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[aesutton]

Ok, this is sort of a first draft of my Lost Theory...critique and tell me what parts you like/don't like/think are or aren't legitimate. I watch the show regularly, but I probably haven't caught as many little references as a lot of other people have. So if I've missed something major or got something totally backwards, (which I'm sure I have) just let me know...
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Where are they?

An island in the South Pacific, somewhere between Hawai'i and New Zealand, hidden because of its unique geologic and electromagnetic location.

Where did it come from?

The formation of the island itself is the easy part. It formed as many islands do - from the cooled and hardened magma of a long-ago volcanic eruption. But this particular island probably formed in a very lucky place - right over an intersection of energy lines that "brought it to life", so to speak.

Is it conscious?

Yes. The degree of awareness of the island has yet to be explored, but there is definitely some level of consciousness/activity. The Island seems to function somewhat like Karma - giving to and taking from each person according to what they need, what they have earned, and sometimes simply what they have to experience. Charlie earned back his guitar; Locke was given back his legs; Boone's life was taken.

What year is it?

The plane crashed in 2004. The real world is still operating in real time since then. But the island may be doing its own thing. Time is relative, and so can bend or alter, depending on one's place in the universe, speed, mass, etc. It seems likely to me that they have stumbled into a place where time as we know it works a little differently - it may be slower, it may not be a factor at all. There are absurdly long expiration dates on the food from Dharma, but I rather suspect that these dates weren't meant to be used at all. Dharma knew the day the food expired would never come.

Where does the food come from?

An automated Dharma facility, I suspect, that's continually producing more. According to the laws of conservation of mass and energy, mass/energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only changed into different forms. Dharma probably built a food production facility based on this premise that would continually renew the supply to continually feed the scientists/inhabitants. Is there a specific set of conditions that must occur to make it come? I'm not really sure, but if indeed the island can only be approached during very specific moments (see Lumping, farther down) then perhaps it relates to this.

Why this plane? Why these people?

An electromagnetic anomaly (thanks to Desmond) brought the plane to the island, but there is something specific about the survivors of the crash has allowed them to sustain themselves there. Many people made it out of the plane, but were "rejected" by the Island. Those people did not survive. And the more time the group spends on the Island, the clearer it becomes who belongs and who does not. Perhaps a specific electromagnetic signature emitted by their bodies interacts or mis-interacts with the energy of the island. Like Isaac of Uluru told Rose - there's different energies. The island just isn't the right place for everybody.

So where does all this energy talk come from? Tell me more.

There could be any number of energy sources/forces at work here - the Earth itself is one big giant (occasionally reversing) [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_magnetic_fieldl]dipole magnetic field[/url], rife with electric currents, energy lines, and is constantly being barraged with times/points where those things intersect. Remember that electromagnetism is a highly dynamic concept - magnetism is nothing without movement. Occasionally, drift occurs and lumps of electromagnetic energy build up in specific places - places where anomalies occur. And maybe even a few chronic lumps pop up - the Bermuda Triangle, for example, might be one such chronic lump - certainly, every plane flying through doesn't disappear, but maybe just the ones who run into it during a clump get a little stuck. The vile vortices might be such chronic lumps. Perhaps the island itself is normally hidden, and only accessible during one of these random lumpings.

These lumps would be difficult to predict, since in order to exactly predict them, we would have to know the exact conditions of the planet's beginning. (see: Chaos theory) Hence, Penelope's Monitoring Station might be simply watching the waves, so to speak, and waiting for a buildup that says a lump is coming, and an anomalous event is about to occur. Then a person might have a half-second or so window to approach the island. The Monitoring Station has already missed one lump, a time which they would probably use to get an exact lock on the island's location.

Consider also Ley Lines - all over the Earth's surface, points of great interest to humankind (eg. Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid, certain Cathedrals, etc.) are in alignment along certain paths. This alignment is not disputed, and one theory to explain the phenomenon is the concept that there exist lines of energy along these paths. A monument or holy site might be placed along the lines, or even better - at an intersection of these ley lines. Why? Either because of the energy and the draw that people feel to that place, or in order to increase the energy and ensure a higher-energy experience there. I noticed that the straight lines seen on the blacklight map in Swan hatch closely resemble ley lines. If the Island exists at a point of immense energy power, and the Lostaways are specifically wired to be able to exist there, then perhaps that would explain the healings - Jin, Rose, Locke. When you belong on the Island, its energy heals you - it's like mother's milk. When you don't belong there, it saps your power and drains and drains until it takes your life away, in one way or the other. (eg. the Marshal, Shannon & Boone, etc.)

The Island is probably sits on more than just an intersection - it might even sit on an origin point. There's been some theorizing that it could be the Garden of Eden, and that doesn't seem impossible to me. If it was once the birthplace of mankind, it might certainly do so again. Like the prodigal son, perhaps we had to return home. But there's more on that in the section about the Others.


OK, so what about all the corporate stuff? Hanso, Dharma, Widmore, Paik, and whatnot?

Second layers. The experience of the Lostaways isn't just due to one force from one direction - there are many different layers, all working concurrently on the lives of these people. The Island itself is a phenomenon, and knowing that like draws more like, once it was discovered, it probably attracted researchers looking for ways to interpret and understand its power. This, in turn, probably attracted governments and private corporations looking to profit from an understanding of how to control this power. As the layers built, so did the mystery.

Great. But what was Dharma doing on the Island?

Dharma Initiative ("Dharma") was once a project of the Hanso Foundation ("Hanso"), who say they've since moved on to greener pastures. The original goal of the research being done on the island, I believe, was to build a better human. More specifically, the scientists at Dharma were looking to guide mankind into the next phase of his development, both physically and spiritually. What we're looking at on the island is essentially a species caught in its evolutionary adolescence. Evolution, like the energy we talked about before, is a very dynamic system, also given to "clumping" (eg. the Cambrian Explosion). As humans, we've been living in a slow period ever since we've been around.

Humans are evolving, yes, but physically, we've been doing it very very slowly and changing very little since we first sprang up about 10,000 years ago. Emotionally, spiritually, and societally, we've grown a lot, but still find ourselves plagued with the problems that we deem "inherent" to the human condition. Jealousy, greed, selfishness - for all our evolution, these urges are still as strong as they were in caveman days. Our self-control is better, but not always strong enough. The point of real and rapid growth for man has been in the sector of technology. We've come a long way from rocks and stones, and it just keeps moving faster. As we continue on this path, however, we may find ourselves getting "too big for our britches" - our technological growth outpaces our social and emotional maturity as a species. The result? Collapsing societies. Environmental devastation. Threats of nuclear war. I believe that Dharma was simply looking to close that gap.

So who are the Others? Dharma scientists?

I think what we have here is and island filled with a lot of people (the Others) who were forced to "grow up", evolutionarily speaking, way too fast. They were Dharma test subjects, designed and experimented on to make them better people, but Dharma didn't get it exactly right the first time. Or probably even the third, fourth, or twentieth. So these people maybe got super-strength, super-speed, super-resilience, super-hearing, but no greater emotional growth to go with them. Only the very real and very human desire to simply be left alone. Dharma life was probably hellish for them, and now that they're nobody's test subjects now, they're never going back. They've either been abandoned or forgotten, and they're not looking to change their luck now, because the rest of human society would probably not look to kindly on these NewPeople, who had the potential to do things faster and better than any normal human could. Covert living is best for them, and so they go about their lives on the island, probably with some very advanced living (the fishing village is just a front) and they keep very close watch for anything that might mean they could be found out. They also keep close watch for changes in the world around them, because one day, just by chance, the rest of the world might begin to evolve and start to catch up. Once that happens, the Others can be reunited with the rest of society. But until then, they remain hidden and watchful.

How are they living?

Probably quite well. The fishing village is certainly a decoy campsite, and the Others are obviously using/inhabiting the old Dharma hatches in some way (eg. Claire's memory of her time with them). They probably continued to explore and experiment in science as they bide their time on the island, and considering they're quite gifted, they've probably gotten pretty good at it.

Why do the Others want the kids so bad?

To test the current boundaries of human evolution. Genetic strength is just potential if it's not nurtured, so to try to test an adult for evolutionary differences might yield nothing - they've already become acculturated to normal society, and probably don't even know that they can do anything spectacular. But children are another matter - a blank slate and willing to show all they know. Walt is just what they've been looking for. Aaron might have some potential too, and maybe that's what the psychic alluded to when he pleaded with Claire to not to let her baby be raised by another. The other kids who were taken from the Tailaways' camp might be normal or new, there's no way of telling until we get more clues. But we already know what the deal is with Walt - the kid's gifted in a way that most aren't, and his coming may signal a change in the tides for the Others, and indeed, for the entire world.

So what about the polar bear? And the Black Smoke? And the Black Rock?

The Ship probably got there by accident, a long time ago - but the survivors of the shipwreck were probably connected to the island in the same way the 815 survivors are. They had some energy signature that allowed them to survive and thrive there. And they were probably pretty grateful to get out of chains and into the sun...at least until Dharma came. Stumbling across a well-hidden tropical island and discovering that there are available and vulnerable people there to run tests on probably just looked like straight serendipity to the Dharma scientists. The ship could have been a slave ship, or it could have been a prison transport ship moving criminals from England to the then-penal colony of Australia. In either case, the ship's survivors' descendants later became the new Dharma lab rats.

For the smoke, I favor a technological explanation - it seems to have awareness, but in a much more undeveloped way than the Island. The smoke behaves in seemingly random ways that may indicate that it is being controlled in some way - a minor degree of artificial intelligence, but nothing more. Some basic nanotechnology, used by the advanced Others to check up on what's going on around the Island.

The Polar Bear could have gotten there by accident, sure, but I think it's more likely that it's a production of Walt's precocious little mind. In times of duress or stress, even a normal human mind can conjure up some pretty impressive things (eg. mass hysteria, folie à deux, etc.) that affect the people around them as well. It stands to reason that Walt's abilities would be even more impressive. I'm actually not entirely convinced that Vincent isn't even a figment, so to speak, of Walt's impressive imagination. If he is, it's possible that Walt's immature mind is unable to conjure both at once - I notice Vincent is often missing at key polar bear moments.

OK. So what about the Sickness?

I don't even think there is a Sickness anymore. At one point, there probably was a highly contagious mental illness circulating around the advanced population of the island. There are a number of "illnesses" that are psychosomatic: they have a mental origin, but physical manifestations. (eg. "wind illness" aka khyol, kerd khyol, khyol chab, krun khyol) There are also a number of "spiritual illnesses" - (eg. Kundalini Syndrome) that can be caused when one tries to tackle mental experiences that exceed one's personal mental maturity. Imagine folie à deux, only to the extreme, and spread out amongst an entire population. Now imagine that, like Walt, that entire population has the ability to materialize their hallucinations. You would find yourself with an incredibly dangerous and highly uncontrollable crisis on your hands. The only way to stop the spread of the neuroses would be to isolate the infected portion. And if you were on an island with no way off? Probably have to isolate and kill them.

Well, what's all this talk about the Valenzetti Equation and the end of the world?

I think it's less about the end of the world and more about a deadline. Maybe the next step in human evolution has to occur by that date; if that's true, then humans as we know them to exist now would sort of cease to exist on that date.

Yeah. What about the G--damn button?

I think that's one part psychological experiment, two parts menial labor and one part legitimate process. It was probably setup by Dharma to keep the Island's energy at bay, or at least at tolerable levels for Island-rejected people (such as Dharma scientists). It keeps the energy surrounding the Island at a constant and manageable level, then discharges it in a very specific non-lethal-to-normal-people way. In this way, it keeps the island hidden. But the island and the world seem to have existed very happily long before Dharma came along and built that button, so I don't think it's critical to the survival of either. The failsafe probably just collapses the whole system and lets it go back to its natural state. This would kill any non-Islanders present, and could be related to the Incident mentioned on the orientation tape.

[Indeed, if the purpose of the button is to keep the island hidden, then it would explain why the delivery appeared just after the alarm went off - it's the only way to allow the feeding facility to get a lock on where to send the food.]

OK. Anything else to add?

I think it's important to note that no person on the Island is more or less important than any other. Every character has something of import to add, otherwise they wouldn't be on the Island.

Also, it is important to remember that the lines between "Self" and "Other" are not so easily delineated as we think. I see a lot of themes about the inherent duality of the nature of man at play here, especially in interactions between Jack and Sawyer, Locke & Eko, and even Kate & Claire.

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OK, that's all I've got for now...look it over and tell me what you think...

[just another other]

This theory is excellent - a great first post.....

This is very well thought out, and you have obviously went to great lengths to create it. I like it so much that I have added it to the 'The best theories....' thread:

http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21984

Welcome to the site!

And by the way, as you may have guessed, I voted for 'brilliant'!
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LOST IS LOOPS. Click here.

[JoeMoron2000]

wow.
just wow.
i thin--wow.
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SaP ftw!
Claire is teh sexz!
Ben is teh suxz!
"Hen oida hoti ouden oida" -- Socrates

[just another other]

I'm pleased that someone else has contributed to this thread, because it really is one of the best theories I have heard, and the author obviously spent a lot of time creating it, so it is disappointing to see such a lack of replies....
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[Fire Walk With Me]

Good show!
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FIRE WALK WITH ME @ http://www.myspace.com/jthealy

[fett179]

i agree

[JoeMoron2000]

[aesutton]

Thanks, guys! I was really nervous about it - I know it's long, so maybe I'll try to revise it and post a new and sexy concise version...But yeah, big thanks to you all for posting/voting!!

oh and one more thing i forgot:

What about the four-toed statue?

I think the four-toed statue is further evolution evidence...I remember seeing an article about 6 years ago that detailed that the next physical step in the evolution of man would probably be a reduction to four digits instead of five, the pinky being increasingly unnecessary. So I think that this statue was probably erected to remind the population surrounding it (Dharma or the LabRats, whoever) of their goals and purpose.

Who built it?

It didn't look nearly as worn as some of the rock surrounding it, and it had clearly been moved to its location, so at first, I figured someone with some pretty advanced technology probably built it, which made me think: Dharma. But then I remembered how ethnocentric that idea was...an ancient society doesn't necessarily mean a low-technology one, the Pyramids being a perfect example. Which then led me to remember that on the letyourcompassbeyourguide.com site, the map that appeared was in fact, an overlay of the Gematrian Wheel. I also thought of the possibility for using the energy of ley lines to transport massive items,
a la Coral Castle. So, to sum: I don't know who built it, I just know why.

[just another other]

Yeh Joe, you're totally right. It's really frustrating though! I made a new theory a few days ago, and it only got about 8 replies or something...



And aesutton, again, those are very good ideas, I like them a lot!
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[DFelon204409]

[aesutton]

oh, yeah, i pretty much meant the main/semi-main characters. i was just referring to the way people often theorize that, for example, jack is super important, whereas sayid or bernard are not, etc. i think they all have equally important roles to play in the weaving of the rich fabric of this story.

although you do bring to mind an interesting point, which is that perhaps we should pay more attention to the redshirt extras...maybe we're missing some salient info from them. i tend to fade them into the background of my attention in scenes, which has led to me missing certain actions/interactions which were later significant.

but yeah, anyways, just another other? you can call me Aesis. And can you link me to your theory? I went looking for it, but I'm not too familiar with the board yet...

[24k35h]

Great theory mate, brilliant.

[just another other]

Aesis ( ), here you go! I hope you like it:

http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21956
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