LOST IN THE DETAILS

The ultimate quest is to find a unified theory to LOST.  In the last post, we started to pull the key elements from each season as the starting point to try to link everything together.

The result depends on how one views "realism" in their story genre:

Drama and mystery: factual clues to evidentiary conclusions.
Science fiction: factual points and applied science theories into plausible conclusions.
Fantasy and supernatural: events tied to purely fictional components, environments, and unknown.

Depending on how one views the overall premise of the show, it is hard to even agree on basic facts.

Flight 815, Sydney to LAX.
      If you believe that it was a dream or virtual reality premise, then this fact is not real.

Flight 815 plane crash on the Pacific island.
     If you believe that it was a dream or virtual reality premise, then this fact is not real.
 
The polar bear.
     If you believe that the characters on in a different realm of existence, like the after life, then the polar bear is not real.

The smoke monster.
     Is the smoke monster mechanical, alien, spiritual or an illusion/nightmare in a dream?

The characters on board Flight 815 survived a plane crash.
    If you believe that the show was all about the after life, then they did not survive the crash, per se.

The ghosts of dead people on the island, including Dharma Initiative, leaders.
   If you believe people can communicate with the dead, then it is science fiction. If you believe it is not possible, then it is fantasy.

Time travel elements that changed throughout in the series.
    If you believe that time travel is an application of future knowledge and technology, then it is sci-fi show. If you believe the time travel elements were not applied science theory, then it is fantasy.

The island moves in time and space.
    Factually, we know islands do not move. If the island is not an island, then it is either a ship (factual drama), or a beast (alien) or something else (fantasy world).

The two concurrent time lines: one current and one in the 1974 where characters are living in both time lines.
     Science fiction is full of time travel stories, but if you believe that the series failed to follow "time travel rules" or was not consistent in applying some principles to its time travel trope, then it falls into the fantasy world which could include supernatural or dream states.

The concept of killing immortal beings like Jacob and MIB.
    Immortality is a concept that humans believe (faith) but is not proven by science, so a fair amount of people will conclude that immortal beings are supernatural or fantasy. And the ability to kill immortals without rules muddles various opposite premise genres.

The concept of humans becoming immortal island guardians by volunteering.
    Human beings cannot transform themselves. And there appears to scientific explanation why Jack then Hurley became immortal guardians unless they were already supernaturals (such as dead spirits) or that the whole guardian story was part of a fantasy game or dream world.

The flash sideways universe where Flight 815 never crashed on the island; an after life limbo.
    This is the classic chicken or the egg paradox. Which came first? The sideways after life world and the character spirits sent to the island for redemption, or the island world where humans lived in a fantasy realm, for the possible amusement of immortal beings, prior to their individual deaths.

It is hard to get the pieces could fit together. It needs a game of rock, paper, scissor rules to help figure out what is the dominate element to try to find the path to a final solution.

What element beats the other element?
Does science fiction trump factual-drama?
Does supernatural trump science fiction?
Does factual-drama trump supernatural?

Without enough clarity, i.e. answers to the mysteries (whether factual, sci-fi or supernatural explanations), we fall to the point of personal perception and opinion.