Rest easy, Lost fans, there IS a scientific explanation for the 'flashes forward and backward' version of time travel. And interestingly enough, the findings of the research supporting the approach is reported in a document entitled "THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS." This approach derives from work in applied string and brane theory. And interestingly enough, it DOES NOT REQUIRE A WORMHOLE, avoiding all of the attendant problems associated with that theory, in order to achieve time travel:
"The title of Heinrich Paes' latest paper might not mean much to you. To those who know their theoretical physics, however, "Closed timelike curves in asymmetrically warped brane universes" contains a revelation. It suggests that time machines might be far more common than we ever thought possible.... Forget trawling the universe in search of rotating black holes or exotic wormhole tunnels that could supposedly let us hop from one instant to another. According to Paes, a physicist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and his colleagues, the door to a time machine could be anywhere and everywhere in our universe. And unlike most other scenarios for time travel, we can test this one here on Earth.... This has led to the suggestion that our universe may be like a four-dimensional membrane or "brane" adrift in a higher-dimensional space-time. All of the particles and forces in our universe would be trapped in our brane like flies on fly-paper, so we would have no knowledge of any dimensions other than the four we experience, even though our brane might be floating in a 10-dimensional space-time, or "bulk". "If it is, then there is the possibility of short cuts through higher-dimensional space," says Paes. "It’s such short cuts that make time travel possible."
(Source:
http://www.americanantigravity.com/articles/551/1/Head-em-off-at-the-past/Page1.html)
Here are further descriptions of the approach, contained in the "Through The Looking Glass" interview of Paes and coauthors Pakvasa and Weiler:
"Paes: We discussed the causality properties of a special kind of extra-dimensional spacetimes. In these spacetimes the extra dimension- or 'bulk'- is asymmetrically warped in such a way that the speed of light varies with its position along this extra dimension. This allows for shortcuts through the extra dimensions. Several interesting aspects of such spacetimes have been discussed before: they may help to solve the puzzle of why the universe is homogeneous over distances having no causal contact in standard cosmology- and thus provide an alternative to an epoch of inflation in the early universe, as discussed by Dan Chung and Katie Freese; they might explain why the dark energy contribution to the Universe's energy budget is so small- it may actually leak into the extra dimensions, as has been pointed out by Josh Erlich, Csaba Csaki and Christophe Grojean, and finally- if there are sterile neutrinos allowed to travel in these extra dimensions- it may solve an experimental anomaly observed in neutrino oscillation experiments, as has been demonstrated by us. In our recent paper we have pointed out that the effective superluminality of particles travelling in the bulk cold also allow [us] to send these particles back in time.... Pakvasa: The sterile neutrinos are in the 'bulk', that is the extra dimension as well as the brane; just like gravitons. They may mix with ordinary neutrinos, and hence ordinary neutrinos can oscillate back and forth between being ordinary and sterile. This is what makes the time travel possibility accessible to us living on the brane."
While this model does not allow us to travel forward and backward in time from the standpoint of sending macroscopic objects (including persons) through time, it DOES provide a means of sending messages or information through time. Hmmmm.... wasn't it Minkowski who was the COMMUNICATIONS officer on the freighter, prior to doing the 'Billy Pilgrim' off the deep end? How interesting that the subtitle to the "Through The Looking Glass" article is "Temporal Communications & Applied Brane Theory." I guess we'll have to overlook it if Des and Minkowski are not rolling on the floor (or rocking in the bed) with laughter over the obvious BRANE/BRAIN connection....
What does this mean for Lost in general, and for tonight's episode in particular? Interestingly enough, the 'sterile neutrino' approach to time travel is just what the doctor ordered in terms of avoiding time-travel paradoxes arising from movement of physical matter forward and backward in time. In brief, sterile neutrinos provide applied string theory mechanism for explaining how it is possible FOR ONE'S MIND (information, messages) to move forward and backward in time, as we have witnessed tonight in the cases of Desmond and Minkowski. And how might this occur? Through a concept for transporting mind through time, proposed by one of Paes' coauthors:
"Weiler: Perhaps in the distant future, we will evolve so our consciousness resides in a ball of sterile neutrinos. Then we can teletransport ourselves."
There is another, more ominous, implication of the sterile neutrino model, of a potential basis for space-time influence beyond the time/lifepath of our finite, corporeal existence, opening up a possible scientific basis for one form of supra-human omniscience:
"[Interviewer]: I've read science fiction plots about time-travel devices that can only travel as far back as the initial construction or operation of the receiver-- in this case, presumably a complex neutrino detector for probably a low-bandwidth data transmission system. Do you think this might be similar? Paes: This is a typical constraint on time travel scenarios- you can go back in time only as long as your path exists. In our case the extra dimension might exist forever, so signals might influence physics in the very far past."
The sterile neutrino model also provides a wormhole-free, functionally-equivalent alternative to explaining how different points in the universe can be connected through space-time warping:
"[Interviewer]: I've also heard that since these are higher-dimensions, they can be like micro-wormholes: both curled up into the planck-distance as well as being able to connect any two points in the universe. How do you envision these dimensions in your model? Pakvasa: The scenario we used corresponds to the so-called 'large extra-dimensions', in which the extra dimension is not so small. Paes: If the extra dimensions were small, particles could not penetrate very far. The model is similar to the warped scenarios of Lisa Randall and Raman Sundrum. It connects different points in our universe due to the warping: the measure of space shrinks in the extra dimension, while the measure of time stays constant, so that in the same time interval you can advance more space intervals. This produces the superluminality required for time travel."
Interestingly enough, recent scientific support for the sterile neutrino model comes from an experiment conducted at Fermilab to explore neutrino oscillations, called MiniBooNE. BooNE stands for 'Booster Neutrino Experiment.' So in addition to the 'Looking Glass' connection to Lost, the sterile neutrino model is connected to the show through 'Boone.' In basic terms, the MiniBooNE experiment is aimed at exploring the (in)ability of the current Standard Model in physics to account for results from a prior experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, involving a device known as the LSND, or Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector:
"Scientists find it difficult to explain the solar, atmospheric, and LSND results using only the three known neutrino types: the electron, muon, and tau neutrinos. This difficulty causes the LSND results to be controversial. It has been hypothesized that some unknown new phenomenon--such as a fourth 'sterile' neutrino with a much weaker interaction with matter than normal neutrinos or large extra dimensions with different neutrino masses--might explain the data. Such new phenomena would have an enormous impact on the standard model of particle physics and would have very broad implications for future research in the fields of nuclear physics, high-energy physics, and astrophysics.... The MiniBooNE experiment, currently under construction at Fermilab, is designed to provide a definitive test of the LSND neutrino oscillation results, and if the results are verified, to make a precision measurements of the oscillation parameters." (Source:
http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/archive/01-122.shtml)
Were the results verified by the MiniBooNE experiment?
"MiniBooNE was designed to unambiguously verify or refute the LSND controversial result in a controlled environment. MiniBooNE reached their first results in late March 2007 and reported no evidence for muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillations in the LSND region, refuting a simple 2-neutrino oscillation interpretation of the LSND results. More advanced analyses of their data are currently being undertaken by the MiniBooNE collaboration; early indications are pointing towards the existence of the sterile neutrino, an effect interpreted by some physicists to be hinting of the existence of the bulk or Lorentz violation."
Yes, the Standard Model interpretation was refuted, and yes, the preliminary results do indeed support the existence of the sterile neutrino.
So how to most parsimoniously explain the 'flashes forward and backward across time,' flashes experienced by Desmond and Minkowski? The sterile neutrino model in applied string theory supplies us with a simpler explanation describing more precisely what we observed, namely movements backward (in last year's 'flashes' episode) and forward (in tonight's episode) of MIND, not of BODY. Exposure to the Swan hatch implosion opened Desmond's mind/brain to movement as information/consciousness along the brane, through the mechanism of sterile neutrinos. 'Brainwaves' traveling along the brane, in 'waves' comprised of clustered sterile neutrino patterns, enabling mind-warp flashes forward or backward in time. No wormhole is needed, thus avoiding all of the attendant problems associated with that approach to time travel. So when Penelope remarked to Des, "I don't know if your getting the signals," she was being more literal than she may have suspected, as the underlying mechanism involves time travel through temporal communication using applied brane theory.
While ultimately we may learn that the show's producers/writers have decided to employ some variation of a wormhole approach in future episodes-- perhaps invoking a mini-wormhole generated periodically at the Orchid hatch, as a means of enabling the movement of macroscopic objects (including numbered bunnies) forward and backward in time, when we focus on explaining the particular task of explaining Desmond's flashes forward and backward across time, we find that we do not need to concern ourselves with explaining the transfer of macroscopic materials, and can instead rely on the more parsimonious and wormhole-free explanation afforded by the sterile neutrino model to help us explain mind-flashes across time which, when sufficiently frequent and disorienting can entail the 'Billy Pilgrim' space-time syndrome of being 'unstuck in time.'
Flying Fickle Finger Of Fate? No, The Constant Craving Of Chronological Consistency-
I'm sure the title of tonight's episode sent Lost aficionados racing to their computers to 'google' and 'wikipedia' the meaning behind it all. Doc Jensen's recent column presaged one relevant and intriguing interpretation. Consistent with my own prior postings, Doc noted that the island time differential was not the constant, but instead focused our attention on an important aspect of time travel: The 'Novikov Self-Consistency' principle.
Despite the undeniable relevance of that principle, my own search for meaning in tonight's title was instead drawn back to last year's classic 'Flashes Before Your Eyes' episode; in particular, I was drawn to what we might learn about the meaning of 'the constant' from Ms. Hawking's explanation of the 'rules of the game' concerning time, in Lost. Here are the key excerpts from her exchange with Desmond, in that regard:
MS. HAWKING: This is wrong. You don't buy the ring. You have second thoughts; you walk right out that door. So, come on, let's have it.
DESMOND: I don't know what you're on about.
MS. HAWKING: You don't buy the ring, Desmond.
DESMOND: How do you know my name?
MS. HAWKING: Well, I know your name as well as I know that you that don't ask Penny to marry you. In fact, you break her heart. Well, breaking her heart is, of course, what drives you in a few short years from now to enter that sailing race -- to prove her father wrong -- which brings you to the island where you spend the next 3 years of your life entering numbers into the computer until you are forced to turn that failsafe key. And if you don't do those things, Desmond David Hume, every single one of us is dead. So give me that sodding ring.
[Snipped.... And flash-forwarded to....]
DESMOND: You're here to talk me out of marrying Penny. Well, it won't bloody work.
MS. HAWKING: Oh, yes it will.
DESMOND: No, there is no island. There is no button. It's madness. I love her. She loves me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her.
MS. HAWKING: No, Desmond, you're not.
[Suddenly, there is a loud crash behind the bench Ms. Hawking and Desmond have been sitting on. Some scaffolding has fallen and killed the man with red shoes.]
DESMOND: Oh, my God. You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? [she nods] Then why didn't you stop it? Why didn't you do anything?
MS. HAWKING: Because it wouldn't matter. Had I warned him about the scaffolding tomorrow he'd be hit by a taxi. If I warned him about the taxi, he'd fall in the shower and break his neck. The universe, unfortunately, has a way of course correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path just as it's your path to go to the island. You don't do it because you choose to, Desmond. You do it because you're supposed to.
DESMOND: I'm going to meet Penny in an hour. I've got the ring; she'll say yes; I can choose whatever I want.
MS. HAWKING: You may not like your path, Desmond, but pushing that button is the only truly great thing that you will ever do.
DESMOND: How much for the ring?
[Ms. Hawking looks disappointed and walks away.]
And so it is that we can see that the true 'Constant' in the episode title is the fundamentally 'course correcting' nature of the universe.
The Novikov Self-Consistency Principle is what one might call a 'WEAK' version of course correction or fate: Although it does not allow paradoxes to arise on a physical/macroscopic scale, it does allow for many strange and different situations or storylines, as long as the consistency parameter is not violated.1
A competing candidate for 'The Constant' is Stephen Hawking's own 'Chronology Protection Conjecture', a 'STRONG' version of course correction preventing time travel on all but sub-microscopic scales, thereby preserving the story/timeline on a much more finely-grained level. (Note that this version does allow for sterile neutrino time-travel.)
How do these approaches vary in terms of explaining some events we've observed on Lost? One of the more prominent and instructive examples is Desmond's recurrent attempts to save Charlie from death's cold grip. In accordance with Ms. Hawking's 'rules of the game', we can see that despite Desmond's best efforts to keep Charlie alive, he was unable to keep 'steering the ship off-course', and the universe corrected the course back to where it was supposed to be. So the fact that Desmond WAS able to snatch Charlie from death's grip on several occasions does appear to support the position that the show's producers/writers are invoking a 'weak' form of course-correcting universe-al constant, a view of 'fate' as allowing for minor variations in the timing and nature of our willful actions and interactions, as long as they are consistent with the overall story/timeline unfolding across the universe, as it is supposed to unfold. Willful actions by individuals to deny or change their 'path' within this overall scheme are allowed by the Novikovian 'weak' view of fate, as long as the resulting effects of said actions are consistent with the unfolding of the story/timeline, or are 'course-corrected' through some subsequent events in the universe.
On the other hand, one might well argue that Desmond's doomed-but-fervent attempts to keep death's grip at bay from Charlie were all simply part of the larger tapestry of a finely-grained, unalterable story/timeline. In short, what if fate had already determined that Desmond would make multiple attempts to save Charlie's life, since it was necessary to do so in order to keep Charlie alive long enough to make it to the Hydra hatch, playing one last important and memorable 'gig', keying-in the Beach Boys code?
Hmmmm.... But how would the Hawking/'strong' view of fate be reconciled with what we have been told by Cuse and Lindelof, namely that the 'flashes' are not some alternate/possible realities? In particular, if Desmond's sterile-neutrino-enabled, brainwave-brane-wave, 'future flashes' of Charlie's demise depict actual, not alternate, realities, what is going on, here?
As things curently stand, if we interpret Desmond's future flashes as how things really would happen if he were to not save Charlie's life, then it appears that Cuse and Lindelof are employing the 'weak' form of a course-correcting Constant (Novikov.) And bear in mind that what we have just done is to apply the logic that's been disclosed to us regarding PHYSICAL flash-forwards (the narrative device showing the actual, tangible future experiences of the Oceanic 6 on the mainland), to Desmond's MIND-based flash-forwards (the narrative device showing us what WILL actually happen IF Desmond does not move Charlie from the path of the arrow.) This account preserves the spirit and letter of the disclosure that the flash-forwards are not alternate realities but instead are glimpses of the actual future, as it is supposed to and will unfold.2
Constant Craving Course-Correction, Part 2: Stranger Than Fiction-
An intriguing recent extension of quantum theory sheds further light on how it is possible to engage in time travel without paradox:
"Some solutions to the equations of Einstein's general theory of relativity lead to situations in which space-time curves back on itself, theoretically allowing travellers to loop back in time and meet younger versions of themselves. Because such time travel sets up paradoxes, many researchers suspect that some physical constraints must make time travel impossible. Now, physicists Daniel Greenberger of the City University of New York and Karl Svozil of the Vienna University of Technology in Austria have shown that the most basic features of quantum theory may ensure that time travellers could never alter the past, even if they are able to go back in time. The constraint arises from a quantum object's ability to behave like a wave. Quantum objects split their existence into multiple component waves, each following a distinct path through space-time. Ultimately, an object is usually most likely to end up in places where its component waves recombine, or "interfere", constructively, with the peaks and troughs of the waves lined up, say. The object is unlikely to be in places where the components interfere destructively, and cancel each other out. Quantum theory allows time travel because nothing prevents the waves from going back in time. When Greenberger and Svozil analysed what happens when these component waves flow into the past, they found that the paradoxes implied by Einstein's equations never arise. Waves that travel back in time interfere destructively, thus preventing anything from happening differently from that which has already taken place. 'If you travel into the past quantum mechanically, you would only see those alternatives consistent with the world you left behind you, says Greenberger." (Source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7535)
This is an important part of the research that Cuse and Lindelof may have had in mind, when they recently disclosed they had worked through their 'master timeline' for the show's future.3 Interestingly enough, in addition to ensuring against paradox, these features of quantum reality also allow for doing so through opening the door to parallel universes, ala David Lewis and Daniel Deutsch. (Please see my prior postings regarding Deutsch's 'Multiverse' theory, especially the 2/1/08 Beginning/End, and J. Wood's coverage of Lewis' 'Parallel Worlds' approach.)4
Yes, by ruling out 'alternate realities', Lindelof and Cuse did NOT necessarily rule out the parallel worlds/multiverse theories. How is this so? First of all, work by Greenberger and Svozil shows that:
"In quantum theory observation causes possible states to 'collapse' into one measured state; hence, the past observed from the present is deterministic (it has only one possible state), but the present observed from the past has many possible states until our actions cause it to collapse into one state. Our actions will then be seen to have been inevitable."
So in addition to being possible to travel backward in time without creating paradox, when one arrives back in time and gazes forward, the 'alternate reality' possibilities will have dissolved away into nothingness, with the 'future' rendered in a guise not altogether unlike the view of fate/destiny that we have become accustomed to seeing, on Lost. So is it fate or free will? In no small measure this becomes a moot and unanswerable question, depending on where and when you sit as a participant-observer (The view for an omniscient/cosmic observer is another case, altogether!)
Second-- and this is the key-- when the direction is shifted forward toward the future, quantum theory allows for the splitting of the universe into multiple, parallel worlds:
"But the existence of parallel worlds offers a way around these troublesome paradoxes, according to David Deutsch of Oxford University, a highly respected proponent of quantum theory, the deeply mathematical, successful and baffling theory of the atomic world. He argues that time travel shifts between different branches of reality, basing his claim on parallel universes, the so-called "many-worlds" formulation of quantum theory. The new work bolsters his claim that quantum theory does not forbid time travel. "It does sidestep it. You go into another universe," he said yesterday, though he admits that there is still a way to go to find schemes to manipulate space and time in a way that makes time hops possible. 'Many sci fi authors suggested time travel paradoxes would be solved by parallel universes but in my work, that conclusion is deduced from quantum theory itself', Dr Deutsch said, referring to his work on many worlds. The mathematical idea of parallel worlds was first glimpsed by the great quantum pioneer, Erwin Schrodinger, but actually published in 1957 by Hugh Everett III, when wrestling with the problem of what actually happens when an observation is made of something of interest - such as an electron or an atom - with the intention of measuring its position or its speed. If one accepts Everett's interpretation, our universe is embedded in an infinitely larger and more complex structure called the multiverse, which as a good approximation can be regarded as an ever-multiplying mass of parallel universes.... Now new research confirms Prof Deutsch's ideas and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a Phd student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track. Commenting in New Scientist magazine, Prof Andy Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California, Davis, said of the link between probability and many worlds: 'This work will go down as one of the most important developments in the history of science.' But the many worlds idea offers an alternative view. Dr Deutsch showed mathematically that the bush-like branching structure created by the universe splitting into parallel versions of itself can explain the probabilistic nature of quantum outcomes. This work was attacked but it has now had rigorous confirmation by David Wallace and Simon Saunders, also at Oxford."
Third-- and this takes it 'round third, crossing home plate-- according to Stephen Hawking's view:
"....even if the many-worlds interpretation is correct, we should expect each time traveler to experience a single self-consistent timeline, so that time travelers remain within their own world rather than traveling to a different one." (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel)
So it is possible to embrace a multiverse view while at the same time retaining future-focused narrative integrity, as the flash-forwards we have seen on the show can be explained as a set of actual, consistent, future events, as viewed from the perspective of a finite, corporeal, human observer. That's the key. Consistent with Hawking's position, we're wired as a species to see the particular story/timeline that we're involved in, and when actions and events 'split' the universe one way, we go that way, perceptually and physically, so to us the story/timeline appears unbroken. On the other hand, to an 'omniscient' observer able to 'be or see' in more than one place-time, there are a myriad of alternative universes of realities splitting off into view.
And here's another key.... There is nothing to prevent the hand of fate from operating in and on each universe populating the multiverse; indeed, we may find that FATE is limited or constrained to operating WITHIN each universe, but not ACROSS universes, (i.e., a multiverse comprised of separately fate-ful universes.)
Accordingly, another way to retain the anti-paradox and anti-alternate-reality positions is to acknowledge the Lost narrative as located in and unfolding within a multiverse context, but with (1) the narrative subject to and constrained by the view of a participant-observer or some other form of non-omniscient observer, appearing as an unbroken single story/timeline, and with (2) the universe subject to the hand of a fateful course-correcting force. But of course this would have been far more complex and confusing than it needed to be, for all involved.
So what's the point? While David Lewis' parallel worlds and David Deutsch's multiverse views are actually consistent with the goal of presenting a true, actual, and consistent future narrative, the Occam's razor test shows they made the correct choice in stating their position the way they did. Ironically, this is a case in which scientific fact is pointing to a world-- the world of our actual, everyday lives-- that is stranger than the fiction we are witnessing in Lost....
Where's The 'Slipped Differential'? Look To The Special Wormhole Places-
Although the opening of this posting may suggest I am anti-wormhole, that is not the case. Indeed, in my posting this year I have explored a number of ways the Casimir Effect may be applied on the island, including as part of a containment system enabling the control of a wormhole. In future episodes I would not at all be surprised to find wormhole-based experiments playing a prominent role in the activities at the Orchid hatch. Of course, as with any new technology, much work theoretical and practical work remains to bring the promise of wormholes to fruition, especially in the realm of macroscopic matter transportation across space and time. Recent progress has been made concerning the role of the Casimir Effect in wormhole viability:
"According to current theories on the nature of wormholes, construction of a traversable wormhole would require the existence of a substance known as 'exotic matter' with negative energy. Many physicists believe that negative energy may actually be possible due to the Casimir effect in quantum physics. Although early calculations suggested a very large amount of negative energy would be required, later calculations showed that the amount of negative energy can be made arbitrarily small." (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel)
So do not be surprised if/when we observe Dr. Candle/Wickmund/Halowax5 overseeing a bevy of white-coated lab assistants, slaving away over arcane instruments, with an arcing 'purple rain' of energy emanating from the vicinity of... yep, a Casimir Effect-contained mini-wormhole.
To what ends might these activities be focused, and how might these ends be connected to what we have learned from one Daniel Faraday? If a wormhole does figure into the island, this is one means of helping to explain the time distortion-- time dilation-- as well as effects on aging and the scattering of light. Consider the following, with regard to some potential effects of a wormhole on the island, its inhabitants, and its visitors:
"A proposed time-travel machine using a traversable wormhole would (hypothetically) work in the following way: One end of the wormhole is accelerated to some significant fraction of the speed of light, perhaps with some advanced propulsion system, and then brought back to the point of origin. Alternatively, another way is to take one entrance of the wormhole and move it to within the gravitational field of an object that has higher gravity than the other entrance, and then return it to a position near the other entrance. For both of these methods, time dilation causes the end of the wormhole that has been moved to have aged less than the stationary end, as seen by an external observer; however, time connects differently through the wormhole than outside it, so that synchronized clocks at either end of the wormhole will always remain synchronized as seen by an observer passing through the wormhole, no matter how the two ends move around. This means that an observer entering the accelerated end would exit the stationary end when the stationary end was the same age that the accelerated end had been at the moment before entry; for example, if prior to entering the wormhole the observer noted that a clock at the accelerated end read a date of 2007 while a clock at the stationary end read 2012, then the observer would exit the stationary end when its clock also read 2007, a trip backwards in time as seen by other observers outside." (Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel)
So is the 'scattering of light' observed by Faraday a product of the island's unique electromagnetic properties, the acceleration of the island's end of a wormhole to some point above the speed of light, and/or to the existence of the island on or near some enhanced gravitational field? Is time passing more slowly on the island? Is this why Jack and others want to return to the island, to reap the age-slowing benefits of the island? While time is passing more slowly on the island, ironically one may appear more aged than one should be, to an observer on the mainland; for example, if a 20-minute trip appears to take one day to an observer on the island, then you can imagine how strange it might seem to greet an accelerated-aged member of the Oceanic 6. As Minkowski said to Desmond on the freighter, "You look a lot older, now!"
In addition to interesting time distortion/dilation effects, the operation and use of such a device, on an already uniquely electromagnetically charged location, may have produced some unanticipated effects, including increased difficulty in staying on one's bearing while traveling to and from the island, rendering it harder to control where and when one ends up. Per my prior postings, properties associated with traveling underwater (diamagnetism, etc.) may in part explain why a submarine has been used to travel to and from the island; traveling underwater may decrease physical, cognitive, spatial, and temporal turbulence, making it easier to endure the trip and to end up where and when you want to go.
Indeed, the island itself may have become partially 'torn loose' from its spacetime moorings/fabric: In effect, like Desmond, Minkowski, and Billy Pilgrim, the island itself may have become partially and periodically unstuck in time. So the island may be operating not unlike a slipped (space-time) differential. And someone like Daniel Faraday, who may possess the 'enhanced perceptual functioning' associated with the underconnectivity theory of autism, should be especially well-positioned to perceive and observe the physical and space-time distortions occurring on the island.
And what about those 'special wormhole places' on Earth? Recall the prominent figuring of locations like Ayres Rock (a.k.a. 'Uluru')6 in Australia Medenine (Tunisia), Madagascar, and more. Although these locations do not align properly with the Becker-Hagens energy grid map7, a better explanation from the standpoint of mainstream science is that these areas may be sites of periodic wormhole activity. In particular, these may be Earth-based locations for testing the island's wormhole transportation system on a smaller scale, prior to launching the system on a larger space-time scale. Hence, the bear skeleton with the DHARMA collar.
Since Lindelof and Cuse have mapped the "master timeline of the future, from the point where the Oceanic 6 will end up leaving the island all the way up to where the flash-forwards will end,"8 it may only be a matter of time before we see a move to the next evolution in the show's narrative structure, as I predicted in my "Lost Legacy Theory" and "Lost Predictions" postings from last year: The DEEP FLASHBACK. DFB's will provide a narrative mechanism for more fully exploring the island as an integral 'character' on the show, including glimpses into the formative years of the island, from the first visit by humans, to expeditions by Lemurians, Egyptians, and more, all the way to the 'Black Rock' slave ship... In addition to providing us with intriguing bits and pieces of the island-as-integral-character, DFB's may also shed some additional light on the deeper connections the Flight 815 passengers have, with the island.
Have A N.I.C.E. Day: The 'Macrobial' Ms. Hawking-
Introducing the Charlotte Lewis character delivered us an obvious clue to C.S. Lewis, whose works Cuse and Lindelof have admitted will figure into the show. While the initial inclination may be to refer to the Chronicles of Narnia, curious readers will find some very intriguing connections in Lewis' celebrated science fiction trilogy: "Out Of The Silent Planet," "Perelandra," and "That Hideous Strength." While all three works are ripe for picking new insights into Lost, the final work in the trilogy is especially juicy in its implications and applications. See if you can see the same connections:
* N.I.C.E. appears to be a DHARMA equivalent on some levels, with deeper and darker layers potentially intersecting with 'Cigarette-Smoking Man-equivalents' Widmore, Hanso(?), and the 'list-full' shadow group that Ben's 'future force' is bent on eliminating:
"The National Institute for Coordinated Experiments, the N.I.C.E., led by fallen eldila, attempts to alter the true nature of mankind through an exploitation of its members' pride and greed. The goal, if mankind continues down its current path, is the conquering of the last remaining piece of nature – human nature – making true man a lost memory."
* The 'Satanic Ouroborinda' may point to the deeper, darker layers underlying DHARMA, including the shadow group Ben is pursuing. And yes, we may indeed find out that Ms. Hawking is part and partial to this sect, privy to secrets arising from future sight and other forms of paranormal, energetically-enhanced (HEMAtic) powers:
"Members of the N.I.C.E. "inmost circle" engage in a secret Satanic ritual of stripping naked and bowing down to the re-animated head of the criminal Alcasan, which actually houses one of the demonic macrobes. All the while they chant, "Ouroborindra! Ouroborindra! Ouroborindra ba-ba-hee!". The name "Ouroborindra" is presumably composed of Ouroboros, the mythical worm or dragon swallowing its own tail, and the Hindu god Indra. Another possibility is that it refers to the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo, whose ideas would have been distasteful to Lewis. In the Christian interpretation Ouroboros is a symbol of the limited confines of the material world and the self-consuming transitory nature of a mere "worldly existence", and Chesterton, in The Everlasting Man, uses it as a symbol of the circular and self-defeating nature of pantheistic mysticism and of most modern philosophy." (Source=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Hideous_Strength)
But I don't want to spoil it too much for you. Please check out that site and have fun spotting the connections to Locke, Jack, Sayid, Kate, Ben, and other characters from the show. Hmmmm, wonder who the Lost-equivalent to the 'John Wither' character will turn out to be? And doesn't that synopsis of Merlin sound like it may overlap with... the once and Future King.... Aaron?!
And last but not least, in a Hugo-inspired headline torn from the pages of scientific inquirers searching for that long-Lost TOE:
"'Surfer Dude Stuns Physicists With Theory Of Everything.' An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt). Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics. Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year.... He has high hopes that his new theory could provide what he says is a "radical new explanation" for the three decade old Standard Model, which weaves together three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the electromagnetic force; the strong force, which binds quarks together in atomic nuclei; and the weak force, which controls radioactive decay."
For more information on this intriguing but highly controversial theory, please see:
As with any new TOE, it has received a lot of scrutiny and criticism, especially as it threatens to unseat the reigning TOE candidates. Keep your browsers poised for news on the results of experiments involving the Large Hadron Collider atom smasher, scheduled to initiate operation in May, 2008:
Copyright 2/29/08
by Dr. Todd J. Hostager
ENDNOTES:
1. For more information on the Navikov Self-Consistency principle, please see the following:
2. For some intriguing implications regarding potential forms and functions that extra-dimensional beings may take on Lost, please check out the following:
"In Newton's Wake, by Ken MacLeod, post-humans (and other Singularity driven intelligences) that have transcended physical limitations of the Planck limits, also termed as quantum angels, are speculated as responsible for enforcing CPC."
3. In this regard, please see Doc Jensen's excellent Entertainment Weekly column:
4. Please see J. Wood's superb overview of David Lewis' parallel worlds approach:
5. One of the favorite pastimes of Lost fanatics is musing about the meaning of Dr. Candle/Wickmund/Halowax's last name, and its implications for Lost. Although it could serve as a figurative reference to the 'lost wax' process of producing multiple copies, I suspect a more apropos possibility may be found on the cover of the book by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan entitled "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" (1997, Ballantine Books.) One look at the cover, and a quick reading of the synopsis, will help reveal some important insights into the Lost doctor's theme-based surnames.
6. For more information on the Ayres Rock/Uluru site, please see:
7. And for access to the Becker-Hagens Grid, with an accompanying explanation, please see:
8. Please see Endnote #3 above, for the source of this quote.