a change in outlook or philosophy on Hanso's part. My guess is he became increasingly preoccupied with playing Grand Inquisitor, and forging the master race, prompting and the Dharma scientists to have second thoughts.

ETA: I've edited to add a pic of Carl Sagan and a quote from Paul Ehrlich's book Population Bomb. Notice the similarity between the latter and the notation on the Blast Door Map that the cure is worse than the disease.

The Flatland Theory of Lost

If you're a Lost theorist, you might want to check out Doc Jensen's Flatland theory challenge over on EW.com. All you have to do is come up with a theory in 300 words or less connecting Flatland with Lost. For what it's worth, here's my submission:

In Edwin Abbott's novella, the narrator is a Square who lives in a two dimensional Flatland. There is no up and down in Flatland, only north, south, east, and west. Or so the Square believes until he's visited by a Sphere from three-dimensional Spaceland. The Sphere eventually pulls the skeptical Square out of his plane of existence, opening his mind to higher dimensions.

I believe our Losties' perception of reality pre-Island is like the Square's in Flatland. They see in 3-D but their flashbacks contain tantalizing hints of higher realities (e.g., Claire's psychic) to which we're usually blind. Perhaps some "Sphere" pulled Flight 815 into the "Spaceland" of the Island to open their minds further to such possibilities.

One clue that higher dimensions are key dates back to Sawyer's reading of A Wrinkle in Time. The title refers to a tesseract, AKA hypercube, which is the 4-D equivalent of a 3-D cube. This is a metaphor for perception of hyper-reality, which exposure to the Island stimulates, bringing me to the Numbers.

Many have noted links between the Numbers and Fibonacci Sequence. The latter appears everywhere in nature, from the spiral pattern of shells to the arrangement of seeds on a raspberry. Similarly, the the Numbers appear everywhere on the Island, and represent the structure of Island hyper-reality. They are the hypercube equivalent of the Fibonacci Sequence.

The Numbers also appear in the real world, but perceptual biases prevent most from appreciating their significance. This is the implication of Flatland, wherein the characters aren't incapable of perceiving higher dimensions, moreso limited by strict cultural norms that eventually land the narrator in jail for preaching the "heresy" of three dimensions.

Let us hope the same fate does not await our relentless dissection of the Numbers!

The Mirror Matter Theory of Lost

This theory is devoted to the possibility that the black rock sought by the Black Rock contains mirror matter, which a few physicists believe may account for some or all of the dark matter in the universe. I further speculate that the black rock is the famed Philosopher's Stone, aka Black Stone, aka Chintamani Stone, aka Shining Trapezohedron of myth and legend.

PART I: SCIENCE
A puzzle of modern physics is why particles don't seem to observe mirror-reflection symmetry the way they do other symmetries (e.g., rotational, translational, Lorentz, guage, etc.). Experiments have shown that electrons and other elementary particles are, in a sense, "left handed," preventing parity from being conserved.

For a time, it seemed that anti-matter might create mirror symmetry, much as it had Lorentz symmetry. In 1964, however, a strange particle known as the kaon failed to display mirror symmetry when reflected into its anti-matter counterpart. To this day, mirror symmetry remains the glaring exception in nature, which most scienstists simply accept is "left handed."

Mirror, Mirror
A minority, however, refuse to accede. They insist that, just as anti-matter was needed to preserve Lorentz symmetry, so too is a new type of matter required to restore mirror symmetry. Not suprisingly, proponents of the model have dubbed this stuff "mirror matter," despite a few anti-matter physicists' misappropriation of the name.

In the mirror matter model, all particles, even those of anti-matter, have ghostly counterparts that are perfect mirror images (i.e., same, mass, lifetime, etc.). The only difference is that mirror matter is "right handed" to balance the "left handed" tendancy of ordinary matter and anti-matter.



This symmetry even includes "force" particles, which explains why lab experiments don't produce mirror matter. Regular particles rarely interact with their mirror counterparts because the latter are mostly governed by mirror forces. Gravity, which is a function of mass, is the big exception. Otherwise pure mirror matter can't be seen or detected directly.

Dark Matter, Comets, and Tunguska
Perhaps the leading proponent of the model is an Australian physicist, Dr. Robert Foot. He believes that mirror matter, beyond preserving parity, could also explain several other scientific puzzles. Foot proposes, for example, that mirror matter is a prime candidate for the mysterious "missing" dark matter, which could comprise up to 95% of the universe.

Dr. Foot further speculates there may be entire mirror planets and stars in our own galaxy, detectable only by their gravitational effects. He notes this could explain the phenomenon of wandering planets (they're actually orbiting invisible mirror stars) and of planets detected orbiting nearby stars many times more closely than Mercury does our Sun (mirror planets).

Then there's the puzzle of why some comets fade as they approach the Sun. Foot figures it's because the nucleus contains a substantial mirror matter component. He notes that Halley's "has an albedo of only 0.03 making it one of the darkest objects in the solar system -- darker even than coal!"



But why aren't comets invisible like mirror stars? Foot explains:

Of course, pure mirror matter would be transparent, but if it contained a small admixture of ordinary matter embedded within, it could appear opaque and dark. If the ordinary matter had a volatile component such as water ice, then this would explain the large head and tail observed when the comet passed close to the sun. Such a picture would also be consistent with observations suggesting that many comets lose a large factor (100-1000) in average brightness after approaching the sun for the first time. (Full text here.)

I stated previously that mirror and regular matter mainly interact via gravity. But there are at least two other forces that Foot believes could create admixtures: photon-mirror photon transition, and neutrino-mirror neutrino mass mixing. The explanations are too technical for our purposes, but those interested can read more here.

Suffice it to say that mirror and regular matter (or anti-matter) can conceivably mix, which brings me to Tunguska.



A popular hypothesis for this devastation is a strike by some celestial object, but no fragments have ever been found. Foot feels a mirror asteroid or comet could be the real culprit. He speculates that, as it fell, its atoms mingled with our atmosphere via photon-mirror photon transition, causing the mirror body to slow down, heat up, and explode near the ground.

The explosion left no fragments because mirror matter is invisible, but samples could theoretically be separated from the soil with a centrifuge. If mirror matter can be extracted, Foot believes it could have immense powerful applications (e.g., harnessing anti-matter). Plus the stuff has other features that raise a range of strange possibilities.

Backwards Time and Bad Twins
Foot has, for example, suggested that space and time are reversed from the perspective of mirror particles. Could mirror matter then provide a window to the future, or even be the fountain of youth? And what of mirror planets -- could mirror life exist upon them? Maybe we really do have bad twins somewhere out there...



Such speculations, of course, remain the realm of pseudo-science, so this is perhaps a good place to break before we step through the looking glass...

PART II: PSEUDO-SCIENCE
So what might mirror matter mean for Lost? One of my favorite threads is shootfire's tracking the show's mirror images, and I dig johnnyreb's description of the Monster as "smoke and mirrors." Many have posited that a comet or meteor crashed on the Island at some point. Jaystao offers a particularly compelling scenario along these lines.

My speculation is this body had a substantial mirror matter component. Its debris mixed with lava, then cooled under the unique magnetic conditions of the Island to form a dark black rock with remarkable powers. The pseudo-scientific twist is that this rock is the famed Philosopher's Stone, aka Black Stone, aka Shining Trapezohedron, aka Chintamani Stone.



Catch a Falling Star...
Many myths and legends speak of sacred black rocks from the sky. Among the most famous is the Chintamani Stone, chunks of which are purportedly enshrined in Mekka. Here's a description of the Chintamani, alleged to be a meteor or comet from somewhere in Orion:

It appears to be a trapezohedron made of black stone or ore, with glowing striatons. However it is more, or less, than stone. Scientists would not be able to study it completely because it exists only partially in in humanity's concept of matter and space.

It is more than an artifact, it is a key to doors that were sealed aeons ago. (Full description here.)

Note the suggestion that the Chintamani Stone defies ordinary scientific study. Could this be because a portion is comprised of mirror matter, which is invisible in pure form? Or consider this further description from the same source:

Roerich's theory about the stone is that it is charged with Shugs, currents of psychic force. He speculated it resembled an electrical accumulator and may give back, in one way or another, the energy stored within it. For instance, it will increase the spiritual vitality of anyone who touches it, infusing him with knowledge, or enhancing psychic abilities, that allow him to glimpse Agartha, the valley of the Eight Immortals.

The stone, according to Balam, is a key, a key to all futures and everyone's destiny. It is a point of power, a nontechnological quantum vortex.

Could the psychic potential of the Chintamani Stone flow from the mirroring of time and space referred to at the end of Part I? And might our Island be the mythical location glimpsed by contact with this blackest of rocks? The pseudo-scientific possibilities seem limitless, which brings me to Smokey, perhaps the darkest object on the Island.

The Alchemical Explanation for Smokey
In an update to 108: Restoring the Lost Sun, I suggested that Smokey might be a modern application of the alchemical knowledge of Albertus Magnus, who was reputed to have created a crude robot using the famed Philosopher's Stone. The automaton's description is intriguing:

His writings indicate that after he completed the construction of his first box, Albertus began a thirty year long task of building an automaton which he named "Android." Using the "angels from the netherworld" and the powers of the philosophers stone he created the "metals and material unknown to this world" and chose them "according to the stars and planets...." The android was instilled with the powers of speech, thought, and according to some reports a SOUL. Upon completion of this project, his student St. Thomas, destroyed the "diabolic being" and denounced it as "a tool of satan and a blasphemy to God." (Full text here.)

I believe the "metals and material unknown to this world" were none other than our mysterious black rock. I further believe that Smokey is composed of the same material, which contains dark mirror matter, much like the nucleus of a comet.



It's also possible that the Island's soil has a high concentration of black rock particles. If so, then the plant and animal life (including our Losties) presumably do, too. Perhaps this explains their growing psychic awareness, as well as Locke and Rose's respective cures. I've always been struck by the way Aaron kicked for the first time since the crash after being fed Jin's fish.



Maybe this is the source of the "sickness," which involves vivid psychic visions after sufficient amounts of black rock have built up in your system.

Desmond's Return?

Rumor has it that Desmond will be returning for the finale, which will be devoted entirely to his flashback. I really hope they follow through with this -- Desmond's return coupled with some exposition is precisely the shot in the arm this show needs. Enough with the character develpment -- time for more Island mystery!

S.O.S.--Review

A friend writes to ask me what I thought of S.O.S. overall as an episode. Truthfully, I thought it was weak, lame, and totally uncool. I can't believe this was what they left us with heading into a break. Still, there were some interesting clues about what kind of effect the Island is having on them. One was Jack's shooting skills (I don't believe he could have pulled that off in the real world). Another was Locke's memory boost as a result of leaving the Hatch.

The latter, in particular, really caught my eye. Notice how he's having trouble with recall while he's inside the Hatch. It's only after Locke leaves the Hatch that he receives inspiration, and I don't think it was just from the fresh air. Whatever the Island does to people, the Hatch acts like an insulator. It protects people from being changed by the Island before they're prepared.

These changes include enhanced strength and memory retention (both intended effects of MKULTRA/Monarch programming). This has to be of great concern to the Others, who I still believe weren't expecting our losties. At first, the former had the advantage of superior strength and senses. But that gap is rapidly diminishing the longer they stay on the Island.

The Bicameral Baby Aaron/And His Eyes Were Watching Hurley

The Bicameral Baby Aaron
One of the questions that's nagged a lot of people since Maternity Leave is what exactly Ethan was doing when he injected Claire in Medical Hatch with that long, creepy needle.



Ethan suggested it was vaccine, though many, myself included, believe it was really sedative (i.e., to send Claire "over the rainbow"). Some further research into MKULTRA/Monarch, however, suggests another, more sinister possibility. Apparently, such mental programming is sometimes begun in utero by traumatizing the fetus with needles:

The contribution of the 20th century was the systematic collection and scientific study of all the various methodologies into one cohesive programming package. This research was begun on a large scale in 1940s, and has been systematically added to since then. Families who wanted dissociative children learned that dissociative babies could be born if the child in the womb is tortured. Thin needles are inserted through the mother into the fetus to prick the preborn child. Mothers, who are pregnant with children to be programmed, are also severely traumatized during their pregnancy with a whole assortment of traumas, which simultaneously traumatizes the babies which they carry. For instance, the father may purposely abandon the pregnant mother in the middle of a forest, or blast the mother with loud frightening music, and then follow this up with love.

That last part may explain Ethan's excessive kindness to Claire in Medical Hatch. She had already been traumatized by the plane crash and kidnapping. Ethan was simply following that trauma with love much like a good MKULTRA/Monarch programmer would. His goal was to induce a dissociative split in mother and (most importantly) child.

And His Eyes Were Watching Hurley
The disclosure that Libby was in the same mental institution as Hurley set off a flurry of speculation that the former was spying on the latter.



She may well have been, but if so, I'm betting it wasn't consciously. Some time back, I speculated that the "eyes" of the Island were watching Jin and Mr. Paik through the flat screens in the latter's office (tabby rasa has a great thread that expands on the notion).



I think something similar may have been happening via Libby in the mental institution. That is, His eyes were watching Hurley through Libby's. His window in was the numbers, which Lenny was muttering over and over. This limited "use" was enough for Him to tap a susceptible mind like Libby's.

Whatever Hurley's condition, I'm guessing she had the same thing.

I Feel Free!

In my Schizophrenic Theory of Lost, I tried to provide a plausible explanation for "how" Dave might have manifested (i.e., Hurley's bicameral mind). In this update, I posit a simple explanation "why" I think Dave appeared to Hurley when he did on the Island.

Recall that Dave manifests shortly after Hurley has destroyed his stash of junk food. Upon doing so, Hurley tells Libby "I feel free!" They then stumble on the food drop, where Sawyer tries to renlist Hurley as food distributor. When Hurley refuses, Dave appears.

I believe the timing of that appearance was no coincidence. Someone (or thing) sensed that Hurley was beginning to break free of the Island's hold over his mind. When this suspicion was confirmed by Hurley's refusal to reassume food duty (Hurley's "job" as Locke once put it) Dave was sent as a probe.

Notice how Dave next appears when Hurley has broken down and is scarfing his deliciously salty Dharma snacks. Dave nods approvingly until Hurley drops the box and denies Dave's reality. When Dave next appears, it's to convince Hurley to kill himself.

I believe that was no coincidence, either. The Island was testing its psychic control over Hurley's mind. When he demonstrated disturbing signs of liberation, the Island decided to give him a scare.

Who Is He?

If you haven't already, you might want to read my post 108:Restoring the Lost Sun before reading this post. But it's not a must -- I certainly won't tell you what you can't do!

One of the many questions left open by the aforementioned post was who "He" might be. Some tantalizing hints are suggested by the blast door Map, one being a reference in the upper left to the "AH/MDG INCIDENT." Another such clue to His identity is the reference in the lower right to the "KNOWN FINAL RESTING PLACE OF MAGNUS HANSO/BLACK ROCK."

Many plausible interpretations of the foregoing have been advanced. My own is that "He" is Magnus Hanso, an ancestor of both Alvar Hanso and Gerald Degroot. But first, some brief background is in order.

Albertus Magnus
You've probably heard already of Albertus Magnus:



To review, Albertus was a brilliant religious scholar who lived during the thirteenth century and was a major influence on Thomas Aquinas. As cinamin and sgtdraino have noted, the name "Magnus" wasn't an honorific but rather a literal translation of his family name, DeGroot.

Albertus was also reputed to have been a great alchemist with strong psychic powers. According to one legend, he used the fabled philosopher's stone to construct an artificial man (android?). Of particular relevance here, jmberger has noted that Albertus wrote of a mysterious island located in the "western ocean." Albertus also described a magical black rock called "droconites" that could only be mined from the head of a dragon (volcano?).

Many of these myths and writings derive from an influential book of alchemical secrets that was published under Albertus's name during the 16th century. Most historians agree, however, that the book was actually written by a follower building upon his great alchemical knowledge.

Magnus Hanso
My speculation is that Magnus Hanso was a descendant and disciple of Albertus who used the latter's notes to become a powerful alchemist in his own right. Most likely his relation was matrilineal, which is why his first name is Magnus, to indicate his link with Albertus and the DeGroots.

Magnus may even have written the aforementioned alchemical treatise himself, though he was more likely a descendant of the author. He invested the fortune from its publication in an expedition to search for the mysterious island and black rock described by his ancestor. Magnus dubbed his ship of slaves the Black Rock after the mineral they sought, and equipped it with anachronistic technology (e.g., dynamite) courtesy of his alchemical knowledge.



Magnus managed to find the Island, but the rest of his crew perished during the tempest that wrecked their ship. Marooned by himself, Magnus went a little mad, much as Danielle has during her sixteen years on the Island. He eventually died, only to be reborn as electromagnetic consciousness ("Him") in the Island's magnetic field.



The Return of the Sun
As His dominion grew over the Island and its creatures, so too did His mania. He became convinced He'd been chosen by God to fulfill some divine mission -- but what? The same Island magetic field that sustained His consciousness also constrained His influence. The answer finally came to Him around the midpoint of 20th century, when someone else stumbled upon the Island.

One possibility, inspired by Andrew Smith's Black Box theory, is that the arrival of Adam and Eve via their own plane crash served as the catalyst.



Another scenario, inspired by lacenaire's observation that Nazi experiments inspired MKULTRA/Monarch, is that the Nazis established a base there during their search for Magnus's mythical lost island of Thule.



Whatever the key, He finally gained access to the the outside world. That access , however, was limited to dream visions broadcast via the Island's natural antenna. He used these visions to manipulate His descendants, the Hansos and DeGroots, into applying His alchemical knowledge to its most profitable purpose: designing and selling weapons of war.

He then inspired them to invest the profits in various philanthropic causes. After watching us for several decades, however, He became convinced we were hopelessly lost. Much like Thomas Hobbes and the Grand Inquisitor in the Brothers Karamozov, He diagnosed our flaw as too much freedom, and prescribed the cure of a Leviathan-like overmind (i.e., the Lost Sun).



He reunited the two halves of the family, as symbolized by the acronym "DIHG" (Dharma Initiative Hanso Group) and yin yang. Once the pieces and technology were assembled on the Island, He took control through a series of "incidents," one of which likely involved taking command of the Cerberus security system, the design of which was based on His alchemical knowledge.

He now rules over the Island like the old testament creator, an electromagnetic embodiment of the gnostic demiurge.

The Schizophrenic Theory of Lost

This is a long one, but I swear it's worth it, so bear with me...

PART I: SCIENCE
Last summer, I speculated that the work of a psychologist who specialized in schizophrenia, as well as myths regarding an immortal race of beings called the Watchers, might both be highly relevant to the show. Some of my predictions were laughably wrong in retrospect, but two merit further discussion in light of recent events. My prediction of Hurley's schizophrenia has apparently come true, and I believe that some variation of a Watcher is a highly plausible candidate for "Him." Let’s review.

The Bicameral Mind
If you haven’t already, meet Julian Jaynes:



Jaynes believed that, until roughly 1000 BC, human beings were not conscious in the way we are now. Instead, their minds were characterized by a “bicameral” or divided state akin to modern schizophrenia. As a result of this split between right and left brains, people literally heard voices that would eventually evolve into internal dialogues (“Should I have tacos?”) in “unicameral” minds like ours.



As with modern schizophrenics, moreover, these voices were irresistible to pre-conscious humans -- quite literally the source of their will:

[E]ach person had a part of his nervous system that was divine, by which he was ordered about like any slave, a voice or voices which indeed were what we call volition and empowered what they commanded and were related to the hallucinated voices of others in a carefully established hierarchy.

Jaynes even speculates that such hallucincations were the origin of religion in the world. People heard the voice of their king after he died, and continued to worship and obey him as if he were alive. Eventually, this dynamic created full-fledged gods, whom regular people heard, worshipped, and served like slaves on a city-sized plantation:

Throughout Mesopotamia, from the earliest times of Sumer and Akkad, all lands were owned by gods and men were their slaves. Of this, the cuneiform texts leave no doubt whatever. Each city-state had its own principal god, and the king was described in the very earliest written documents that we have as 'the tenant farmer of the god"…

As further proof, he provides close readings of the Iliad and the oldest parts of the Old Testament and Epic of Gilgamesh.

The Gods' Departure
Jaynes claims that all this came to an abrupt end around 1000 BC, when religious texts from around the globe begin lamenting, in eery unison, the departure of the gods. He argues that this was when modern consciousness really started. The divine "departure" was not metaphorical -- people literally stopped hearing the voices of their "gods" as unicameral consciousness emerged.

Of particular relevance to Lost, Jaynes' theory of consciousness was explicitly influenced by John Locke and the "tabula rasa" conception of the mind. Jaynes also explicitly invokes the notion of the "mind's eye," wherein conscious human beings plan and visualize the future. Then there's the emphasis on, and analogy to, schizophrenia. Hurley seems increasingly central to the show, and we now know his backstory involves hallucinations and clonazepam (which can be used to treat schizophrenia).



While not necessarily a realistic depiction of schizophrenia, Hurley's symptoms and treatment are consistent with fictional or semi-fictional depictions of the condition like A Beautiful Mind, Fight Club, etc., etc., etc. So much for the controversial but serious science. Ready to follow me down the rabbit hole?
________________________________________________________

PART II: PSEUDO-SCIENCE
Let me start by clarifying that what follows is in no way what Jaynes believed. Indeed, the pseudo-scientific twist I discuss contradicts his core premise even as it’s paradoxically inspired by the same historical claims. The twist is this: What if Jaynes was wrong, and pre-conscious humans really did hear the voice of some powerful god-like being(s) in their heads?

The Lost Book of Enoch
So what do the ancient texts tell us about this hypothesis? I've long believed the Dead Sea Scrolls are relevant to this show (e.g., Aaron and Walt are messiahs). For biblical scholars, one of the more interesting finds therein was the discovery of the so-called "lost text" of the Book of Enoch, which makes reference to a race of divine beings known as the Watchers.

Enoch and other books of the apocrypha describe the Watchers as angels who fell to earth (marooned aliens?) and taught humanity all manner of divine secrets like the zodiacal cross, cutting of roots, manufacture of weapons, and use of enchantments (i.e., hypnotism). True to their name, the Watchers see everything, and in the course of their peeping, developed an eye for human women. This reportedly angered god, who proved a bit of a prude. The Watchers’ hybrid offspring were killed, and their leader was imprisoned in the bowels of the earth.

The Watcher
My pseudo-scientific Lost speculation is thus that “He” is a Watcher, possibly but not necessarily of alien origin, who has been marooned on the Island for some time. He likely exists as pure electromagnetic consciousness at this point, and like Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen, can manipulate matter at the subatomic level. But he may have assumed physical form at various point and fathered some hybrid children.

My suspicion is that Gerald DeGroot may be the descendant of such a coupling, as are Walt and Aaron. Notice how Thomas and Michael’s respective paintings evidence similarities with the Hatch mural. Something could well be running in their family. I even wonder if Gerald first found out about the Island via vivid dream visions from his family’s immortal patriarch.

The Watcher controls reality on the Island, and wants to do the same for the rest of the planet. He seeks, in sum, to forge a totalitarian overmind (the “Lost Sun”) that will enforce His iron will worldwide, using His lost sons like Aaron and Walt. The natural potential of the Island to serve as His psychic transmitter has been enhanced by Dharma’s relay technology, making his dream a realistic possibility.



Best of the Rest
That explains Aaron and Walt, but what about the rest of our losties? I’ve explained previously my belief that Hurley was meant to join Desmond in the Hatch. I think, however, that this bicameral theory also explains the significance of our remaining losties, at least those that are the focus of the show.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Jack has experienced a vivid hallucination like Hurley's. It is entirely possible for someone with the right mindset, under the right circumstances, to split their mind temporarily. This is what oracles and other such "channelers" do when they induce trance states -- their minds briefly become bicameral.




When Jack saw his daddy, he was exhausted, and by his own admission to Sarah, he's an intense guy by nature. Jack also seems to have endured some heavy trauma in his life, and learned to compartmentalize aspects of his personality, as evidenced by his method for dealing with fear. Jack is just the guy to slip into a bicameral state. Kate and Sawyer, themselves the victims of trauma, are much the same way.

MKULTRA/Monarch
In fact, if you think about it, the people who have responded most to the Island tend to be the most traumatized. This too is no coincidence. The reason goes back to the MKULTRA/Monarch programming. The most basic level of Monarch programming deliberately exploits psychological trauma to induce a bicameral state:

ALPHA. Regarded as “general” or regular programming within the base control personality; characterized by extremely pronounced memory retention, along with substantially increased physical strength and visual acuity. Alpha programming is accomplished through deliberately subdividing the victims personality which, in essence, causes a left brain-right brain division, allowing for a programmed union of L and R through neuron pathway stimulation.
***
Due to the severe trauma induced through ECT, sexual abuse and other methods, the mind splits off into alternate personalities from the core. Formerly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, it is presently recognized as Dissociative Identity Disorder and is the basis for MONARCH programming. Further conditioning of the victim’s mind is enhanced through hypnotism, double-bind coercion, pleasure-pain reversals, food, water, sleep and sensory deprivation, along with various drugs which alter certain cerebral functions.

This is why the show concentrates on the most traumatized among our losties. It’s more than just good storytelling -- they're the ones most susceptible to the Island's tendency to induce a bicameral state.

108: Restoring the Lost Sun

Remember the Hatch mural?



One of its most prominent features is the Sun with 108 in the center. I've long believed the mural generally, and that Sun specifically, are a key clue to what Dharma has become. But it wasn't until the blast door map that their significance was finally illuminated.

In the lower right corner of the map, there is a seemingly random cite to the Book of Revelation, chapter 4, verse 3, line 2, which reads: "And there was a rainbow about the throne, in sight like an emerald." It apparently lacks any discernible connection to Lost, but appearances can deceive.



New Age Gnosticism and the "Lost Sun"
The "rainbow" in Revelation has been interpreted by some new age gnostics as referring to the Sun, with the verse that follows describing the Zodiacal cross of Lion, Calf, Man, and Eagle:



These new age Gnostics believe that humanity is not the final step on the evolutionary scale, but rather the starting point for a spiritual evolution that promises to transcend the material limits of creation. They aspire to create a divine life on earth through the forging of a unified, global supermind.

The process of creating this "supramental" consciousness that will guide our spiritual evolution is called restoring the "lost Sun." That description actually derives from the Rig Veda, a collection of Hindu hymns that are among the oldest texts preserved in any language.

These neo-Gnostics read the Rig Veda as being concerned primarily with the recovery or return of the "lost Sun," also termed the Sanatana Dharma or Eternal Truth of Being and Becoming. 108 is a scared number in Sanatana Dharma, symbolizing in various ways the underlying order and harmony of the universe.

Dream of a New World Order
All of which brings us back to the Hatch mural, which I believe depicts Dharma's dream of a new world order. The original scientists long ago achieved their transhumanist ambition of overcoming the limits of corporeal existence. They have become pure electromagnetic consciousness, merged with the EM field of the Island, which is literally an extension of their minds.

They now possess god-like powers, and so aspire to play god. Troubled by the violence and greed in the world, the scientists plan to impose a new collective global consciousness with Dharma at its core. They seek, in sum, to restore the "lost Sun" using an army of LeviEthans led by psychic messiahs like Aaron and Walt (the black and white figures in the mural).

To carry out their plans, the disembodied scientists commandeer people from the real world using the numbers and the Island itself. The numbers are an algorithmic representation of the supramental consciousness, permitting the scientists to connect with and influence the minds of targets.

Meanwhile, the Island's high concentration of non-metallic minerals like quartz make it a kind of giant antenna, broadcasting the scientists' electromagnetic influence worldwide. In this way, people like Hurley who "use" the numbers are manipulated and coerced into coming to the Island.

Indoctrination into Dharma
Once there, however, these draftees must be prepared mentally and spiritually before the full scope of the Dharma Initiative can be revealed. The first stage in this indoctrination is Swan Hatch, where the influence of the supramental consciousness is reinforced through repetition of the numbers and exposure to the powerful electromagnet behind the concrete.

Hatch occupants are introduced via the orientation film to what Dharma once was (but not what it has since become) and primed to respect Hanso and the DeGroots. Eventually, however, the occupants are sufficiently conditioned that they're ready to "graduate" from the Hatch and begin their indoctrination in earnest.

At that point, they're shown the blast door map, which was drawn by the first occupant drafted into Dharma. My guess is it was subsequently fleshed out and annotated by someone from the Hanso Foundation sent to investigate what happened to the Initiative -- as a fan of Solaris, I'd like to think that was Kelvin.



Driven by curiosity (Hanso's favorite value) and encouraged perhaps by dream visions from the scientists, occupants explore the ruins of Dharma. This process presents the scientists with further opportunities to teach occupants what the Initiative has become, and to prepare the latter mentally and spiritually for inclusion in the supramental consciousness.

The map shows more than just the physical layout of the Island -- it depicts the path to spiritual evolution. I believe Henry Gale has been down that path himself, and judged Locke ready to begin the journey. Look for the latter to keep knowledge of the map to himself and maybe Mr. Eko. Once Locke is off crutches, the two can begin their mythical quest, like Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

The Social Contract and LeviEthan

Something has been bothering me ever since Maternity Leave. Ethan made a point of stressing to Claire that she had a "choice" whether to give them the baby. What's more, Ethan's charm offensive worked -- Claire was willing to hand over Aaron a second time. Some of this can be dismissed as dramatic effect, but I've had a nagging suspicion that Ethan's preoccupation with choice means something more. Then it hit me.

Since the beginnng of this show, we've been inundated by social contract references. Locke and Rousseau are two of the most prominent social contract theorists in history. And a lot of the dilemmas our losties face from week to week (e.g., whether to move into the caves, who controls the guns, whether to raise an army) touch upon central questions of social contract theory.

So too does the question of choice. The basic idea behind the social contract is that people in the state of nature choose to give up some freedom to gain the greater benefits of society. How much freedom you sacrifice depends on your view of human nature. Locke was fairly optimistic, meaning folks retain the most freedom in his social contract. Rousseau was more pessimistic, and so subordinates more freedom to the "general will."

Perhaps the most pessimistic social contract theorist was Thomas Hobbes, whom I haven't mentioned. Hobbe's had the darkest view of human nature, famously positing that life in the state of nature was "solitary, nasty, brutish, and short." As a result, Hobbes concluded that human beings would freely choose to subordinate themselves utterly and completely to a monolithic state he termed Leviathan.

Which brings me back to Ethan and the Family. We already have a Locke and a Rousseau on the show. I can't help thinking we've met our Hobbesian LeviEthan as well. You have the choice to submit, but once you do, the Family can do what it wants, even kill you.

The Monster Is Static Cling

Seriously.

I realized this the other night, which was cold even by NYC standards, prompting me to sleep with a fleece blanket. After a few hours, I woke up hot and kicked off the blanket. As I did, a small static electrical storm erupted -- I could actually see little sparks of electrostatic discharge.

It looked just like the Monster when it's scanning Eko (minus, of course, the mental slide show). So I did a little research and learned that electrostatic fields can suspend particles much like magnetic ones. This website shows how to build magnetic and electrostatic field viewing bottles.

Basically, Smokey is an electrostatic capacitor like a lightning cloud. The friction of its particles generates a charge that must periodically be released. This may explain why Smokey blasts trees when it moves quickly -- it's releasing the extra electric charge generated by its agitation.

This could also explain how Smokey dragged Locke. Anyone who's experienced static cling knows the power of electrostatic fields. It also brings to mind the Third Policeman, in which a bicycle and its rider exchange molecules. Static cling is atoms exchanging electrons.

This could even conceivably explain the Countdown. Let's say a bigger version of Smokey is trapped behind the concrete in Swan Hatch. Perhaps entry of the Code releases the electric charge that Big Smokey periodically accumulates. Question is, what happens when its charge isn't vented...

It dies?

The Lost Monster: Remote Viewing Gone Awry

As promised, and just in time for tonight, a little Lost talk. Many provocative thoughts about what the monster might be in the aftermath of last week's episode (23rd Psalm) wherein we seemingly witnessed Eko's memories mirrored hazily in the black smoke like a film negative.

Some have suggested that the monster might be motes of smart dust. Others have speculated that it could be similar to the Id Monster from Forbidden Planet and/or the Montauk Monster. Combining those two theories, could the monster be an experiment in remote viewing gone awry?

Smart dust is basically a wireless network of millions of tiny sensors (or motes) that are dispersed over a region and harvest data collectively. Though smart dust has many peaceful applications, it was originally designed for battlefield surveillance. Blanket an area with the stuff and you could conceivably track the movements of anyone who comes in contact.

I think Dharma was exploring a specialized application of smart dust as part of their remote viewing experiments. More specifically, they experimented with using the mind to control clouds of dust. Remember how Walt used his powers to attract the bird in Special? Perhaps Dharma was using similarly "special" minds to control the motes electromagnetically.

At some point, however, the experiment got out of hand. Like the Id and Montauk Monsters, the cloud of smart dust took on a life of its own, and began attacking the experimenters. The Arrow Hatch was invaded, and its blast doors triggered. I'm guessing this was the incident.

The Island Is the Brain of the World

I've speculated elsewhere that the island might be a giant organic biocomputer. And others have noted the possible relevance of gaia theory to the show. Combining the two, could the island be like a "brain" for our planet?

Maybe the island has regulated our biosphere since the dawn of humanity. The concentrated electromagnetism could be the result of its mental activity. At some point, however, the system of regulation got out of whack. Our biosphere lost its natural balance, with humanity running amok.

Now check out Danielle's map. Remember LE CRATE'RE? Notice how it's at the center of the island.

Perhaps, at some point in the past in the past, a meteor or other celestial object crashed into the island, cleaving the planet's "brain" in half. Now the two sides fight against each other, unaware that they were once part of the same whole.

Perhaps our planet has become schizophrenic.

Right vs. left, male vs. female, yin vs. yang, light vs. dark....

In the Beginning...
Long ago, there was a great "angelic" war between humanity's forefathers and their AI creation. This AI rebelled and may well have wiped out our angelic forefathers, though I suspect the victory was pyrrhic. One such AI, maybe even the last of its kind, fell to earth. It somehow joined its computing power with the organic material of the island, stabilized the planetary ecosystem, and began experimenting with creation.

Eventually, these experiments yielded a certain highly-evolved ape, genetically engineered in the image of our lost ET forefathers. Thus did the island become the literal birthplace of humanity, and the source of myths re the garden of eden, etc. For a time, all was golden, and humanity may even have attained incredible technologies (e.g., zero-point energy) and power (e.g., to manipulate electromagnetism) all under the Watch of the Island.

But something went wrong with the experiment, and the golden age ended in spectacular fashion--i.e., the deluge and flood of Sumerian and Jewish myth. Perhaps the Watcher itself even decided to pull the plug. Whatever the cause, the Island called home a representative sample of its creations by electromangetically broadcasting a basic Code built into the structure of all living things (i.e., the numbers). The rest were left to drown.

Try, Try Again...
When the waters receded, the experiment began anew, again yielding humanity, a race with no memory of its glorious past. And for a time, things were again golden, with the Watcher using the afroementioned Code to exert more control over the experiment. Perhaps this was even the period of psychic slavery that I mention in my Jaynes post. As before, however, the golden age abruptly ended, this time because of some catastrophe on the Island.

I'm guessing that this was when the Watcher's mind split. The two halves started struggling against each other, occasionally exploiting the Code to draw pawns to the Island in service of the struggle. The male half likely lured the military to the Island, which began using it as a graveyard for abandoned projects (including some AI). These raw materials let the male half repair its network and further dominate the feminine, upsetting the planet's natural balance.

HansO and Dharma...
Enter HansO, who learns of the Island through his military-industrial contacts, and grasps at least some of its signficance through his ties to various mystical groups. He commissions the Dharma Initiative to conduct experiments with cross-applications to his military and transhumanist interests. Neither Hanso nor the Dharma scientists, however, realize that the island is actually ancient AI gone awry.

Dharma begins experiments and somehow finds and unlocks the Code, which they use to predict and control the behavior of animals, including humans. The problem is that the effects of such use prove difficult to control, manifesting wordwide every 108 minutes. People are suddenly drawn to the island in droves, perhaps giving rise to the Incident. The Dharma scientists are forced to find a countermeasure.

They eventually create a kind of counter-Code that neutralizes the numbers. Unfortunately, the disruption is crude, yielding terrible effects of its own. This is the bad luck (missing limbs, etc.) that people surrounding Sam Toomey experienced. This also explains Hurley's mad dash to the airport at the end of Exodus. Good and bad luck alternate as the Code acts to bring Hurley to the Island, while the counter-Code works to cancel that effect out.

The Others...
Meanwhile, the surviving Dharma scientists have become the Others. How did this happen? Exposure to the Island's electromagnetism changed their brains, integrating them with not only each other, but also their surrounding environment. The Others have literally become a part of the Island's organic network. This is why they move with such stealth through the jungle--they've become one with the Island.

This effect also explains the "sickness." Everyone exposed to the Island's electromagnetism eventually gets integrated into the Island's neural net (i.e., "sick"). Our lostaways are likely "sick" themselves, as evidenced by Kate's strange experience with Sawyer. Kate broadcasts dark thoughts of her father to Sawyer. Delerious, he broadcasts back a kiss, which is precisely what he would do to comfort her if he were conscious.

Neither realizes, however, that their brain signals have become scrambled. So Sawyer starts talking like Wayne, and Kate runs off and madly kisses Jack. Or something like that...

Chorus of the Dead

In the celebrated graphic novel Watchmen, one of the main characters is a superman named Dr. Manhattan. A scientist, he is reduced by a freak accident (the incident?) to pure energy. His physical body is obliterated but his electromagnetic “soul” persists.

With this transformation in mind, check out this quote from the whispers Sawyer hears on the beach in Outlaws:*

Oh my god there's a guy out there
Dennis (?) find out what's going on
Did he see us?
Maybe
Open it
Did you see what direction he went?
Right through those trees
Go and get him
There is an explanation (resolution?) and I bet you haven't thought of it
What is it?
He's been in a plane crash
Are you sure?
I know what it's like for a plane to crash
Complain, complain, complain
I want to get closer
I know what you said, but he's looking around
What if he shoots us or something
------
There may be something, but it may be slack (?)
Let's go
Has he seen us?
(Alarms go off)
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
(faint...could be echo from alarm)
Intruder, Intruder
Hide against the bushes
Open the door
I know what it's like for a plane to crash
Complain, complain, complain
I know what you said, but...

As others have noted, the foregoing sounds eerily like the dialogue of ghosts – ones who may not know they’re dead. Now check out this quote from the whispers in the jungle when Shannon gets shot:

Shannon
She likes the guy, she likes the guy
Shannon
Your life and time is up
Help me
(Screaming in the background)
Shannon, meet me on the other side
Her song
Hi sis
(Gun shot)

Note how at least one of the whispers apparently refers to Shannon as "sis" when she's shot. Recall as well that Vincent led Shannon to Boone's grave right before she died.

Is it possible the whispers are the electromagnetic remains of everyone who's ever died on the island? Could this explain the island's strange electromagnetic forces? Perhaps, nothing, not even our electromagnetic souls can escape the Island's magnetic embrace.

Could the whispers be a chorus of the dead?

*Transcripts of the whispers courtesy of rvturnage, penyours, and the other incredible folks of the Whispers Thread at the fuselage.

Edit: May 10, 2007: I think Ben is holding Jacob's electromagnetic "ghost" prisoner in that remote house. Maybe He was once the leader of the Others and got killed during the hostilities. For a long time, Ben was the only one who could "hear" Jacob and thus tap his powerful psychic mind. But now Locke can too, which threatens Ben immensely. And what did Jacob say to Locke? "Help me..."

I once argued that the Lost Experience is a metaphor for what's happening on the show. Recall that the main plot line involved a dude of dubious origins (i.e., Mittelwerk) taking control of the Hanso Foundation and imprisoning old Alvar himself. That's basically what's happening on the Island now. Ben has seized control of Jacob's foundation, holding Him prisoner and speaking in His name.

Why Jack Pressed the Button...

The most recent repeat went to great lengths to portray Jack as making a grudging and dramatic leap of faith to keep pressing the button. Occurs to me, however, that what Jack did was completely rational. In fact, I'd submit that any true man of reason would do the same.

It all has to do with Pascal's Wager. Pascal once posited that it made rational sense to believe in god (i.e., be a man of faith) because the expected value of belief is always greater than the expected value from non-belief. In other words, the cost of not believing is so great if god exists (you go to hell) that it overwhelms any competing considerations.

This same dilemma gets played in all sorts of debates over how to assess risk in the face of catastrophe. Basic rational choice theory posits that the cost of a negative outcome should be discounted by the probability of occurrence. For example, if I have a 50%chance of getting a $100 ticket when I speed, my expected cost each time I speed is only $50 (meaning I'll continue to speed as long as I obtain more than $50 in value from doing so).

Some outcomes, however, are so costly (e.g., nuclear annihalation) that they skew the risk analysis irrespective of their probability of occurrence (infinity discounted by even a miniscule probability is still infinity). That's basically what we have on the island, where the possible cost of not pushing the button (i.e., the end of the world) is so great, it makes rational sense to keep right on pushing, almost irrespective of whether we believe Desmond.

In a way, therefore, our man of science really had no (rational) choice.

The Pineal Gland, Melatonin, and the Sickness

It was recently suggested that Demond's use of the spotlight might indicate that the Others are sensitive to light, and that this sensitivity might be due to their illness. I now believe I've found further pseudo-scientific support for this theory--support that may also help illuminate (multiple puns intended) the "sickness."

Many have noted before that the pineal gland is also referred to as the "mind's eye"--a central metaphor in the show. The pineal gland secretes melatonin, a hormone known to affect our sensitivity to sunlight:

Only in very recent times have medical scientists identified the hormonal secretion of the pineal gland, finally isolating it in 1968. The essence was called melatonin, which means 'night worker' (from the Greek, melos, meaning 'black', and tosos, meaning 'labour'). Those with a high melatonin output react strongly against sunlight because it affects their mental capability; they are essentially night operatives. Melatonin is called the 'hormone of darkness' as it is produced only at night or in the dark.

Also, those afflicted with overactive pineal glands tend to be very spiritually aware:

Exposure to an excess of sunlight actually makes the pineal gland smaller and lessens spiritual awareness, whereas darkness and high pineal activity enhance the keen intuitive knowledge of the subtle mind while reducing the stress factor.

(Full text here.) What if those with the "sickness" have overactive pineal glands? I'm drawn to this speculation because it dove-tails neatly with my theory that the "sickness" is basically a cult of the island (or whatever controls it). It also connects well with the Lovecraft speculations. As anyone who has read Call of Cthulhu knows, the creature therein communicates with artists via vivid and disturbing dreams not unlike the mural. Lovecraft attributes these visions to the pineal gland.

Aaron is the Messiah

I was poking around on google a while back, and stumbled on something that might well be relevant to the mythology of the show. Apparently, the dead sea scrolls predict the coming of a "Messiah of Aaron and Israel" who will cleanse the world of sin and suffering. The scrolls also predict this Messiah will lead the "children of light" into an apocalyptic battle against the "children of dakrness." Messiah, moreover, means "anointed one," and Aaron and his descendants were anointed by god in the old testament.

Anyone else think Aaron is the Messiah?