NOTE TO READERS
I will update this as soon as I get a chance...I realize some things are old news and disproven. I wrote this theory before episode 15 or 16...dont remember when, but it was a while ago. If you find something that needs obvious correcting, please reply to this with the problem in question. Thank you
4/29/06
Good news for anyone who is a fan of my theories, I have finally caught up on a good majority of my school work (in case you,re wondering, I am an astrophysics major and my work gets kinda piled up towards the end of the semester). I will definately dissect this post and give a valid update following the Ockham's Razor philosophy. I will retitle the subject with "UPDATE" written in it. Thank you for your replies.Ockham's Razor : "all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the correct one."
Why is it so hard to believe that everything that we’ve seen happen on the island actually happened?!? Do we honestly think that creators like Abram’s and co. would pick the easy way out of explaining what’s going on? Do we think that ABC would take the risk they took on a TV show where the revelation premises are based on an idea that has been done over and over again? Its stupid. You can create anything you ever want to create and not have to explain any of it as long as the final result is “none of this happened, it was all in your head and here’s why…” I don’t think the creators would do something that high-concept (or low-concept, depending on how you look at it) and possibly career-ending. So let me start off by stating my premise:
EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE SEEN ON THE SHOW HAS HAPPENED.
It isn’t imagined. It isn’t fabricated by DHARMA. They’re plane crashed (so to speak). The island does exist. Just because people are seein’ stuff or forgetting stuff doesn’t mean that DHARMA is some omnipotent power controlling these lives for an unknown purpose (or does it?). I am going to break this down into sections, because there is something that all of this can be connected to, and don’t worry, its not Atlantis this time
THE PLANE CRASH
Flight 815 took off from Sydney. It reached 30,000 feet. Equipment failure on the inside caused a course correction and the plane was broken into three pieces and then crashed on the island. The intensity of this crash is questionable, which I will get into later, but it DID happen nonetheless. The front section of the plane, in which it would appear that only the captain survived that part, the middle section with our normal crew, and the tail section. I specifically remember (however am unable to specifically site) the producers specifically saying that “the plane crashed for a very specific reason”, basically confirming that it DID crash (in some sense…I am sure that anyone can turn that phrase around to mean something else).
Another interesting thing to note about the crash is that it seemed to be very “person” specific. When comparing the tailies to the losties (I think that’s how they are being termed these days), the others came after the tailies intensely, where as they left the losties relatively quiet with the exception of Claire and Charlie (but even then, they weren’t taken from the camp). So obviously, it was set up so that the others could get who they wanted easier by separating all of the passengers according to how the plane was going to crash BEFORE they got on the plane. Since the majority of the tailies were either kidnapped or killed, their numbers dwindled. Moreover, if you are planning to have 80 some people showing up on your island, but only wanted to “take” 15 or so, it would be a lot easier taking those 15 from a group of 23 than a group of 48. This was set up by placing those people they wanted on the tail section of the plane and crashing the tail section far away from the middle.
THE HATCH THE BUTTON AND THE INCIDENT
Oh boy, that stupid computer that’s been boggling us for months. The hatch and all its complexity. Where do I begin? Ill start with the Orientation film. It was created in 1980 and DHARMA started in 1970. An unknown “incident” occurred as a result of making contact with the outside world with the computer. And now, a button must be pushed every 108 minutes. So what exactly happened? Other people have suggested this, so I am just going to take it a bit further.
Originally, the hatch housed DHARMA scientists/interested parties etc… It really seems to be the only bunker that is furnished and stocked so it makes sense. Also, it seems to be the only bunker with communication equipment. Somebody used the computer to send contact to the outside world. That person was mostly likely a DHARMA person who went crazy or seriously didn’t want to be stranded on the island for as long as DHARMA required. So that person sent a distress call warranting the arrival of a powerful force (i.e. the Army) and lo and behold they show up. This compromises everything about DHARMA. I’m not entirely certain what happened to the Army (or other militaryesqe force) once the conflict was resolved, but I would most likely speculate that the monster (or security system) probably took care of them. As a result, DHARMA set up a system to keep the communications bunker (and also the bunker housing the electromagnet (EM)) under control without compromising the initiative. To do this, they bring in people every 540 days to enter the code into the computer, rendering it useless until specifically used. But the thing is that the people who are brought in know little or nothing about the DHARMA Initiative itself. They’re just there to hold down the bunker and protect it as well (which is why the weapons are there). That’s why the quarantine sign is inside the hatch, so the uninformed lackies inside don’t even think about venturing outside and possibly compromising the initiative. Something similar may have been going on in the bunker that the tailies were in.
This would fit well with Desmond’s “story” where as he was doing intense physical and endurance training for years preparing for this race of his and he happens to crash on the island and get pulled into the hatch in a situation that would require that kind of physical prowess. He also thinks he’s saving the world. The only way you could get me to stay in a bunker for that long doing that is if I thought I was doing something drastic like that. He was probably fed a story by Kelvin in order to make him stay. Also, the installment of the blast doors may make sense as well, because this would prevent heavy attack from entering the sensitive areas of the bunker. I also believe that the castaways were intended to be living inside the hatch or at least utilizing it. Of all the places they could have crashed on the island, they crash somewhere that is within close walking distance. Comments made about things in the hatch also suggest it, such as the new washer and dryer. It was put in there a very short time before the crash, in order to accommodate the survivors.
ELECTROMAGNETISM
Being one semester away from my Astrophysics degree, I happen to know a very good amount about this subject. We’ve got an island with some kind of EM (electromagnet). The field generated is strong enough to change the “north” on the island, nearly pull Jack’s key off his neck and it has a hell of a lot to do with the hatch somehow. This is one of the bigger questions though. What is the purpose for the magnet, and how did it get on the island. The Orientation video states that the hatch was designed to observe the unusual magnetic field emanating from “this sector of the island”. Sounds like a lie to me, the kind of lie DHARMA would use to give the button pushers a sense of purpose. That magnet was created by DHARMA and they built a facility around it that would be capable of utilizing it. Yes, I said utilizing. Its what they used to bring down the plane.
The hatch has the ability to send EMP and magnetic waves (i.e. electron beams) on command. It sounds like its powerful enough, I mean, after all, that’s what we heard powering up with they almost didn’t push the button. The EMP would be sent specifically to the cockpit of the plane (because a specifically directed EMP signal can be sent a pretty decent range) in order to mess up its navigation or communication or whatever the hell it lost. This also explains why the transceiver had a low battery. What plane would you know of that would take an emergency transceiver that had a low battery. The EMP drained much of the power and also “busted” it, which is why Sayid had to fix it. Once the plane was on the direction towards the island, the magnet and electron beam was then used to tear the plane apart into 3 very specific pieces. However, as the pieces were falling down to the island, the magnet was again used to lower the speed so the passengers would survive with minor-major injury instead of dying and also to position to a certain degree of accuracy where the pieces would land. Or, someone could have initially messed up the communication system of the plane from the inside and then the EMP/magnet was used to bring down the plane. Either one is acceptable. The black spots you see on the sides of the plane when it is crashed are a result of concentrated EM waves hitting the plane at those specific points in order to achieve the correct separation. EM waves (or an electron beam) would create a burning effect on metal.
THE BLACK ROCK
In my mind, The Black Rock has no existential significance to anyone on the island. It looks like its been there for a while and to us viewers it was a pretty good plot twist. It provided our losties with they’re precious explosives and then hasn’t been mentioned since. The next time its going to get referred to is when it is revealed how it got on the island. Its definitely been there a while, with all the beautiful foliage growing on it. It was either a test of the EM when the DHARMA initiative started, or they brought it there to supply explosives to their subjects, or both. I wouldn’t dive too deep into The Black Rock. I think its served it’s purpose.
THE OTHERS
It has been shown that the others are no ordinary island dwellers who have been living on their own for years. They aren’t crazy zombies or even scary crazy people. And after “Maternity Leave”, I think it is quite obvious that the others are in fact DHARMA people. They dress up as island recluses to give an ideal presence to the crash survivors. That ideal presence could be defined as “scary, unsophisticated, territorial” people who do not want the survivors anywhere near them. That idea seems to be enough to keep the survivors away from them, unless something important happens. The idea is amplified by their appearance as well, making them look raggedy, unkempt, crazy village people. But they are all DHARMA operatives and they dress up like this whenever they need to venture out of their “bases” for any given reason.
The only people that have been taken by the others so far is the 13 or so tailies, Walt, Claire and Charlie. The kidnapping of Claire happened for obvious reasons. Charlie was taken because he was with Claire, but returned at an earlier time than Claire. The others took Walt because they knew that this would keep Michael on the island. Although the presence of Michael on the island has not given any specific reason, him staying on the island means one thing: NO MORE RAFTS. Michael being the only skilled architect on the island and the only one with enough knowledge and experience to build a raft that has the capability of reaching civilization makes him a threat to compromise the DHARMA initiative, and therefore giving him reason not to leave the island is required. This is also why the others allow him to venture into the jungle without interference (reference the conversation between “Zeke” and Jack/Sawyer/Locke in “The Hunting Party”).
However, the reason behind taking the tailies is different. They have a whole list of people to take and the only reason we are given was that “they are good people”. So, why take good people? DHARMA initiated the crash of the plane but they could only separate by who belongs on the island and who doesn’t only to a certain degree. The people taken and never returned are taken because they don’t belong there. Or, in a more specific aspect, they don’t fit in with the purposes of the DHARMA initiative. The others take them, do some kind of memory altercation, and either keep them somewhere on the island or transport them off the island (thus Goodwin saying that they are safe).
THE MONSTER AND THE BLACK SMOKE
I really like the recent theory published in Entertainment Weekly (I think) about the central actions occurring on the island are embodied by a huge parapsychological presence. We know that Para psychological research is part of the DHARMA initiative as mentioned in the orientation film. I do believe that there is a psychic presence on the island, however, I do not feel that it is a central to island events as was previously suggested.
Referring to “The 23rd Psalm”, when Mr. Eko encounters the black smoke, we see a view of it from behind. It was “shooting pictures” of Eko’s past and making some kind of electrical sound. There is an area of para psychology called Psychometry, which is the ability to see past events of an object through close contact. Another is called Remote Viewing, which is projecting one’s consciousness to an area far away from the body without physically moving. The parapsychological presence the island is doing both. The projection of its consciousness or mind is what the black smoke is. It is then using Psychometry to observe the past of the individual it is observing. Good evidence of this is the sound the black smoke makes. Neurological thought and perception is nothing more than electrical impulses in the brain, and the sound that the interior of the black smoke makes during every “snapshot” resembles this notion that the paranormal’s mind is being projected in the smoke.
If the black smoke observes something that is not ideally part of the DHARMA initiative, then it releases the monster. The monster is a manifestation created by this paranormal presence on the island, similar to Walt’s ability. The reason why the sound is so familiar yet implacable to the castaways is because this manifestation is a deformed recreation of something that this paranormal entity thought was terrible before that entity got to the island (i.e. the paranormal creates this monster based on something that the paranormal fears himself, and what that paranormal fears is similar to something that many of the castaways have encountered in life before crashing on the island).
The monster is a security system as defined as Rousseau as well. Not only does it prevent the presence of people who aren’t supposed to be there (i.e. the captain, who was probably supposed to be killed in the crash. He would probably be able to supply the survivors with great information, resources, and techniques for being found, so he was taken care of), but it also keeps people from going to certain portions of the island as well, such as the Dark Territory.
THE PARANORMAL
The paranormal enforces the control on the island, keeping the castaways from going certain places and getting rid of those who don’t belong. Most likely, this paranormal has been on the island since the start of DHARMA, but if that were true, it is getting old. This is why the others need Walt. Walt’s abilities are similar, yet underdeveloped versions of the paranormal (i.e. the manifestations and clairvoyance). By conditioning and developing Walt, DHARMA can continue after the paranormal has past on. The location of this paranormal is anyone’s guess. He/she may not even be on the island (maybe Zeke was referencing the fact that Michael is no where close to Walt in his conversation with Jack and co.), but there definitely is a paranormal present. In addition, the paranormal can also project himself as other forms as well in order to disguise his observation of the survivors, like the bird flying away. The shark was also his projection as a means of either keeping or killing Michael and Sawyer. The paranormal resides in the bunker represented by the symbol that was on the shark, and I bet when we see his monster manifestation, it will have the same logo on it as well.
The paranormal can also implant visions to subtly spawn the actions of the castaways. Locke is especially easy to use for this purpose, simply because Locke is a guy who was basically living a life with no purpose/destiny, so the paranormal quietly led him in order for the castaways to find the hatch. The same thing happened with Charlie in order to get the baby baptized. This is similar to the published article, but I do not believe that this paranormal is a central aspect to the question “Why is this happening?” He is more over just a small but integral part of how the DHARMA initiative is working.
PUSHING THE BUTTON
Every 108 minutes a button must be pushed. Well, technically every 104-108 minutes. But for what purpose? When it came down to it, we see the timer change to 3 black panels and 2 red panels with Egyptian hieroglyphics on the panels. Plus we hear the electromagnet charge. It is a failsafe. It is the pure definition of one. Only operatives of the hatch know the code to stop this from happening. So any outside force that doesn’t belong there basically has no way of stopping it…which makes me wonder just what happened with the “incident”. The Hanso Foundation is known for building weaponry. A large electromagnet created with the ability to send a powerful concentrated electromagnetic beams is definitely something that others would want to get their hands on. The incident was a leak from someone with DHARMA who probably told the Army about this “weapon” and they came to retrieve it. The Army didn’t succeed obviously and the new failsafe was created. So that in case some force raids the hatch, they would have no way of retrieving the weapon in time. This is also why the operative of the hatch are left a certain amount in the dark, because the less they know, the less of a chance of a leak happening again.
What is the magnet going to do when the button isn’t pushed? It powers up and will release a concentrated beam. I don’t think that it would destroy the island, because the blast doors that were installed would make no sense. It could just destroy the hatch itself, killing everyone inside (ideally the intruders). Either one could happen. I don’t think its anything as extreme as destroying the world, but an isolated self destruction is possible. Most likely, the blast doors seal the people in the room by the computer, and then uses the electromagnet to kill the people in the room. There are too many possibilities here to say for sure what will happen, but it has something to do with the electromagnet going off in a bad way.
THE DHARMA LOGOS
As quoted by the producers, we have to break down the DHARMA logos to its simplest form to figure it out. So lets do this. They are representations of a compass. We have seen 4 different logos so far and each of them not only have a specific point(s) but the section of the octagon that each of them point at is unique. The Swan points to the Northeast, the Arrow points to the north, the Caduceus points to the south, and the logo on the shark points to the east or west or maybe both. I suppose we would have to see a better image of it to determine if the line in the center is thicker on one side. This means that there are 7 or 8 bunkers that have each been given a DHARMA logo that acts as a compass.
They could be pointing to a few things. First, the 8 bunkers could be set up in an octagon around the island and each locates where in that octagon is (possibly suggesting a “main” bunker in the middle of the eight). Second, they could be representing where the North would appear on a real compass due to the magnetic field (i.e. when at the Swan, the magnetic field pushes North to the Northeast on a compass). With 8 of these “points” so to speak, one could define the shape and intensity of the magnetic field on the island as a result of the electromagnet.
They are not representative of constellations. The Caduceus logo derailed this theory, since there is no representation of the Caduceus in astrological definition. However, Greek mythology is still a heavy congruency in these logos so far.
HURLEY AND LIBBY
There is something off about this relationship. Libby’s behavior so far is easily questionable as well. Hurley has an attraction to her and seems to recognize her from somewhere, but instead of questioning it, figuring it out, or even comment on it, she changes the subject entirely by putting on a skimpy shirt. Her interaction with Claire is also weird. Libby is a clinical psychologist and when she helps Claire remember what happened to her, Claire sees Ethan working on her. Libby, while knowing very little about the situation, instantly tells her that it isn’t Ethan, but someone else that Claire is putting Ethan’s face on. She was drawing attention away from Ethan with hope that Claire wouldn’t pursue it further (plus Libby didn’t even consider the fact that what Claire remembered could have been accurate).
Hurley said he recognized her. We know Hurley has a history with a mental institution. He used to be a patient there for however long that was. Libby was a clinical psychologist there as well with two possibilities. First being that she was Hurley’s doctor specifically, and that the reason that Hurley can’t specifically place her in his memory is that some kind of medication he was on jumbled his memory. Second, Libby was a doctor there who mediated Hurley’s progress without interaction (similar to the way a business may work, where someone with high authority fires you, but you’ve never met this person) and he recognizes her because he saw her sporadically in the hospital. Libby’s ulterior motives are unclear, but that’s the way all the characters on the show are, because we know almost nothing about who they are until we get their flashback (Mr. Eko being the best example).
THE OTHER HATCHES
There are at least three other hatches somewhere on the island. One of them is a weather control center. It practically rains every day around the same time, and Locke can also predict when its going to start raining within a minute (probably a side effect of the paranormal’s control over him). This is done to ensure that the survivors have sufficient water to drink and that any vegetation they attempt to grow gets proper weather.
There is also an underwater hatch as well. Some vague indications include the shark and the cable Sayid found. But the best evidence is Walt because he is being held down there, and the paranormal is also down there. Walt has started to learn how to Remote View and cognitively project himself. Theoretically speaking, when an underdeveloped mind is Remote Viewing, the current situation of that person sometimes affects the projection. Walt knows he is underwater, and that is affecting his projection such that he appears to have just jumped out of a pool. His backwards talking is also an indication that he is cognitively projecting himself. In order to project or remote view, you sometimes have to be in a lucid state, and it is a well known fact that when one is in a lucid state, things can be reversed. These things include number sequences, speech, and patterns. This is why his projection is talking backwards.
The paranormal is in this hatch as well. His projection of his monster manifestation seems to burst out of the ground violently sometimes. This is because sometimes he may not be able to project his monster high enough and it ends up manifesting a meter or two underground, so it bursts out of the ground.
The other hatch is hard to speculate on, because there is basically no evidence or apparent function for it. It may be the place where they house the kidnapped survivors. It could be the place where the scientists mainly convene. It could also be where Desmond ran off to (if he even knew where he was going). It could be any combination of the above, but I’m afraid we are going to need more information about this before better speculation can be made.
STATE OF NATURE
Locke’s idea of the Tabula Rasa (clean slate) is evident. So far, many of the main characters have had to let go of something wrong or bad or something eating away at them in order to become helpful to the new way of life. Everyone here is given a chance to start over with their past meaning absolutely nothing. Unless the person has a different use to DHARMA (i.e. Walt and Claire), one needs to have something to let go of that they wouldn’t be able to let go of in the real world, therefore starting over and getting their Tabula Rasa so they can be integral to the society. This is why the reason for taking those people from the tail section was given as “They are good people”. It’s a requirement for being on the island.
THE PURPOSE OF THE DHARMA INITIATIVE
It still isn’t definitively clear, but let’s try to postulate using the simplest explanation possible. We know the DeGroot’s were influenced by the works of B.F. Skinner, a philosopher and psychologist responsible for ideas like The Skinner Box (an environment in which a subject is placed in an environment where it must make decisions like pulling levers and such in order to achieve results, thus giving the observer the data he wanted. Its like putting a rat in a maze with switches where some punish you for pushing them and some reward you for pushing them) and Walden Two (an ideal utopian society with no central government or control in which children are conditioned to believe that the society is the only society as well as the right one). These are very brief summaries. Feel free to check out the Wikipedia links I have provided for more information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Two http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinner_box The island cannot be a manifestation of Walden Two. Where as the children conditioning would fit well into what’s going on with the children on the island already, the key to the Walden Two is that the society has no central control and no outside influence.
The island cannot be a Skinner Box. These people aren’t being tested; they are being forced to survive. There are no “levers”. DHARMA has set up “boundaries” so to speak on where they can go and what they can do, but that’s just achieving isolation from the real world. Elements of the Skinner Box can be seen, but the island is not just a Skinner Box, and neither is the hatch if we are talking specifically. A Skinner Box only punishes for performing an action, not NOT performing an action. The button is a moderated failsafe to ensure the security of the equipment in the hatch, not a test built for the survivors.
There are other involvements as well. DHARMA seems to be hugely focused on scientific progress as well as human progress almost equally. Think about it. The DHARMA people have got to be doing SOMETHING while they aren’t doing anything with the survivors. Do we really think they spent 40 years to prepare only for this plane to fly over?
This isn’t just an experiment (if it was it would be called the DHARMA experiment). I think the best theory I’ve got is the idea of a SCIENTIFIC DYSTOPIA. A dystopia is not exactly the opposite of a utopia, but it is different. It’s a community where people are brought together from the outside world typically by a huge event that defines the society (plane crash) but are governed by a totalitarian force (similar to control theory, but no where near as “controlling”). The totalitarian force here being scientific. There is a bunker on the island that controls the weather. There is a bunker on the island housing a paranormal who controls the boundaries of the survivors. There is a bunker on the island that is keeping the survivors in a specific area. These are all measures that are created by the people (DHARMA people) who know science.
A bit confusing I think, so let me simplify it. A Scientific Dystopia is a society that begins with a large event defining who the people are (a plane crash making them castaways) in which they are moderated by a higher government which bases itself on science. It is a world that is created by scientists that obeys the laws and rules of the scientists. The Scientists say when it rains, where they can go, what they are supposed to do, and how they are supposed to do it. A world that is run by science is a world that would theoretically advance faster, and doing this is the first step in proving this theory. The reason why the Tabula Rasa is required is because each survivor needs to have something to let go of in order to be a part of the society. Once you have a clean slate, the only thing that defines you in this society is the plane crash and everything that happens after it, thus giving the effect of the plane crash being the beginning of time for this society (in other words, someone who is too attached to the outside world wouldn’t be able to let go of it, so they would not fit in the society).
But trying to prove a theory is basically an experiment, and this isn’t just an experiment. What else is going on here? It has something to do with the children. How can we explain their obsession with children? Children can be conditioned. Their mind isn’t fully developed yet. DHARMA is conditioning the children with that drug we saw in “Maternity Leave”. There is no “illness” on the island. The drug given to Aaron is a mental inhibitor that invokes brain development beyond that of normal humanity, thus advancing and expanding human ability. It is possible that this was unknowing done to Walt in his early years as a baby. These new human abilities run along the lines of paranormal and enhanced intelligence.
The DHARMA initiative: Creating a dystopian society ruled by science and accelerating human advancement/evolution in order to best utilize and prepare for the next stage in human advancement in the real world.
Or…
A. Determining ways to successfully accelerate the progression and evolution of humanity.
B. Constructing a brand new society of people with different background/professions/races/attitudes in order to emulate the real world.
C. Ruling the society with the newly developed advanced humans in order to determine its results and pre-emptively prepare for the next stage in human advancement, thus making humanity better.
The Dystopian Humanistic Arrangement Research and Mental Acceleration Initiative.
As suggested, my other theories (one of the first large, well researched theories that many of you might remember) are here...
http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3012 http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10849 UPDATES (I made this update in the end of March...it was a good guess)
I think i want to scracth off my previous ideas about Libby. Although i have no proof of this, I am just saying it compulsively. Libby was in a mental institution as well, the same one Hurley was in. She was committed at a time that was towards the end of Hurleys residence there. However, she escaped and went to Australia for some reason unknown. In order to elude, she acts as a clinical psychologist with the abilities she picked up from her own clinical psychologist (i.e. the memory technique. Maybe her doctor was trying to get her to remember something, and when she did, it had some significance to Australia or something). this is underdeveloped but completely in the realm of possibility. her conversation with Hurley in the hatch seemed a little off as well.
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