(2/1/08) THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE BEGINNING: DIGITAL LOST AND FOUND- WHERE'S THAT MISSING TOE? PULLING SOME STRINGS- MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC! Kudos to Lindelof, Cuse, and all involved for that rousing Season Four opener last night.... And, of course, a hearty Hurley-bear-hug goes out to Charlie, for the flashes of heuristic inspiration he unleashed upon us all, last night! Yes, in order to understand what's up with Charlie, and where the series is headed during the final seasons, we'll need a flashback to that oldie but goodie, 'Flashes Before Your Eyes'.... Something old, something new, something borrowed, something.... green?!?! Before we dive into the deep end of the conceptual pool with Charlie, let's take a moment to step back, and draw in a long, cool breath of perspective.... What's It All About, Charlie?  It is what it does.... What happened to Charlie? What's the island? We come closer to knowing what something is by observing what it does. This tenet is at the heart of how we're 'wired' to perceive and understand the world, and it weaves through and supports a myriad of modes for human inquiry, including the scientific method. And it is very interesting to apply this tenet when we step even further back, behind and beyond our selves, to observe the broader patterns and processes underway. From this meta-perspective, we can see that the island is more that what 'it' does, what is done to 'it', what is done on 'it', since on this broader level we see that the answer to the question of what the island is, is the process of collective questioning and examination unleashed by the very design, structure, contents, and processes of the show. In short, the island is what it does to and through us, as a collective body of observers, interacting with the observed in Heisenbergian manner. (Just ask Paulo and Nikki about how 'observers' can indeed interact with, and influence, the 'observed'!) So this does not devolve into mere academic exercise, let's consider the broad parameters of knowing the show (and what the island is, and what happened to Charlie) through seeing what it does, and is doing, to us, the 'real' mainland observers. In addition to the undeniable dramatic energy, engaging characters, and compelling storytelling, the show's producers/writers continue to expose our minds to heuristically-charged stimuli in the form of overt and oblique references to key historical figures in science, social science, philosophy, literature, and beyond. Season Four is no exception, with the introduction of Daniel Faraday, referencing the relevant work of Michael Faraday (more on that, below.)  So our answers to our questions about what has happened, is happening, and will happen on the show are simultaneously informed and constrained not only by the limits of the perceptual and conceptual filters we bring to the viewing experience, but also by the nature and contents of the views we have been pointed toward, through recurring overt and oblique references to historical figures, throughout the series to date. What would happen if we 'worked forward to work in reverse' by extending the pattern of what they're doing to us, to its logical conclusion at series' end, and then took a step back, to shine that 'future' light on the present of our understanding, now. Toward this end, I offer a brief flash-forward 'future history' magical mystery tour through some of the likely historical figures who will be dropped in as clues, some more overtly as character names, as authors of books being read on the island, and through the mouthpiece of the new character, Daniel Faraday, and some more obliquely through fleeting 'flashes' of easter egg goodies. Again, these are just some of the historical figures I would not be surprised to see 'dropped' into the series, prior to its denouement in 2010. (And yes, this list does focus more on the physical science side of who will/may be referenced in future episodes):  WERNER HEISENBERG- Famous for the Uncertainty Principle, which lay to rest the notion that one could observe phenomena without influencing said phenomena. In short, we influence something simply by observing it. This is but one aspect of the weird quantum realities that undergird our more classical macroscopic perception of reality, of what something is. What Heisenberg teaches us is that we cannot simply come to know what something is by observing what it does; rather, we come to know more about something through observing what it does in the broader context of how the act of us observing it affects what it does. And so on, in a recursively embedded, reverberative, and quantumly entangled manner. It does get very interesting when we consider how this aspect of quantum reality might be manifest/expressed, when operating in and channeled through the island's unique electromagnetic properties. Mind-->Energy-->Matter connections, anyone? (H-->E-->MA)  ERWIN SCHRODINGER- Ahhh, that pesky 'ol cat-in-the-box! Don't be surprised if the double-slit experiment and other monumental Schrodinger contributions find their way into the overt or oblique Lost reference pile, before the series' end. Check this reference out, for significant implications regarding mind-blowing possibilities for existing in more than one state, especially if it is possible to achieve this on a macroscopic scale. (Is Charlie dead? Is he alive? Yes, and yes! More on this, below. (In addition, please see my "Karma Chameleon" 5/25/07 and "Quantum Connections" 2/20/07 pieces for more, in this regard.)  KURT GODEL- Godel's famous Incompleteness Theorem drove a stake through the heart of Bernard Russell's and David Hilbert's attempts to develop a universal mathematical formalism. In lay terms, this theorem can be construed as saying that we will never be able to devise a final, comprehensive, end-all-be-all framework, be it for mathematics, physics, or whatever object of our focus. Creative types embrace this theorem, since it means that we will never be finished in our heuristic exploration for insight into the 'islands' of our existence. Those in pursuit of a TOE (Theory Of Everything) view the theorem as an ominous thundercloud approaching their islands of inquiry, for if Godel is correct, we will never arrive at an end-all-be-all-for-all-time TOE. If Godel is right, the four-toed foot is an apt symbol for our doomed-to-fail, yet damned-if-we-don't urge to find the 'missing TOE'! I cannot think of a more intriguing and slyly winking image of this fundamental dilemma.... Thank you, Lindelof, Cuse, and crew! (More on this, below....)   HANNES ALFVEN- Founded the field of magnetohydrodynamics. Won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1970. Please see below for more details on his myriad contributions and their relevance for Lost, including the study of plasma. (Some have proposed that Hannes Alfven is the basis for the Alvar Hanso character.)  RICHARD FEYNMAN- With Freeman Dyson and others, a key player in establishing the important field of quantum electrodynamics. See the 'Lamb Shift' concept for further insight into exactly what Dr. Edgar Halowax was referring to, when he asked about the 'shift', in the confusion following the appearance of the second #15 white rabbit, on the shelf. And wasn't it interesting to see the 'flashed' balloon-like object, 'parachuting' down to the floor at the left of Dr. Halowax (to his right).... Go back and slowly scroll through the Orchid hatch film disclosed last July 27th, right as the 'quake' starts to hit.... Yes that 'balloon' does appear to have an eerie similarity to some of the graphical depictions of an expanding universe....  MURRAY GELL-MANN- Crucial in identifying strong forces, laying the groundwork for the standard model: "The standard model of particle physics is a theory that describes three of the four known fundamental interactions between the elementary particles that make up all matter. It is a quantum field theory developed between 1970 and 1973 which is consistent with both quantum mechanics and special relativity. To date, almost all experimental tests of the three forces described by the standard model have agreed with its predictions. However, the standard model falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions, primarily because of its lack of inclusion of gravity, the fourth known fundamental interaction." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model.)  MICHIO KAKU- In no small way, he is the 'Carl Sagan' of string theory, helping render it in a more widely accessible manner for the masses, through such best-selling books as "Hyperspace" and "Parallel Worlds." Lost aficionados desiring a quick and effective primer on where the show is leading us, heuristically, should grab a copy of "Parallel Worlds," ASAP. Despite the great promise of this theory, as scrutinized and developed through decades of research, string theorists are still striving to find proof of its claims: "Although historically string theory is an outgrowth of physics, some contend that string theory should (strictly speaking) be classified as something other than science. For a scientific theory to be valid it must be verified empirically, i.e. through experiment or observation. Few avenues for such contact with experiment have been claimed. With the construction of the Large Hadron Collider in CERN some scientists hope to produce relevant data, though it is widely believed that any theory of quantum gravity would require much higher energies to probe directly. Moreover, string theory as it is currently understood has a huge number of equally possible solutions. Thus it has been claimed by some scientists that string theory may not be falsifiable and may have no predictive power.... String theory remains to be confirmed. No version of string theory has yet made an experimentally verified prediction that differs from those made by other theories. The energy scales at which it would be possible to see the stringy nature of particles is much greater than that experimentally accessible. It possesses many features of mathematical interest and naturally incorporates all the gross features of the Standard Model, such as non-abelian gauge groups and chiral fermions. Because string theory may not be tested in the foreseeable future, some scientists have asked if it even deserves to be called a scientific theory; it is not falsifiable in the sense of Popper.... It has also been suggested that string theory is better thought of as a framework for building models, in the same way that quantum field theory is a framework." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory.) So What's It All About, Charlie? We should not be surprised when a more overt String Theory clue is dropped at some point in the series. Indeed, you will recall the more oblique reference provided through playing the Mama Cass hit "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" in the Swan hatch, symbolizing Desmond's ability to play the 'strings' of his life/path/resonances in a Minkowskian manner, making/composing the music of his life, and of others (Charlie!) But what of the current doubts about whether or not we will ultimately be able to find the 'missing TOE' through string theory? Does that not drive the veritable nail in the coffin of our search for a 'missing TOL' (Theory Of Lost)?  Fortunately the answer is no.... String Theory is NOT a requisite for some very interesting candidate TOLs! Exhibit A-- and I would not be surprised to see this clue dropped in a future episode-- Parallel Worlds through DAVID DEUTSCH's theory of a MULTIVERSE. Interestingly enough, as we will see in the following summary quotes, this approach helps us to understand how someone can be both dead and alive, and how time travel may truly be possible: "Quantum mechanics is open to many interpretations. Such experiments as the electron double slit experiment give results, which can be interpreted in many ways. One way is the Multiverse theory. This theory, proposed by David Deutsch, indicates that there exists a universe for every possibility. Every time an event could have more than one outcome there is a universe created for each outcome. In our universe a meteorite caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. A parallel universe exists in which the meteorite missed Earth, and possibly several others in which the meteorite struck another planet or was not formed at all. In a parallel universe Hitler did not invade Russia and consequently won the Second World War. In yet another, Elvis is still alive.... This theory explains the double slit experiment by saying that quantum phenomena are the result of interactions across universes. When a single electron passes through a slit it interacts with the electron from a parallel universe, in which the electron went through the other slit, producing the pattern. This explains the pattern produced by passing one electron through the slit at a time....  This theory applies to time travel in how it allows for reverse time travel to accommodate paradoxes. When one travels back in time, one travels back into a universe created for the possibility of time travel. This universe runs in parallel with the universe from which the traveler came. Everything will be identical to the past in the original universe, and alterations will have the same effect as they would have if they had occurred in the original universe. However, because it is a parallel universe, and not the universe that created the traveler, the traveler will not be affected by any changes he makes. He could kill himself, his father, his grandfather or whoever, and while he is erased from the parallel universe, he continues to exist because he is not from this new universe. Thus no paradox is created, and only the destruction of himself by suicide or personal attack, or his time machine, could see him affected by the outcomes of his actions, and even then no paradox is created. This provides a method by which paradoxes can be avoided and reverse time travel allowed. This theory has parallels such as the alternative histories approach. This theory allows reverse time travel without consequences by having the time traveler travel back onto a different timeline and thus is insulated from any actions which should in theory affect him or cause a paradox." (Source: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/lec18.html.) So is Charlie dead? Yes. Is he alive? Yes. This is consistent with the Multiverse Theory and with my "Karma Chameleons" posting of 5/25/07, which built on a Bohmian interpretation. While part of what the island 'does' involves Minkowskian space-time, what it 'does' and 'is' is far more than mere Minkowskian music-making, composing the 'score' of one's life (and those of others) through action and inaction.... Looking at what is 'done' on and through the island, it appears that the island is a portal, a nexus connecting parallel worlds, or multiverses. And yes, this involves quantum entanglement, Minkowskian music-making, time-travel, bilocation, disembodied voices, invisibility, and a myriad of other seemingly 'magical' effects that we have observed (and will observe) on the 'Lost' island. Hmmmm.... So how was Charlie able to 'appear' to Hurley in the convenience store, in the interrogation room, and later in the yard outside the 'mental hospital'? More importantly, how was Charlie able to achieve the Material Application of slapping Hurley's face?  To answer this properly, let's first go back to the beginning, for a moment. Yes, the Flight 815 plane crashed and is resting on the bottom of the ocean, with its complement of passengers strapped into their watery grave-seats, including one dead Charlie (Charlie version A). And yes, just as the Flight 815 plane ALSO split apart (plane version B), with pieces and passengers landing on the island, so too we saw Charlie living and interacting with others on the island, but now he is resting in the watery grave of the Looking Glass station (Charlie version B.) This due in no small part to the Swan hatch incident sent a huge EMP burst outward, opening the rift/portal between two parallel worlds, and in part through Casimir Effect 'mirror' attraction, one Flight 815 plane drew its mirror version from the other parallel world.  So Naomi is correct in stating that the Flight 815 plane is at the bottom of the ocean with all passengers dead and aboard. She is right, since she is still drawing from her own/home world experience (again, this is Flight 815 version A and Charlie version A, on Earth version A.) But what is important to note is that Naomi's version of reality is Earth-A bound, and it is 'true' outside the island, but once she enters the island region, she exists in the zone that periodically functions as a portal/nexus among parallel worlds, within the broader framework of a multiverse. Naomi meets the live version B Flight 815 passengers, who were inadvertently drawn or sucked into/onto the island inter-world portal/zone, taken from their version B Earth. So although we know what has happened to the Earth-A Flight 815 plane and its passengers, we cannot be sure what has happened to the Earth-B Flight 815 plane and its passengers, since we have no sure connection/information about what persons living on Earth-B know about what happened to the plane. On Earth-B, is the plane literally 'lost', missing entirely, wiped from the planet? So what about Charlie? Charlie-A died, along with the other Flight 815-A passengers, as they plummeted down out of the sky, now resting in peace on the bottom of the ocean (on Earth-A, outside the island portal/zone). Charlie-B and the rest of the Flight 815-B passengers, landed on the island portal/zone. With help from Desmond, Charlie-B averted death like a veritable Schrodinger cat-in-a-hot-double-slit-tin-box, for a while, but ultimately like Charlie-A, Charlie-B met his 'fate' in a watery grave, ala the Looking Glass station. So who slapped Hurley in the face? One distinct possibility is Charlie-C, transecting Earth-A existence to visit Hurley-B. Don't get confused, here... Just remember that the mainland outside the island portal/zone is Earth-A, and the people who landed on the island portal/zone are from Earth-B, and when the 'Oceanic 6' get back to the mainland, they REALLY are 'Strangers In A Strange Land', since they are Earth-B  versions, stuck on an Earth-A mainland. When you think about Jack's desire to get back to the island, and in particular his closing dialogue with Hurley in the Season Four premier, it sure seems like at least some of the Oceanic 6 can sense, deep down in the core fiber of their very being, that they don't belong, that they need to get back to the island. Of course, it is not as simple as this, as I strongly suspect that Jack has had one of those 'I didn't know what I got, 'til it was gone' moments, but I'm sure there must be some element of feeling out of place, as an Earth-B version Jack, on Earth-A.... Who else may have visited and slapped Hurley? If the flight attendant in the television commercial is correct, and Oceanic is the choice for your 'ultimate' destination, then in addition to serving as a portal between parallel worlds, and a means of effecting time travel, the island may also serve as a portal to higher dimensions or 'planes' of existence. Is it Charlie-C, visiting from another, parallel world? Is it Charlie-Q, appearing in Q-like manner ala the Continuum in Star Trek: The Next Generation? Time will tell.... Cue "Moonlight Serenade", right, Hurley?  Flashes of Flashes Before Your Eyes- And yes, I'm not the first to point this out, but the 'something green' reference at the outset of this posting refers to the comic book reference to 'green flash' which, in turn, is a rather overt clue/homage/reference to the famous DC comics version of a multiverse, originating in Flash #179 (May, 1968), involving multiple versions of Earth and parallel worlds, culminating in the intriguing 'Crisis on Infinite Earths': "The story introduces readers to two near-omnipotent beings, the good Monitor and the evil Anti-Monitor, who had been created as a result of the same experiment that created the Multiverse. The Monitor made cameo appearances in various DC comic book series for two years preceding the publication of the series and at  first appeared to be a new supervillain, but with the onset of the Crisis, he was revealed to be working on a desperate plan to save the entire Multiverse from destruction at the hands of the Anti-Monitor. The Crisis series highlighted the efforts of DC Comics' superheroes to stop the Anti-Monitor's plan. Under the initial guidance of the Monitor, a select group of heroes was assigned to protect massive "tuning forks" designed to merge the surviving Earths into one that could be protected from the antimatter that had already annihilated untold numbers of alternate Earths. Eventually the conflict grew, and nearly every DC hero became involved in the battle." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_on_Infinite_Earths.) Check out the remainder of that summary for some eye-opening parallels, and some potential spoilers should the Lost producers mirror additional aspects of that classic series. Interesting to surmise which characters on Lost are the most likely analogues to the 'Monitor' and the 'Anti-Monitor', and the parallel of the latter's 'shadow-demons' to the island Smokey monster is telling.... 
Hmmm.... What if Charlie, now, really WERE the Flash, namely a 'functional-equivalent' Flash, a 'Q-type' higher dimensional version of himself, capable of moving or resonating so fast (quantum resonance/harmonics), on such a high plane of dimensional frequencies, that he is able to 'appear' in and on our 'slower' plane of Earthly resonantial existence. This might explain how Charlie was able to appear and disappear with such rapidity in his last meeting with Hurley. Perhaps Charlie can now alter his resonating harmonics to 'resolve' or materially apply/instantiate himself, physically, on our slower plane of existence, enabling him to deliver Hurley a slap on the face-- resolving himself on our slow plane-- and subsequently deresolving or 'derezzing' here, on our slow plane (appearing to us to disappear), and reresolving or 'rerezzing' on his higher/faster Q-plane of existence (reappearing from whence he came.) Maybe now when we say to Charlie, 'Hey, dude, pick up the Pace', no longer is this simply a play on words vis-a-vis his last name; no, Charlie now has indeed picked up his pace considerably, through higher/faster levels of quantum resonance. And what about.... JACOB.... ! ----> Might this not also help to explain how JACOB gets around our world, and can periodically/selectively intersect with and resolve in our 'slower' plane? Did the display and disbursement of Jacob's energy, while Ben and Locke were in the cabin last season, lead to a temporary, partial 'resolution' of Jacob, in our slower plane-- similar in result to a spaceship decloaking in order to fire its weapons-- with Locke especially well-positioned to see this fleeting phenomenon. And perhaps this is how Jacob is able to traverse our slow plane of existence with ease, to effect a miraculous recovery from cancer in Juliet's sister, through the selective application of quantum resonance harmonics. ----> In the Season Four premiere, was Jacob partially resolved on our 'slower' plane of existence, in the cabin, talking to Locke? Perhaps this was how Hurley was able to see Jacob, rocking in 'dark matter-lord-like manner', as Locke ran to the window to see who was there.... Jacob was already partially and temporarily 'rezzed' or resolved in our slower plane, communing with his new high priest Locke, so Hurley stumbled upon a veritable window of opportunity to observe the fleeting, ephemeral Jacob....
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE REST OF SEASON FOUR-
As in past seasons, in the coming episodes we will meet some new characters named after prominent historical figures in fields of science, mathematics, philosophy, literature, and beyond. Season Four will introduce us to: Faraday and Maxwell.  Daniel Faraday is an obvious reference to MICHAEL FARADAY (1791-1867), who figured prominently in the developing the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry: "Faraday studied magnetic field around a conductor carrying a DC electric current, and established the basis for the magnetic field concept in physics. He discovered electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. He established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena.... In 1845, he discovered the phenomenon that he named diamagnetism, and what is now called the Faraday effect: The plane of polarization of linearly polarized light propagated through a material medium can be rotated by the application of an external magnetic field aligned in the propagation direction. He wrote in his notebook, "I have at last succeeded in illuminating a magnetic curve or line of force and in magnetising a ray of light". This established that magnetic force and light were related." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday.) Please see my prior postings regarding the important implications of Faraday's findings for informing our understanding of effects observed on the island, including the apparent ability of the Others to 'disappear' in light-bending 'Predator-like' manner, and an why it may be so difficult to see the island, from particular angles and distances! (10. "HEMA Science" from 3/16/07, and 13. "Wounds & Wombs" from 4/26/07.) Another very intriguing Lost connection is that Faraday discovered benzene, the structure for which AUGUST KEKULE (1829-1896; full name Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz!) would subsequently apprehend in a creative/Akashic flash of 'ouroborotic' insight worthy of Ms. Hawking's approval: "Kekulé spoke of the creation of the theory. He said that he had discovered the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a reverie or day-dream of a snake seizing its own tail (this is a common symbol in many ancient cultures known as the Ouroboros)." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kekule.) And the 'Kekule-connection' does not stop at this figurative node; it proceeds to direct, literal relevance for the show and the underlying themes it has us probing in our heuristically-charged discovery and dialoguing: "Kekulé was the principal formulator of the theory of chemical structure (1857-58). This theory proceeds from the idea of atomic valence, especially the tetravalence of carbon (which Kekulé announced late in 1857) and the ability of carbon atoms to link to each other (announced in a paper published in May 1858), to the determination of the bonding order of all of the atoms in a molecule. Archibald Scott Couper independently arrived at the idea of self-linking of carbon atoms (his paper appeared in June 1858), and provided the first molecular formulas where lines symbolize bonds connecting the atoms.... In 1872 [Kekule] suggested that the benzene molecule oscillates between two equivalent structures, in such a way that the single and double bonds continually interchange positions. This implies that all six carbon-carbon bonds are equivalent, as each is single half the time and double half the time. A firmer theoretical basis for a similar idea was later proposed in 1928 by Linus Pauling, who replaced Kekulé's oscillation by the concept of resonance between quantum-mechanical structures. For organic chemists, the theory of structure provided dramatic new clarity of understanding, and a reliable guide to both analytic and especially synthetic work. As a consequence, the field of organic chemistry developed explosively from this point. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kekule.)  So not surprisingly, the 'Faraday' clue leads to the 'Kekule-connection' which, in turn presents further intriguing lines of exploration and application. From electromagnetism, diamagnetism, and light-bending ala Faraday, to quantum-mechanical RESONANCE ala Pauling cum Kekule.... Hmmmm... might this not provide a window of insight into how ENERGY can affect MATTER and effect MATERIAL APPLICATIONS on the island, especially when channeled by MIND/HEURISTICS through the unique electromagnetic properties of the island? (H-->E-->MA!) THE MAXWELL GROUP is a likely reference to an historical figure, in this case the eminent scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879):  "[Maxwell] was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. His most significant achievement was aggregating a set of equations in electricity, magnetism and inductance — Maxwell's equations — including an important modification of Ampère's Circuital Law. It was the most unified model of electromagnetism yet. It is famous for introducing to the physics community a detailed model of light as an electromagnetic phenomenon, building upon the earlier hypothesis advanced by Faraday (Faraday Effect). He also developed the Maxwell distribution, a statistical means to describe aspects of the kinetic theory of gases. These two discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for future work in such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics.... Maxwell demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space, in the form of waves, and at the constant speed of light. Finally, in 1861 Maxwell wrote a four-part publication in the Philosophical Magazine called On Physical Lines of Force where he first proposed that light was in fact undulations in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_clerk_maxwell.) Like the DHARMA Group, the Maxwell Group has a distinct purpose, grounded in the systematic exploration and exploitation of phenomena amplified by and channeled through the island's unique electromagnetic properties. Ultimately we will learn that the Maxwell Group was formed to investigate a range of effects and devices involving invisibility, and beyond. **** Recall that when the Swan hatch imploded, the island became visible to the world for a brief moment! **** Another potential Maxwell Group project is the exploration and development of electromagnetic gaseous/cloud/field applications: Is Smokey a form of 'Dusty Plasma':  "A dusty plasma is a plasma containing nanometer or micrometer-sized particles suspended in it. Dust particles may be charged and the plasma and particles behave as a plasma [1] [2], following electromagnetic laws for particle up to about 10 nm (or 100 nm if large charges are present). Dust particles may acrete into larger particles resulting in "grain plasmas'.... Dusty plasmas are interesting because presence of particles significantly alters the charged particle equilibrium leading to different phenomena. It is field of current research. Electrostatic coupling between the grains can vary over a wide range so that the states of the dusty plasma can change from weakly coupled (gaseous) to crystalline. Such plasmas are of interest as a non-Hamiltonian system of interacting particles and as a means to study generic fundamental physics of self-organization, pattern formation, phase transitions, and scaling." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_plasma.) We'll find out more, when the Maxwell Group site is opened on February 1st: Here is another good site for information: RUSSELL was a third likely reference to an historical figure, namely one of the founding fathers of analytic philosophy, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). Unfortunately, it appears we will not be seeing a character named "Russell" any time soon on the show. Nonetheless, we can gain glimpses into the minds of Lindelof, Cuse, and crew, even from a 'decoy' name: "At the beginning of the 20th century, alongside G. E. Moore, Russell was largely responsible for the British "revolt against Idealism", a philosophy greatly influenced by G. W. F. Hegel and his British apostle, F. H. Bradley.... Russell and Moore strove to eliminate what they saw as meaningless and incoherent assertions in philosophy. They sought clarity and precision in argument by the use of exact language and by breaking down philosophical propositions into their simplest grammatical components. Russell, in particular, saw formal logic and science as the principal tools of the philosopher.... Perhaps Russell's most systematic, metaphysical treatment of philosophical analysis and his empiricist-centric logicism is evident in what he called Logical atomism, which is explicated in a set of lectures, "The Philosophy of Logical Atomism," which he gave in 1918. In these lectures, Russell sets forth his concept of an ideal, isomorphic language, one that would mirror the world, whereby our knowledge can be reduced to terms of atomic propositions and their truth-functional compounds. Logical atomism is a form of radical empiricism, for Russell believed the most important requirement for such an ideal language is that every meaningful proposition must consist of terms referring directly to the objects with which we are acquainted, or that they are defined by other terms referring to objects with which we are acquainted.... In his later philosophy, Russell subscribed to a kind of neutral monism, maintaining that the distinctions between the material and mental worlds, in the final analysis, were arbitrary, and that both can be reduced to a neutral property—a view similar to one held by the American philosopher/psychologist, William James, and one that was first formulated by Baruch Spinoza, whom Russell greatly admired." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_russell.)
Perhaps more importantly, however, as the Faraday clue led us to Kekule, so too the Russell clue leads us to another prominent historical figure, figuring largley into the heuristic fabric of insight being woven and unfurled on the island, namely... KURT GODEL (1906-1978): "Russell continued to defend logicism, the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic, and along with his former teacher, Alfred North Whitehead, wrote the monumental Principia Mathematica, an axiomatic system on which all of mathematics can be built. The first volume of the Principia was published in 1910, and is largely ascribed to Russell. More than any other single work, it established the specialty of mathematical or symbolic logic.... Although the Principia did not fall prey to the paradoxes in Frege's approach, it was later proven by Kurt Gödel that neither Principia Mathematica, nor any other consistent system of primitive recursive arithmetic, could, within that system, determine that every proposition that could be formulated within that system was decidable, i.e. could decide whether that proposition or its negation was provable within the system (Gödel's incompleteness theorem)." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_russell.) In addition to the 'fatal' blows that Godel's Theorem has dealt to projects by Russell and David Hilbert, aimed at developing a universal mathematical formalism, the theorem has grave implications for the development of a TOE in physics, namely that ever-elusive Theory Of Everything: "Stanley Jaki followed much later by Stephen Hawking and others argue that (an analogous argument to) Gödel's theorem implies that even the most sophisticated formulation of physics will be incomplete, and that therefore there can never be an ultimate theory that can be formulated as a finite number of principles, known for certain as 'final'." Let me close with some additional information on Hannes Alfven/Alvar Hanso, which I suspect may come into play as the Maxwell Group's actions and agenda begin to unfold, over the course of the next few seasons.... HANNES ALFVEN- Received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970. Alfven was a crucial figure in the development of: "Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) (magnetofluiddynamics or hydromagnetics) is the academic discipline which studies the dynamics of electrically conducting fluids. Examples of such fluids include plasmas, liquid metals, and salt water. The word magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is derived from magneto- meaning magnetic field, and hydro- meaning liquid, and -dynamics meaning movement. The field of MHD was initiated by Hannes Alfvén, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970. The idea of MHD is that magnetic fields can induce currents in a moving conductive fluid, which create forces on the fluid, and also change the magnetic field itself. The set of equations which describe MHD are a combination of the Navier-Stokes equations of fluid dynamics and Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. These differential equations have to be solved simultaneously, either analytically or numerically. Because MHD is a fluid theory, it cannot treat kinetic phenomena, i.e., those in which the existence of discrete particles, or of a non-thermal distribution of their velocities, is important." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamics.) Further information on MHD provides insight into the DHARMA Initiative's efforts regarding the Valenzetti Equation: "Sunspots are caused by the Sun's magnetic fields, as Joseph Larmor theorized in 1919. The solar wind is also governed by MHD. The differential solar rotation may be the long term effect of magnetic drag at the poles of the Sun, an MHD phenomenon due to the Parker spiral shape assumed by the extended magnetic field of the Sun. Previously, theories describing the formation of the Sun and planets could not explain how the Sun has 99.87% of the mass, yet only 0.54% of the angular momentum in the solar system. In a closed system such as the cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun was formed, mass and angular momentum are both conserved. That conservation would imply that as the mass concentrated in the center of the cloud to form the Sun, it would spin up, much like a skater pulling their arms in. The high speed of rotation predicted by early theories would have flung the proto-Sun apart before it could have formed. However, magnetohydrodynamic effects transfer the Sun's angular momentum into the outer solar system, slowing its rotation. Breakdown of ideal MHD (in the form of magnetic reconnection) is known to be the cause of solar flares, the largest explosions in the solar system. The magnetic field in a solar active region over a sunspot can become quite stressed over time, storing energy that is released suddenly as a burst of motion, X-rays, and radiation when the main current sheet collapses, reconnecting the field." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamics.)  And this has interesting implications for conceiving the 'separateness'/lostness of the island, why it is so hard to 'find', etc.: "[Plasma] Cellular structure. Narrow sheets with sharp gradients may separate regions with different properties such as magnetization, density, and temperature, resulting in cell-like regions. Examples include the magnetosphere, heliosphere, and heliospheric current sheet. Hannes Alfvén wrote: "From the cosmological point of view, the most important new space research discovery is probably the cellular structure of space. As has been seen, in every region of space which is accessible to in situ measurements, there are a number of 'cell walls', sheets of electric currents, which divide space into compartments with different magnetization, temperature, density, etc ." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29.) Hmmmm.... How will these findings 'dovetail' with the notions of parallel worlds and multiverses....? Very interesting! Copyright 2/1/08 by Dr. Todd J. Hostager Email: thostager@losthematheory.com
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