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                                              Desmond HEMA Theory Tie-Ins 

                                          Episode:  Flashes Before Your Eyes-

I’ll begin with observations on particular contents and incidents, portrayed in this episode, culminating in the latest revelation helping tie things together through HEMA Theory:

1. How interesting that when Desmond wakes after 'flipping the switch' (more on that, in point #2), he finds a blast pattern consistent with the HEMA Theory prediction that behind the thick concrete lay an exposed deposit of concentrated Black Rock-- Magnetite.  In particular, notice the color, surface, and pattern in the lower part of the blast crater.... It looks darker than metal that might come from an explosion from within the Swan hatch, more like the 'Black Rock' magnetite deposits on the island.  (Note: For more on the Black Rock's role in HEMA Theory, please consult the following sections on the "Home" page of this site:  "What's Up With The Black Rock, Dude?: Psychic Duracell!" and "2004: Another Space Odyssey?").

2. This episode shows how we are gradually learning more about the relationships among Heuristics, Energy, and Material Applications (H-->E-->MA) that are operating on the island.  Recall that we have seen how regular (non-psychic) people can effect changes in the physical world, and how psychics can do the same, via focused attention (Heuristics) focused through Energy, to produce Material Applications (HEMA).  In the episode, we see that Desmond's "flipping the switch" has a double-meaning; in addition to the obvious meaning of setting in motion a chain of events concerning the Swan hatch system, this act signals his impending movement to a higher "plane" of existence, through amplified psychic powers (precognition), achieved when the Energy pulse effects Material changes (Applications) in Desmond.  In short, the Swan hatch Energy pulse shows how it is possible to effect changes in a person's Heuristics (psychic abilities; modes of focused attention) through impacts on their physical, corporeal being.  During the blast event, Desmond experienced the energetic and materialistic effects of the Swan hatch finally cycling through the 4-8-15-16-23-42 sequence to its completion, producing a splitting apart of his temporal frame of reference, and an amplification of his Heuristic ability to move forward and backward in time, not unlike the Billy Pilgrim character in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse Five."  

3.  Penelope's remarks to Desmond are always telling.... "Fate has saved you from a miserable existence."  "Don't try to rewrite history."  "Desmond, where are you."  So Desmond is PERSONALLY dealing with some of the same key issues faced by DHARMA, and reflected in its agenda.

4.  Desmond's ISSUE #1:  Can fate/destiny be changed?  Can we rewrite history?  Note that this is exactly what DHARMA was wrestling with, in exploring whether the key 4-8-15-16-23-42 factors in the Valenzetti equation could be altered....  Are the Lost writers/producers telling us that DHARMA has failed, or will fail, by sending this message through the personal story of Desmond desperately trying to save Charlie from his 'fate'?  (Desmond is analogous to DHARMA, and Charlie is analogous to The Earth.)  Does this mean that even through achieving a higher plane of existence, with psychic/precognitive powers (Desmond), and the ability to HEMAtically influence 'reality', that DHARMA, like Desmond, will still fail to change the final, ultimate outcome?

** Does this episode tell us that the DHARMA Initiative can/will only be able to delay the inevitable end of humanity, analogous to Desmond only being able to delay the death of Charlie?  Does the course-correcting nature of the Universe, as presented by Lost writers/producers in the case of Desmond and Charlie, apply equally as well to the fate of the entire human race, writ large?

** IF SO, PERHAPS THIS IS THE BIG SECRET STRATEGY FOR DHARMA TO LEVERAGE THE HEMA FACTOR, TO SAVE THE WORLD....  Remember that old trick puzzle, where someone asked you how long it would take for you to reach the wall, if you kept going half the distance to the wall?  (You never get there!)  Now, in Charlie's case, since he is a corporeal, finite being, if Desmond vigilantly 'worked' to keep death/fate's hand away from Charlie (see the structural and functional similarities to typing the numbers?), inevitably Charlie would die of old age....  Since the Desmond/Charlie dynamic in the episode puts a personal mirror to the central dilemma facing the DHARMA Initiative-- how to effect a change one or more Valenzetti equation factors, to change the impending date of doom-- what if DHARMA could leverage the abilities of precognitives to foresee, forestall, and avert future species-threatening and planet-threatening disasters, until the planet 'died' of old age?  Maybe the Desmond strategy would work, after all, as a way to delay the end of humanity, at least until the planet/solar system dies of old age.... (Hmmm since precogs like Desmond would be involved, would this properly be classified as a finite variant of the classic infinite regress, or infinite progress?!)**

** And what is the logical conclusion of striving to achieve this strategy, for DHARMA?  That one's easy.... Pour time, resources, and money into a project aimed at developing a REPLICABLE WAY TO FOCUS HUMAN ATTENTION (the very definition of "Heuristics"), FORWARD IN TIME, i.e., develop replicable methods for tapping and amplifying psychic abilities in general, and precognitive abilities, in particular.  In short, the primary goal of the DHARMA initiative was to experiment with various combinations of Heuristics, Energy, and Material Applications, to yield a renewable source of PRECOGNITIVES like Desmond.  Sure, Desmond could function as a hero/savior in the short term, at least as long as he lived.  But who would take his place?  And how many precogs would you need or want to have in place, seeded throughout the world, ready to engage in a global precog "Doom-Busting" program, delaying, averting, and minimizing disasters as much as humanly, technologically, and psychically possible?  And don't forget that although Desmond did arrive on the island with some degree of psychic ability, his profound precognitive powers (manifest in Episode #56) were not unleashed until he experienced the culminating effects of a string of interrelated precursors, exposed to various combinations of Heuristics, Energy, and Material Applications (typing the numbers in the hatch, taking the serum, etc.), leading inexorably to a moment of switch-flipping truth, and a material transformation of his psychic prowess, through a bright and transfiguring energy burst.... As it turns out, DHARMA was exploring in some of the right directions, after all.  And that the key part of the 'machinery', all along was and is.... human beings, like Desmond, with all of our latent and yet-to-be-tapped psychic/Heuristic potentials! 

One intriguing twist may be that the real 'heroes' riding into the fray may just be "Level Five" disembodied psychic forces (see below), able to leverage psychic energy in a quantum manner (more on this, in the Bohm section, below), to help delay, avert, and minimize the impending disasters we will face, as a species.  Just imagine Ana Lucia as a crossed-over, higher-level being, scouring the planet as part of a global "Doom-Busting" brigade, and you can see the implications.... Grim Reaper?  Huddle in fear.... Ana Lucia's here!!  Desmond's Doombusters: Support Your Non-local Sheriff?! (Quantum psychic humor....)**

5. Desmond's ISSUE #2:  "Desmond, where are you?" This is clearly equivalent to Charlie 's query "Where are we?"  What this episode shows is that the question of where are we is not divorced from matters of perception and focus (Heuristics)...  We can be physically present, but with our attention focused elsewhere, or elsewhen.... So where we are is also not divorced from when we are...  "Henry Gale's" observation that the island cannot be seen by God takes on some interesting implications, considering these points....

6. Did DHARMA simultaneously explore various means of 'hiding' the island from God, through Heuristically-directed and Energy-induced Material Applications influencing: (1) the space of and around the island, hiding the WHERE?  (Is there a forcefield around the island?); and (2) the time of and around the island, hiding the WHEN?  (Is the island in a temporal flux?)  Again, what I'm pointing to here are the possible lessons we can learn about the island, through applying what has happened to Desmond in Episode 56, to the island.

Levels of HEMAtic Existence on The Island: Others and Observers

LEVEL ONE:  Regular (non-psychic) people, through concentrated bursts of attention (Heuristics), focused through the island's Energy field, are able to effect changes in the physical world (Material Applications.)  Examples include Locke's functional legs, Jack's VERY concentrated CPR attentional burst, bringing Charlie back to life (again, notice how it is possible to delay, but not prevent, the inevitable!), and Charlie's pent-up rant that he is a "Rock God", precipiting the very heavy, and material cave-in.

LEVEL TWO: Psychics like Walt and Rose are able to achieve effects on the 'real' world, through focused attention (Walt appearing to Shannon and Sayid; Rose's faith leading to healing.)

Level One and Two HEMAtic existence shows how human attention can, when focused through the island's energy field, effect material changes in terms of the WHERE (space).  As we saw in this episode, the next higher "plane" (get it?) of existence involves the ability to effect changes in the WHEN (time)....

LEVEL THREE:  This episode showed Desmond's transformation, through the second Swan hatch 'incident', to a higher "plane" of existence in which human attention (Heuristics) can effect changes in time.   As will be revealed below, time and the material world are not divorced from one another, so time travel is another Material Application of Heuristics, focused through the island's Energy field.  As previously stated on the "Home" page, psychics like Walt (and Desmond) can tap into Energy and effect Material Applications through focused attention (Heuristics) outside the island, but the island's peculiar Energy configuration makes it easier to achieve these effects, perhaps amplifying the power of the results, as well...

LEVEL FOUR:  Hide and seek...  Plane and simple (pun intended)....  Consistent with the notions of personal transcendence, and other aspects of the DHARMA agenda, a Level Four HEMAtic existence involves the ability to focus one's attention (Heuristics), leveraging the island's Energy field in order to selectively 'hide' and 'reveal' one's material self, spatially.  This is the ability that may enable the Others to move about the island undetected, without footprints, and do amazing feats like appearing with lit torches, circled around Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, then later instantaneously disappearing.

** This helps explain why disembodied voices are heard, at varying times.  Level Four HEMAtic abilities would certainly allow the OTHERS to observe the Flight 815 'lab rats', in an island-wide observation site.  If Level Four OTHERS possess Level One through Level Three abilities, too, as might be expected, the combined ability to manipulate temporal AND spatial realities may further explain their uncanny abilities....**

While the exact mechanism of this HEMAtic ability has yet to be revealed, some interesting possibilities will be suggested by the culminating tie-in, at the very end of this Episode 56 commentary.

LEVEL FIVE:  Hopefully, not lost in my "Home" page musings on Aaron's HEMAtic playhouse, was the point that some of the 'magical' occurrences on the island appear to have been achieved by an external party.  One next logical step beyond Level Four existence is to a completely non-corporeal, disembodied existence, on an even higher "plane."  This is what was envisioned in the case of Aaron de Groot, or some other 'entity' producing material effects through focusing their attention, leveraging the island's energy field.

This is a second possibility for explaining the disembodied voices.... Level Five entities who are capable of effecting material changes in space (WHAT and WHERE) and time (WHEN.)  Did Aaron de Groot, or some other party involved in the Swan hatch's first incident, transmute to a Level Five HEMAtic plane of existence?  Were other members of DHARMA willing and able to follow this example of ultimate personal transcendence? 

And will we again see (or hear?) Boone, Shannon, Mr. Eko, Ana Lucia, Libby, and the rest of the dearly departed passengers of Flight 815, this time riding on another "plane" of higher (Level Five) existence, serving as observers, watching and whispering....

One bone-chilling implication of this is the distinct possibility that the disembodied voices are NOT Level Four OTHERS, playing a spatial form of hide and seek, but instead are a group of Level Five DHARMA observers, watching the people, and periodically materializing things for the islanders to deal with (Kate's horse, etc.), in an experimental stimulus-response mode, with the island as one large Skinner Box.  Maybe this explains the feeling, at times, like the islanders are being manipulated and observed in a way not unlike that of a school child doing an extra-credit take-home experiment, only it is the equivalent of playing with 'people in a box'....