Every major religion has a creation myth that has elements of gods creating human beings on Earth. Several religions also believe that once a person dies, their spirit will be reincarnated into another person (or form).
The ancient Egyptians had a complex view of reincarnation. Their belief system is founded on two gods coming to Earth to begat mankind. The subsequent Pharaohs were believed to be the reincarnated souls of those original gods. Since they were gods, Pharaohs ruled with impunity.
But the incarnate god was not reserved just for royalty. The Egyptians believed that when a person died, his "ba," the spirit associated with one's character and personality, leaves the body to find a new vessel in which to be reborn. The souls of the departed continue to return to new bodies for an infinite cycle.
There have been several research papers on the subject. Scientists interviewed various people from different parts of the globe who claimed to have remembered clear details of their past lives. Scientists then would take this information and try to independently verify the recalled facts. In several instances, researchers concluded that the interviewees remembered things that they could have not known (personal information, names of relatives, phone numbers, houses, etc) that were not accessible to them in the present time.
There has always been a puzzle when reproduction happens in people. When the egg and sperm fuse, historically it was said there is a "spark of life," some form of energy which gives rise to fertility to the newborn. Theorists think that spark of energy may be a soul that the fuels the rebirth of a spirit.
On the other extreme, in the realm of B-movie sci-fi, science knows of all the elements of a human body, its chemical composition and structure. In theory, what is missing from the base elements is a form of electrical current that makes the human organs (including brain) function. In Frankenstein, the mad scientist uses lightning bolts to jump start "life" in a corpse. This "re-animation" is different than reincarnation since the former tries to re-use the old vessel to bring back a person's life.
It is not as far fetched as one would assume since emergency room personnel routinely revive cardiac arrest patients with electric stimulation. But in the re-animation world, it is assumed that the brain functions as a storage device for all memories, personality, speech, etc like a turned off hard drive. Turning the brain back on would revive that person's personality.
But the Egyptian view would say no. The dead person's character and personality is not located in the brain but in the spirit (or soul) of the individual. And once the person dies, their soul leaves the body so re-animation will not work.
In the Egyptian dead scrolls, it is said that the deceased spirits have to journey through the underworld to be judged before being reborn. And since one spirit can be reborn more than once, the journey could be fraught with danger.
In LOST, the island could be a representative underworld where souls travel to begin their journey to the after life. This would explain why certain characters, Mikhail Bakunin, could apparently die over and over again on the island. It could also explain how Desmond survived the Swan station implosion to be found naked wandering around the jungle (symbolic "reborn.")
One of the story principles in the series was giving the characters "a second opportunity" in life. Reincarnation would be a means to give a person (especially a tortured soul like Locke) a new beginning, a new life.
Showing posts with label AFTERLIFE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFTERLIFE. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Monday, June 19, 2017
THE UNDEAD
The first attempts to bring people back from the dead are slated to start this year.
This controversial plan was thwarted last year in India.
Bioquark, a Philadelphia-based company, announced in late 2016 that they believe brain death is not 'irreversible'. According to the Daily Mail, CEO Ira Pastor has revealed they will soon be testing an
unprecedented stem cell method on patients in an unidentified country in
Latin America, confirming the details in the next few months.
To
be declared officially dead in the majority of countries, you have to
experience complete and irreversible loss of brain function, or 'brain
death'. According to Pastor, Bioquark
has developed a series of injections that can reboot the brain - and
they plan to try it out on humans this year.
They have no plans to test on animals first.
Medical science has tight protocols before experimentation can begin on humans. There must be peer review on research, animal trials, then clinical trials. At each stage of the process, the results are published and reviewed by authorities before permission can be granted to proceed. Here, the company is going straight to the end game without any factual foundation.
There is no precedent for what researchers plan to do. It may be a very expensive (the article did not say) method with no chance of success (but some families will pay anything in the hope of getting their loved ones back). So critics and cynics have raised concerns that the company is not going through normal protocols to test their theories before using human beings as test dummies. That is the reason why the medical boards in India stopped the company from doing work in that country.
The ramifications of re-booting a brain dead patient can be severe. What if it only partially works and the patient only has minimum brain activity (such as in a deep coma state with no communication skills). Is that really a quality life? What if it does not activate brain memories, speech, eyesight or senses but merely pain? Then what happens to the patient? What are the unintended consequences of playing god?
It seems LOST also played fast and loose with medical ethics on the island. It used mind control and chemical weapons experimentation which hit its evil zenith after Ben's coup. The concept of immortality by regular brain reanimations is in the realm of science fiction. But there appears to be some researchers who dare to try it in real life.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
AFTER DEATH
An unusual study of drug addicts concludes that an addict's body continues to crave drugs even after the person dies. The persistent addictive cravings are caused by a protein from chemical dependency which continues to transmit signals to the brain.
The shortened protein, FosB, in the reward center of the brain is altered in those suffering
from a chemical dependency. The
protein is a transcription factor in the brain which,
together with other molecules, is involved in so-called signal
transduction (transmission of stimuli to the cells). It is said to convey genetic information between the cells and also determines whether certain genes are activated or not.
Following
numerous autopsies, Austrian researchers found the modified protein in
deceased heroin addicts - suggesting cravings for the stimulus continued
after their death.
The
evidence that the modified protein lingers after death was discovered by
the Medical University of Vienna's Department of Forensic Medicine,
which examined tissue samples from the nucleus accumbens (an area of the
brain) of 15 deceased heroin addicts.
FosB
is part of the activating protein AP1, which is involved with
regulating gene expression in response to a range of stimulus, including
stress and bacterial infections.
If this protein still stimulates the brain's reward and memory centers, one could speculate that a person's memories can still be active even though the person had died. In other words, there may be a transitory state between life and death where the brain continues to function. Perhaps this is what happens to people who claim to have experienced "near death." They are clinically dead for a time, but their brain continues to function to create new memories.
There were numerous LOST theories about the show being merely a connected memory of a character or characters. But this science study sheds another potential basis for the show's unknown foundation element: if it was a memory, a dream or illusion of a person, was that person alive or dead?
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
LIFE AFTER DEATH
Typically, when a person’s heart stops beating, they’re pronounced
dead. But don’t tell that to their genes, some of which only come to
life two days after they’ve kicked the bucket.
In fact, hundreds of genes suddenly started churning out messenger RNA, which sends a signal to various cellular machines to start making the stuff of life, such as proteins. Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov, both at the University of Washington, discovered this life-after-death scenario in mice and zebrafish. They released their results recently on the BioRxiv, a prepublication server.
Anna Williams, reporting for New Scientist:
The big question following these findings is why these specific genes turn on after the heart has stopped beating. One hypothesis, Noble and Pozhitkov said, is that the body using the last of its energy to heal itself, similar to what happens while someone is alive.
The second hypothesis researchers have for why this may be happening has to do with how DNA unravels following death.
It takes time for the DNA to be unraveled by proteins called histones, according to Noble. As it unravels, genes that were previously silent, such as those involved in embryological development, may become active again as the genes that are used to suppress them break down.
“You’d think that when something dies, that everything would be turned off and everything would be silent, but that’s not the case,” Noble told NOVA Next. “In complex organisms, when we suddenly die, it takes awhile for the [DNA] complexes to break down, and they reach many barriers.”
Though the study focused on mice and zebrafish, the two organisms are commonly used in genetic studies as models for humans.
These findings could change the way that organ transplants are handled.
For example, liver transplant patients tend to have much higher rates of cancer, and up until now this was thought to be an immune response.
“Our results suggest it may not be [an immune response],” Noble said. “It may be just the fact that cancer genes are turned on at death as a natural phenomenon.”
With this knowledge, scientists could test an organ for active cancer genes before transplant occurs, drastically reducing the chances of cancer in the new recipient.
In fact, hundreds of genes suddenly started churning out messenger RNA, which sends a signal to various cellular machines to start making the stuff of life, such as proteins. Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov, both at the University of Washington, discovered this life-after-death scenario in mice and zebrafish. They released their results recently on the BioRxiv, a prepublication server.
Some of our genes don't peak in activity
until after we die (though not in these people—they're taking part in a
disaster response simulation).
Hundreds of genes with different functions “woke up” immediately after death. These included fetal development genes that usually turn off after birth, as well as genes that have previously been associated with cancer. Their activity peaked about 24 hours after death.For most genes, overall mRNA levels should decrease over time after death. However, in 548 zebrafish genes and 515 mouse genes, mRNA levels peaked after death. This meant that the decaying bodies had enough excess energy for these genes to switch on and continue functioning long after the animal died.
The big question following these findings is why these specific genes turn on after the heart has stopped beating. One hypothesis, Noble and Pozhitkov said, is that the body using the last of its energy to heal itself, similar to what happens while someone is alive.
The second hypothesis researchers have for why this may be happening has to do with how DNA unravels following death.
It takes time for the DNA to be unraveled by proteins called histones, according to Noble. As it unravels, genes that were previously silent, such as those involved in embryological development, may become active again as the genes that are used to suppress them break down.
“You’d think that when something dies, that everything would be turned off and everything would be silent, but that’s not the case,” Noble told NOVA Next. “In complex organisms, when we suddenly die, it takes awhile for the [DNA] complexes to break down, and they reach many barriers.”
Though the study focused on mice and zebrafish, the two organisms are commonly used in genetic studies as models for humans.
These findings could change the way that organ transplants are handled.
For example, liver transplant patients tend to have much higher rates of cancer, and up until now this was thought to be an immune response.
“Our results suggest it may not be [an immune response],” Noble said. “It may be just the fact that cancer genes are turned on at death as a natural phenomenon.”
With this knowledge, scientists could test an organ for active cancer genes before transplant occurs, drastically reducing the chances of cancer in the new recipient.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
TWO LOSTS
There is a position in the LOST universe that says that the fans who hated The Ending never understood it. Or that they were never real fans of the show. Or they expected too many answers to the questions posed in the story lines.
In order to justify this viewpoint, it is said that the final season of LOST was its own universe, its own independent story - - - its own self-contained bubble. It's features and attributes do not reflect what was happening in the island world. In other words, the fact that the characters in the sideways world were dead did not mean that the characters were dead all along. But that in itself is only a supposition.
Except, there were connections between the two worlds. In the sideways world, it was a character's "awakening" that flooded back island memories to re-bond with lost friends and lovers.
But if you do want to separate LOST into two distinct, independent stories, here is what you get:
THE ISLAND world would apparently have ended with Juliet detonating the bomb, killing everyone on the island. Or, as the science would tell, you can't detonate an atomic bomb with a rock (there needs to be a complex chain reaction explosion to detonate a nuclear device), so the bomb did not work. That would mean the island characters were still "alive" and battling among themselves in the Jacob-MIB feud.
THE SIDEWAYS world would be totally different. For example, none of the characters were ever in a plane crash or lived on the island. They were normal people with normal problems. Ben was a school teacher taking care of his disabled father. Locke was a disabled substitute teacher who was happily married to Helen. Jack was divorced but from Juliet. He had a son. Hurley was a successful businessman after winning the lottery; a confident community leader. Sun and Jin had made it to the US. She was expecting their child.
Now, complete separation of the characters time lines has to be part of any independent universe view. In the linear story telling of the show, the sideways events happened AFTER the island events. And that creates a clear paradox. The children were born in the prior island time, but were not born in the sideways world until the end. And the End was a place of death so how can children be born in the sideways world? Again, the theory that the sideways is self-contained means it is not fair to ask that broad question.
Then you have to look at LOST as two franchises. The island and first 5 seasons were the original. The sideways episodes were the "re-boot" of the franchise (as JJ Abrams did with Star Trek). But that seems too confusing and inconsistent with what the show writers were telling fans at the end of Season 5.
One could divide the worlds into one where the gritty danger of real life engulfs a person with one where a person's dreams and imagination of a perfect life controls. If you take the sideways world as the collective dreams of the island characters, folding it like whipped cream into a cake batter, then you would discount Season 6 as mainly unimportant filler.
If, as some fans thought at the time, the sideways world was truly a glimpse of the characters if Flight 815 did not crash, then that would be fine . . . . until the point when the writers merged the fantasy with the island "awakenings" and the poor choices to conclude the series, such as Sayid embracing his alleged soul mate, Shannon, instead of Nadia. In fact, the whole structure of Season 6 was premised upon Eloise trying to keep Desmond and Penny a part in the sideways world - - - because she knew it would open a Pandora's box of memories to the characters which would cause her son, Daniel, to remember how cruel she was to him.
The two LOSTs explanation is one way of looking at the series. Two distinct character studies of the cast members. But that is a dry, academic explanation. And really unnecessary. If you wanted to show the good and moral side of a character, such as Ben, you could have made those changes in the island world story. You could have had the characters leave the island and try to adapt to LA instead of creating a conflicting, parallel universe.
LOST was one show and one series. It has to be accepted as being one, complete, and coherent story. The last part is what continues to cause fans the most problems. The blanket explanation that the show was only about the characters and their actions and reactions to events is shotgun logic. It does not explain the important mysteries the writers gave us to solve. It does not give closure. It just keeps fans debating the merits of the ending.
In order to justify this viewpoint, it is said that the final season of LOST was its own universe, its own independent story - - - its own self-contained bubble. It's features and attributes do not reflect what was happening in the island world. In other words, the fact that the characters in the sideways world were dead did not mean that the characters were dead all along. But that in itself is only a supposition.
Except, there were connections between the two worlds. In the sideways world, it was a character's "awakening" that flooded back island memories to re-bond with lost friends and lovers.
But if you do want to separate LOST into two distinct, independent stories, here is what you get:
THE ISLAND world would apparently have ended with Juliet detonating the bomb, killing everyone on the island. Or, as the science would tell, you can't detonate an atomic bomb with a rock (there needs to be a complex chain reaction explosion to detonate a nuclear device), so the bomb did not work. That would mean the island characters were still "alive" and battling among themselves in the Jacob-MIB feud.
THE SIDEWAYS world would be totally different. For example, none of the characters were ever in a plane crash or lived on the island. They were normal people with normal problems. Ben was a school teacher taking care of his disabled father. Locke was a disabled substitute teacher who was happily married to Helen. Jack was divorced but from Juliet. He had a son. Hurley was a successful businessman after winning the lottery; a confident community leader. Sun and Jin had made it to the US. She was expecting their child.
Now, complete separation of the characters time lines has to be part of any independent universe view. In the linear story telling of the show, the sideways events happened AFTER the island events. And that creates a clear paradox. The children were born in the prior island time, but were not born in the sideways world until the end. And the End was a place of death so how can children be born in the sideways world? Again, the theory that the sideways is self-contained means it is not fair to ask that broad question.
Then you have to look at LOST as two franchises. The island and first 5 seasons were the original. The sideways episodes were the "re-boot" of the franchise (as JJ Abrams did with Star Trek). But that seems too confusing and inconsistent with what the show writers were telling fans at the end of Season 5.
One could divide the worlds into one where the gritty danger of real life engulfs a person with one where a person's dreams and imagination of a perfect life controls. If you take the sideways world as the collective dreams of the island characters, folding it like whipped cream into a cake batter, then you would discount Season 6 as mainly unimportant filler.
If, as some fans thought at the time, the sideways world was truly a glimpse of the characters if Flight 815 did not crash, then that would be fine . . . . until the point when the writers merged the fantasy with the island "awakenings" and the poor choices to conclude the series, such as Sayid embracing his alleged soul mate, Shannon, instead of Nadia. In fact, the whole structure of Season 6 was premised upon Eloise trying to keep Desmond and Penny a part in the sideways world - - - because she knew it would open a Pandora's box of memories to the characters which would cause her son, Daniel, to remember how cruel she was to him.
The two LOSTs explanation is one way of looking at the series. Two distinct character studies of the cast members. But that is a dry, academic explanation. And really unnecessary. If you wanted to show the good and moral side of a character, such as Ben, you could have made those changes in the island world story. You could have had the characters leave the island and try to adapt to LA instead of creating a conflicting, parallel universe.
LOST was one show and one series. It has to be accepted as being one, complete, and coherent story. The last part is what continues to cause fans the most problems. The blanket explanation that the show was only about the characters and their actions and reactions to events is shotgun logic. It does not explain the important mysteries the writers gave us to solve. It does not give closure. It just keeps fans debating the merits of the ending.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
BRAIN AT DEATH
The American Chemistry Society has been recently quoted that the brain has a surge of activity, like consciousness, after one dies.
Even after clinical death, your brain probably keeps ticking on for a while. According to recent studies, the brain appears to undergo a final surge — in a way that would normally be associated with consciousness, says a story in The Independent (UK).
It may be that the surge might be responsible for near death experiences. Studies have supported that hypothesis — though scientists are still entirely unsure why the surge happens, or what it signifies.
Then comes biological death. And it’s not clear what happens next.
There’s little way of knowing what happens after all that is over, because people tend not to come back.
In some near death experiences, patients have various recollections of what happened to them.
“"Pure, perfect, uninterrupted sleep, no dreams,” wrote one.
But others described more vivid experiences that apparently hinted at an afterlife.
"I was standing in front of a giant wall of light,” wrote another. “It stretched up, down, left and right as far as I could see. Kind of like putting your eyes 6" from a fluorescent light bulb.
“The next memory I have is waking up in the hospital."
Every culture has its origin stories and its view of a human life cycle. Many believe that the human body is merely a vessel which contains a hidden soul, a non-organic, invisible component that makes life possible. One could speculate that the final brain activity is the soul launching itself from the human body into the next level of existence.
It is a mystery why the brain would have a final surge after the moment of death. Logically, one could understand a brain and person having one last gasp for life before death. But the human body has many redundant systems that we do not fully understand. For example, the human heart beat is both controlled by electro-nerve stimulation and chemical stimulation. If a person's heart nerves are severed (such as in a heart transplant), the new heart will beat because of the body's chemical signals to it. Perhaps the brain has the same redundancy - - - nerve endings may cease before the chemical reactions that cause neuron stimulation.
But this finding is still another mystery of life which we cannot fully comprehend.
Even after clinical death, your brain probably keeps ticking on for a while. According to recent studies, the brain appears to undergo a final surge — in a way that would normally be associated with consciousness, says a story in The Independent (UK).
It may be that the surge might be responsible for near death experiences. Studies have supported that hypothesis — though scientists are still entirely unsure why the surge happens, or what it signifies.
Then comes biological death. And it’s not clear what happens next.
There’s little way of knowing what happens after all that is over, because people tend not to come back.
In some near death experiences, patients have various recollections of what happened to them.
“"Pure, perfect, uninterrupted sleep, no dreams,” wrote one.
But others described more vivid experiences that apparently hinted at an afterlife.
"I was standing in front of a giant wall of light,” wrote another. “It stretched up, down, left and right as far as I could see. Kind of like putting your eyes 6" from a fluorescent light bulb.
“The next memory I have is waking up in the hospital."
Every culture has its origin stories and its view of a human life cycle. Many believe that the human body is merely a vessel which contains a hidden soul, a non-organic, invisible component that makes life possible. One could speculate that the final brain activity is the soul launching itself from the human body into the next level of existence.
It is a mystery why the brain would have a final surge after the moment of death. Logically, one could understand a brain and person having one last gasp for life before death. But the human body has many redundant systems that we do not fully understand. For example, the human heart beat is both controlled by electro-nerve stimulation and chemical stimulation. If a person's heart nerves are severed (such as in a heart transplant), the new heart will beat because of the body's chemical signals to it. Perhaps the brain has the same redundancy - - - nerve endings may cease before the chemical reactions that cause neuron stimulation.
But this finding is still another mystery of life which we cannot fully comprehend.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
LIFE OR DEATH
What would you choose: life or death?
Probably 99.9 percent of us would choose life.
But what if you were so troubled that you felt that in death you would receive new life?
This is the contradiction that is the daily headlines. Suicide bombers attack innocent people under the belief that they will have a better life in afterlife. Some teens under horrible torment of bullies, self-esteem issues, too high expectations and peer pressure weigh that option.
There is also the question of faith. Individuals believe in either an afterlife or not. People hope that there time on earth has a more infinite meaning.
LOST attempted to explore those themes.
It is hard to tell whether Locke convinced himself that he was better off killing himself than trying to help the island or his friends. Recall, he basically mucked up everything in his life, including his relationship with Helen and Jack, who he considered his rival and probable best friend.
It is hard to tell when Sayid came to the conclusion that he was better off dead when he took the submarine bomb and tried to leave the ship. Recall, he had lost his Nadia, then Shannon, in tragic accidents. He was an outsider and an outcast. He may have gotten along with a few island castaways, but he never fit in.
In the big picture of LOST, the writers did dance around to the side that there is hope in death.
The sideways world has to be considered a lukewarm attempt to show the afterlife as a continuation of the human lives we all live, day to day. The sideways purgatory or weigh station to paradise/heaven mocked the same struggles of real life, but with no lasting consequences except perhaps feelings of personal regret or remorse (as with Ben who decided to "stay" on to work out some of his issues with Rousseau and Alex). But that is the odd part about LOST's vision - - - each individual is his or her own judge and jury on what sort of afterlife they will be rewarded by the unknown gods (such as Jacob, MIB, the island, or some other supernatural power).
Though we were told that the island contained the power of life, death and rebirth, the sideways world showed us that it was each individual who controlled their own destiny.
Probably 99.9 percent of us would choose life.
But what if you were so troubled that you felt that in death you would receive new life?
This is the contradiction that is the daily headlines. Suicide bombers attack innocent people under the belief that they will have a better life in afterlife. Some teens under horrible torment of bullies, self-esteem issues, too high expectations and peer pressure weigh that option.
There is also the question of faith. Individuals believe in either an afterlife or not. People hope that there time on earth has a more infinite meaning.
LOST attempted to explore those themes.
It is hard to tell whether Locke convinced himself that he was better off killing himself than trying to help the island or his friends. Recall, he basically mucked up everything in his life, including his relationship with Helen and Jack, who he considered his rival and probable best friend.
It is hard to tell when Sayid came to the conclusion that he was better off dead when he took the submarine bomb and tried to leave the ship. Recall, he had lost his Nadia, then Shannon, in tragic accidents. He was an outsider and an outcast. He may have gotten along with a few island castaways, but he never fit in.
In the big picture of LOST, the writers did dance around to the side that there is hope in death.
The sideways world has to be considered a lukewarm attempt to show the afterlife as a continuation of the human lives we all live, day to day. The sideways purgatory or weigh station to paradise/heaven mocked the same struggles of real life, but with no lasting consequences except perhaps feelings of personal regret or remorse (as with Ben who decided to "stay" on to work out some of his issues with Rousseau and Alex). But that is the odd part about LOST's vision - - - each individual is his or her own judge and jury on what sort of afterlife they will be rewarded by the unknown gods (such as Jacob, MIB, the island, or some other supernatural power).
Though we were told that the island contained the power of life, death and rebirth, the sideways world showed us that it was each individual who controlled their own destiny.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
DEAD TWICE
The British newspaper, The Independent, reported the death experiences of a man who "died" twice, once after a motorcycle accident and once after a drug overdose. In both cases, his experience was exactly the same.
On the sensation of death itself:
"I had no idea, it was just black emptiness. No thoughts, no consciousness, nothing.
"Both times I was just "not there". It was just all black. I would describe it as when you take a nap. A short nap with no dream, you wake up and it feels like you've been sleeping a long time, when in reality it's only been about 15 minutes.
"The only reason I know is because the doctors were obligated to share the information with me. "So yeah, you were dead for a couple of minutes, just FYI" hahaha.
"So if the doctors wouldn't have said anything I would've just thought that I took a dreamless nap."
On the experience itself:
"It was definitely not just a gap. Much like a dreamless nap, you don't just wake up and feel like time just jumped ahead. You know that you've been asleep for a while. At the same time, you can't really remember experiencing anything at all, unless you had a dream.
"So yes and no. I experienced something, and that something was nothing."
On his religious viewpoint and his experiences being dead:
"I have always been an atheist, but I have always had a part of me that hoped there was a God or Heaven or something greater than us. I mean, who wouldn't want there to be a Heaven?
"I am still an atheist, and now I know that there is no such thing as God or Heaven. At least not for me. My reasoning behind that is no God would ever put a person and family through such a experience.
"I am an Atheist, and always will be. But I believe that your belief is your belief. The only thing we can share is our own experiences and let people make up their own mind. People need to stop forcing their own beliefs onto others."
On death itself:
"Death is death. Once your dead, that's it, it's over."
This is an report of one person, whose statements cannot be confirmed by science. However, when dealing with such experiences in the past, medical providers have been told by other "dead" patients of seeing a white light and a sense of being floating upward.
It may be a question of subconscious belief memories kicking in as a defense mechanism.
But if this man's account is taken as fact, then the premise of LOST, with its life and death symbolism such as the sideways world, is totally false. It would bring the premise of the series more in line with the dream state or coma theories, where the brain is still processing information to the conscious self.
On the sensation of death itself:
"I had no idea, it was just black emptiness. No thoughts, no consciousness, nothing.
"Both times I was just "not there". It was just all black. I would describe it as when you take a nap. A short nap with no dream, you wake up and it feels like you've been sleeping a long time, when in reality it's only been about 15 minutes.
"The only reason I know is because the doctors were obligated to share the information with me. "So yeah, you were dead for a couple of minutes, just FYI" hahaha.
"So if the doctors wouldn't have said anything I would've just thought that I took a dreamless nap."
On the experience itself:
"It was definitely not just a gap. Much like a dreamless nap, you don't just wake up and feel like time just jumped ahead. You know that you've been asleep for a while. At the same time, you can't really remember experiencing anything at all, unless you had a dream.
"So yes and no. I experienced something, and that something was nothing."
On his religious viewpoint and his experiences being dead:
"I have always been an atheist, but I have always had a part of me that hoped there was a God or Heaven or something greater than us. I mean, who wouldn't want there to be a Heaven?
"I am still an atheist, and now I know that there is no such thing as God or Heaven. At least not for me. My reasoning behind that is no God would ever put a person and family through such a experience.
"I am an Atheist, and always will be. But I believe that your belief is your belief. The only thing we can share is our own experiences and let people make up their own mind. People need to stop forcing their own beliefs onto others."
On death itself:
"Death is death. Once your dead, that's it, it's over."
This is an report of one person, whose statements cannot be confirmed by science. However, when dealing with such experiences in the past, medical providers have been told by other "dead" patients of seeing a white light and a sense of being floating upward.
It may be a question of subconscious belief memories kicking in as a defense mechanism.
But if this man's account is taken as fact, then the premise of LOST, with its life and death symbolism such as the sideways world, is totally false. It would bring the premise of the series more in line with the dream state or coma theories, where the brain is still processing information to the conscious self.
Monday, February 9, 2015
DEATH STRUGGLE
It has been said that every person born is given a death sentence.
We are immortal.
We all die.
There is no way around the final fate.
Since the dawn of understanding, mankind has grappled with this end fate. The reason why people have finite lives is unclear, considering the world around them has longer lives (and the cosmos, the heavens, infinite).
When intelligence grows, so does one's propensity to find answers to questions that have no proven answers. What is death? What happens at death? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? Do you remember this life in the next one? Is there a next life?
Literature, religion, introspection, culture, community and ritual all have tried to comfort the unknown reality that death is the life cycle end of our current state of being.
So what if, at the end point of life on Earth, a person must "fight" for his or her next life?
If life on earth was a random joining of an egg and sperm to create a human baby, what if the next evolutionary stage of human consciousness is a connection to a higher plane of existence, a different energy level, a higher consciousness.
The elements of a secondary struggle for life manifested itself on the island. It contained strange electromagnetic properties. It defied the natural laws of physics by being able to move and disappear. It contained ghosts from the past, and strange smoke monsters. People lived, died, born and reborn on the island. And some lost souls were trapped as whispers, unable to move on.
It would seem that the souls of the main characters were trapped in a struggle for their lives, beyond just their human ones. The characters had to create new, lasting bonds with their fellow lost souls in order to fuse a connection of spirit in order to find a place in the after life. Without those strong connections, a soul like Michael, would be trapped in the purgatory sense of nothingness of an island whisper. Those who learned to trust, love and form deep friendships that they could not in their past had the opportunity to live on in the sideways realm, with those deep connections securing their passage into the great white light (symbolic of many near death experiences patients have told their doctors after being revived.)
We are immortal.
We all die.
There is no way around the final fate.
Since the dawn of understanding, mankind has grappled with this end fate. The reason why people have finite lives is unclear, considering the world around them has longer lives (and the cosmos, the heavens, infinite).
When intelligence grows, so does one's propensity to find answers to questions that have no proven answers. What is death? What happens at death? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? Do you remember this life in the next one? Is there a next life?
Literature, religion, introspection, culture, community and ritual all have tried to comfort the unknown reality that death is the life cycle end of our current state of being.
So what if, at the end point of life on Earth, a person must "fight" for his or her next life?
If life on earth was a random joining of an egg and sperm to create a human baby, what if the next evolutionary stage of human consciousness is a connection to a higher plane of existence, a different energy level, a higher consciousness.
The elements of a secondary struggle for life manifested itself on the island. It contained strange electromagnetic properties. It defied the natural laws of physics by being able to move and disappear. It contained ghosts from the past, and strange smoke monsters. People lived, died, born and reborn on the island. And some lost souls were trapped as whispers, unable to move on.
It would seem that the souls of the main characters were trapped in a struggle for their lives, beyond just their human ones. The characters had to create new, lasting bonds with their fellow lost souls in order to fuse a connection of spirit in order to find a place in the after life. Without those strong connections, a soul like Michael, would be trapped in the purgatory sense of nothingness of an island whisper. Those who learned to trust, love and form deep friendships that they could not in their past had the opportunity to live on in the sideways realm, with those deep connections securing their passage into the great white light (symbolic of many near death experiences patients have told their doctors after being revived.)
Thursday, December 11, 2014
RE-BIRTH
The next miracle was that Aaron survived on the island. There would have been pests, disease and malnutrition factors. The Others should have kidnapped him because the Others were obsessed with children. Claire would go through some crazy mom postpartum depression.
The next miracle was Aaron's escape from the island. He survived a helicopter crash into the ocean. He survived the blazing sun in the open seas without his mother. Once on the mainland, he survived under the care of the anti-Mother, Kate.
Aaron was one lucky kid. Luckier than even Hurley.
But does this all add up?
Since Claire left the island with Kate, to fulfill her own self-anointed destiny to reunite Aaron with his mother, one must assume that Claire did re-bond with Aaron. We were led to believe that Claire's mother, Carol, was in an irreversible coma. Christian came to Australia to help pay for the extended care, when Claire berated her father with blame. But Claire was to blame for her mother's condition (the traffic accident). So after the escape from the island, a fully recovered Carol shows up at Christian's memorial service. Is this also a miracle? Or a bad plot device to get Kate thinking about doing something right and noble in her life?
Carol's reappearance does give us the undertone that something is not quite right in the LOST time lines. If she did not make it and her hospital care cut short and she died after Christian's demise (a likely possibility), then the O6 arc is not real but a surreal bridge to the sideways after life realm.
Because if Claire left the island and she was reunited with Aaron, then there was no reason why Aaron would have needed to be "reborn" at the sideways world concert. How can a living human being be reborn in the afterlife? Or was the whole island Claire story a tale of a dramatic false pregnancy? Or a delusion that masked the fact that Aaron died in the plane crash or at birth?
For if Aaron was born on the island, and lived a normal life off the island, he would have been an adult with his own family and not a prop in the sideways conclusion. He was not needed in order to reunite Claire and Charlie at the concert.
But since the pregnant Claire was in the afterlife in that state of unwed, the question is then asked whether the after life is merely a dream state. And if it is a dream state, would re-living a traumatic time in one's life (like emergency child birth) rekindle the "best" time of your life?
The re-birth of Aaron in the sideways world has always been a troublesome plot point. It makes him more a prop than an actual human being.
Or, an alternative explanation: hysterical pregnancy. Though rare in the United States, pregnancies
rooted in the mind but entirely absent from the body do happen.
Victorian-era doctors referred to them as "hysterical pregnancies."
Today, the favored terms are "delusional pregnancy," "false pregnancy"
or "phantom pregnancy." When a patient suffers from some or all the
symptoms of pregnancy— stomach growth, cramps, loss of period, morning
sickness—without a fetus actually being present, it's known as
pseudocyesis.
The division between the physiological and psychological aspects of
this syndrome isn't always clear. Essentially, the word 'delusional' means the person is ill with a
psychiatric disorder of some kind. But pseudocyesis can occur without
any psychiatric illness: you can believe that you're pregnant and have
signs of pregnancy for any number of reasons. Certain drugs will do it.
There have been cases reported where a woman gains weight, starts having
other signs like nausea and she starts believing she's pregnant—but
she's not mentally ill and she never has been, other than this one area.
And so she'll have some trouble being convinced she's not pregnant.
If Aaron's "double" births were merely vivid hysterical pregnancies of a delusional woman, was the whole series then a collective delusion?
Saturday, November 22, 2014
WAKING UP DEAD
"He woke, and remembered dying." - Ken MacLeod, The Stone Canal.
That opening line has been considered one of the great starts to science fiction novel.
I have not read it, but the premise is an excellent leaping off point to a story.
In the case of LOST, the seminal Season One scene is Jack opening his eyes in the bamboo grove.
Some would now say, he woke up and did not remember dying in the plane crash.
Because the stated mechanism to "resolve" the series story lines was to "awaken" in the sideways world and "remember" you were dead, it could be logically concluded that Jack was dead on the island but he did not realize it.
Adding the Egyptian mythology sewn into the fabric of the show, that makes sense. Jack's soul ("the ba") would have passed to another dimension (the sideways) while his body and mind ("the ka")would have to journey through the underworld (the island) in order to be judged worthy of "reuniting" with his soul.
This simple premise makes the most sense in dealing with the polarizing, negative debates on what really happened in the series.
It also validates two different theories and beliefs.
The characters were "alive" on the island. Yes, they were alive on the island because they did not know they were dead. What happened on the island did happen to Jack's "ka," but only to part of his spiritual being in physical form. For all intensive purposes, Jack was living in a physical form.
The other part of the character's mortal being, the ba, were transported to what we would consider an afterlife realm, a forehell or purgatory, in which the souls are also "unaware" that they have lost connection with their physical, mortal, human body. These souls are continuing their former "lives" on memories in a spiritual form. The characters were in an illusion of physical beings; the reality was shown when Christian opened the church doors to show the reality of their realm was only white light.
The spiritual circuit can only re-connect when the character's island ka realizes that it is dead at the same time the character's ba realizes that it is also dead. Jack's moment of enlightenment happened at Christian's coffin, and his father replied that everyone has to die sometime.
That opening line has been considered one of the great starts to science fiction novel.
I have not read it, but the premise is an excellent leaping off point to a story.
In the case of LOST, the seminal Season One scene is Jack opening his eyes in the bamboo grove.
Some would now say, he woke up and did not remember dying in the plane crash.
Because the stated mechanism to "resolve" the series story lines was to "awaken" in the sideways world and "remember" you were dead, it could be logically concluded that Jack was dead on the island but he did not realize it.
Adding the Egyptian mythology sewn into the fabric of the show, that makes sense. Jack's soul ("the ba") would have passed to another dimension (the sideways) while his body and mind ("the ka")would have to journey through the underworld (the island) in order to be judged worthy of "reuniting" with his soul.
This simple premise makes the most sense in dealing with the polarizing, negative debates on what really happened in the series.
It also validates two different theories and beliefs.
The characters were "alive" on the island. Yes, they were alive on the island because they did not know they were dead. What happened on the island did happen to Jack's "ka," but only to part of his spiritual being in physical form. For all intensive purposes, Jack was living in a physical form.
The other part of the character's mortal being, the ba, were transported to what we would consider an afterlife realm, a forehell or purgatory, in which the souls are also "unaware" that they have lost connection with their physical, mortal, human body. These souls are continuing their former "lives" on memories in a spiritual form. The characters were in an illusion of physical beings; the reality was shown when Christian opened the church doors to show the reality of their realm was only white light.
The spiritual circuit can only re-connect when the character's island ka realizes that it is dead at the same time the character's ba realizes that it is also dead. Jack's moment of enlightenment happened at Christian's coffin, and his father replied that everyone has to die sometime.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
UNIFIED IN SPIRIT
The attempt to unify the various story aspects of LOST is a difficult chore.
One cannot be positive about anything.
As Oscar Wilde wrote, “All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.”
Exactly. What was the true peril in LOST?
What was the one fear that bound together everyone?
It may be a basic human inner terror: dying alone.
The composite feature of any of the main characters were that they were basically loners wandering through life with little or no true friendships. Some say that it is not how you perceive your own life, but your life will be judged by those who attend your funeral.
Human beings have a tribal instinct to belong to a family, a community, kindred spirits. But during one's life, those connections can get lost - - - trampled by the pressures of work, obligations, derailed by alcohol, drugs or quests for power, or tortured relationships including rejection.
That is a heavy dose of DOOM that people think is shadowing them throughout their lives.
If we examine what was below the surface of the island, we find two things. First, we find the ancient Egyptian temple complex, with a drawing of the smoke monster sitting across from Anubis, the god of the underworld. Second, we find the mysterious light force which is said to bring life, death and rebirth through supernatural powers which includes moving both time and space. Despite what is shown on the surface of the island, below is the clear symbolism of death and the after life. And the smoke monster is clearly depicted as part of this underworld realm.
Attached to the subsurface of the island are the roots of the plants, including the banyon trees which some believe have magical powers to ward off evil because spirits reside in their roots. Juliet and Kate were saved from the attacking smoke monster by hiding in the tree roots. What also is tied to the surface of the island? We would learn from Michael that the whispers are trapped spirits who cannot move on in death. Michael was one of those trapped spirits when he spoke to Hurley.
So we could conclude that the island itself is symbolic border between the living and the spirit world. We can also conclude that the smoke monster is a form of a spirit that is trapped on the island. As a spirit, it has magical abilities to change matter and form, to probe the minds and memories of human beings, and to destroy or kill. In all natural systems, there is a balance in order for the system to sustain itself. If the smoke monster is a evil, dark force, then the light force represents the counterbalance of good. It would have its own representative shape or smoke monster form on the island - - - which probably is symbolic of the island guardian such as Jacob.
Jacob being an energy being, a spirit, can explain why he could give Alpert the gift of life on the island because he was connected to the life spirit who can give life and rebirth. Thus, it is fair to assume that there are more than one smoke monster on the island. This could explain why Rousseau's reanimated dead crew members came after her, to turn her into another smoke creature. It could also explain why there was an obsession with new born children. Evil spirits who are trapped or chained to the island because of their evil past may believe that taking a new born, free from sin (pure goodness), absorbing that soul could be the key to releasing their bonds to the island underworld.
We have an island filled with symbols of death and the rituals of the underworld. We have an island inhabited by immortals and spirits. Indeed, the island is thus a magical place not fully of Earth.
If spirits are energy beings, the uncontrolled release of the EM pulse such as Desmond's failure to input the containment numbers causes the spirits to surge into time and space to attach themselves to human beings or to draw them (shipwreck them) on the island. So we can have the 815 plane crash survivors being live, human beings living in a spiritual realm that seems, on the surface, just another Pacific island.
There has to be some sort of unwritten bargain at play. The trapped spirits need to have humans come to the island for their own redemptive purposes, so their chains can be released so their souls can move on. But redemption is not what happens to any of the main characters on LOST. In fact, no one really has a defining revelation and life changing redemption on the island. There was no more compass that judged good or evil in their hearts. So what could the island spirits give the castaways that was so important, so valuable, that it could redeem them?
Since the spirits are dead, they had experienced the human frailty of dying alone. The island visitors have not gone through that end life moment. The spirit world would give them one last chance to find true connections with other human beings to avoid the fate of the whispers. Friendship, which includes affection, love, respect, trust and deep memories, was the passport for the 815 survivors to reach the sideways church, which was symbolic of their own group funeral.
When Christian said that "they" created the sideways universe, he was probably mistaken. It was the released spirits who created the supernatural alternative sideways world to hold departed souls in a state of ignorant limbo until everyone in the group was ready to "move on." The freed island spirits created the sideways world as their last penance before they themselves could move on. When know MIB could shape shift forms, so we can assume other spirits can too. And using the memories of the human visitors, the spirits and the island magic could create a realistic alternative world. And this could explain why it was slightly different, because a person's memories contain both factual recollection of past events as well as a person's dreams. So that may be why the spirit sideways world had Jack married to Juliet.
The bargain was simple: if the trapped island spirits could change human beings to be good, then they could be released from their island purgatory, and thus helping the humans from their inglorious fates of dying alone (and being unable to move on, like trapped spirits). The theme of redemption had little to do with the main characters, but it was the stake for the invisible characters, the island spirits.
This bargain unites two major elements of the series: life and death. How one lives their life is important, but it is also how one lives in death that is just as important. It answers the question of why people were brought to the island (to release trapped spirits). It answers the question why MIB was frustrated (most humans became corrupt-evil and turned into more whispers trapped on the island like himself). It also answers why an unlikely bunch of diverse people from Flight 815 could do something no other visitors could accomplish - - - because they truly changed their lonely paths and made strong friendships and bonds with unlikely people which enhanced the goodness in the island's life force. The reward for this bounty was the release of the whispers, who in turn rewarded the castaways with something they could only dream about: dying together, and not alone.
One cannot be positive about anything.
As Oscar Wilde wrote, “All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.”
Exactly. What was the true peril in LOST?
What was the one fear that bound together everyone?
It may be a basic human inner terror: dying alone.
The composite feature of any of the main characters were that they were basically loners wandering through life with little or no true friendships. Some say that it is not how you perceive your own life, but your life will be judged by those who attend your funeral.
Human beings have a tribal instinct to belong to a family, a community, kindred spirits. But during one's life, those connections can get lost - - - trampled by the pressures of work, obligations, derailed by alcohol, drugs or quests for power, or tortured relationships including rejection.
That is a heavy dose of DOOM that people think is shadowing them throughout their lives.
If we examine what was below the surface of the island, we find two things. First, we find the ancient Egyptian temple complex, with a drawing of the smoke monster sitting across from Anubis, the god of the underworld. Second, we find the mysterious light force which is said to bring life, death and rebirth through supernatural powers which includes moving both time and space. Despite what is shown on the surface of the island, below is the clear symbolism of death and the after life. And the smoke monster is clearly depicted as part of this underworld realm.
Attached to the subsurface of the island are the roots of the plants, including the banyon trees which some believe have magical powers to ward off evil because spirits reside in their roots. Juliet and Kate were saved from the attacking smoke monster by hiding in the tree roots. What also is tied to the surface of the island? We would learn from Michael that the whispers are trapped spirits who cannot move on in death. Michael was one of those trapped spirits when he spoke to Hurley.
So we could conclude that the island itself is symbolic border between the living and the spirit world. We can also conclude that the smoke monster is a form of a spirit that is trapped on the island. As a spirit, it has magical abilities to change matter and form, to probe the minds and memories of human beings, and to destroy or kill. In all natural systems, there is a balance in order for the system to sustain itself. If the smoke monster is a evil, dark force, then the light force represents the counterbalance of good. It would have its own representative shape or smoke monster form on the island - - - which probably is symbolic of the island guardian such as Jacob.
Jacob being an energy being, a spirit, can explain why he could give Alpert the gift of life on the island because he was connected to the life spirit who can give life and rebirth. Thus, it is fair to assume that there are more than one smoke monster on the island. This could explain why Rousseau's reanimated dead crew members came after her, to turn her into another smoke creature. It could also explain why there was an obsession with new born children. Evil spirits who are trapped or chained to the island because of their evil past may believe that taking a new born, free from sin (pure goodness), absorbing that soul could be the key to releasing their bonds to the island underworld.
We have an island filled with symbols of death and the rituals of the underworld. We have an island inhabited by immortals and spirits. Indeed, the island is thus a magical place not fully of Earth.
If spirits are energy beings, the uncontrolled release of the EM pulse such as Desmond's failure to input the containment numbers causes the spirits to surge into time and space to attach themselves to human beings or to draw them (shipwreck them) on the island. So we can have the 815 plane crash survivors being live, human beings living in a spiritual realm that seems, on the surface, just another Pacific island.
There has to be some sort of unwritten bargain at play. The trapped spirits need to have humans come to the island for their own redemptive purposes, so their chains can be released so their souls can move on. But redemption is not what happens to any of the main characters on LOST. In fact, no one really has a defining revelation and life changing redemption on the island. There was no more compass that judged good or evil in their hearts. So what could the island spirits give the castaways that was so important, so valuable, that it could redeem them?
Since the spirits are dead, they had experienced the human frailty of dying alone. The island visitors have not gone through that end life moment. The spirit world would give them one last chance to find true connections with other human beings to avoid the fate of the whispers. Friendship, which includes affection, love, respect, trust and deep memories, was the passport for the 815 survivors to reach the sideways church, which was symbolic of their own group funeral.
When Christian said that "they" created the sideways universe, he was probably mistaken. It was the released spirits who created the supernatural alternative sideways world to hold departed souls in a state of ignorant limbo until everyone in the group was ready to "move on." The freed island spirits created the sideways world as their last penance before they themselves could move on. When know MIB could shape shift forms, so we can assume other spirits can too. And using the memories of the human visitors, the spirits and the island magic could create a realistic alternative world. And this could explain why it was slightly different, because a person's memories contain both factual recollection of past events as well as a person's dreams. So that may be why the spirit sideways world had Jack married to Juliet.
The bargain was simple: if the trapped island spirits could change human beings to be good, then they could be released from their island purgatory, and thus helping the humans from their inglorious fates of dying alone (and being unable to move on, like trapped spirits). The theme of redemption had little to do with the main characters, but it was the stake for the invisible characters, the island spirits.
This bargain unites two major elements of the series: life and death. How one lives their life is important, but it is also how one lives in death that is just as important. It answers the question of why people were brought to the island (to release trapped spirits). It answers the question why MIB was frustrated (most humans became corrupt-evil and turned into more whispers trapped on the island like himself). It also answers why an unlikely bunch of diverse people from Flight 815 could do something no other visitors could accomplish - - - because they truly changed their lonely paths and made strong friendships and bonds with unlikely people which enhanced the goodness in the island's life force. The reward for this bounty was the release of the whispers, who in turn rewarded the castaways with something they could only dream about: dying together, and not alone.
Monday, October 6, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
RELATIONSHIPS
It was explained by TPTB that LOST should be viewed more as a character study than anything else. The focus was on the characters and not on the mysteries.
And that is still a sticking point with some fans. As one blog commentator said long after the show concluded:
If the entire series turned out to be just about the characters and the relationships they/we build in life and how important they are, following us even into the afterlife, then what about all the relationships that Sawyer, Kate, Miles, or any of the survivors made AFTER they got off of the island? Reason I even bring this up is because of what Christian said to Jack in the church and what everyone else mentioned as well, “Some died before you, some died long after you”. So....we are to assume then that when Sawyer or Kate or any of the survivors died, whether it was right after Jack or 30 years after him, that NONE of the relationships that they built were important? What if Sawyer went on to get married and have kids. When he dies the ONLY person in his life that ever meant anything was Juliette?!! Also, a huge lesson we were all supposed to learn was to “let go” of the past. Well how the hell is having them all meet up in the church together letting go of that past?! Even in death they (whomever made it off the island and died sometime later) were still holding on to the experiences from the island, the past!!!
The season finale is what it is and I can’t change that but I don’t understand any of the fans supporting or being okay with it. Makes me think that most people have no idea what’s going on in life and just skate through it blindly.
Taking the writers words at face value was a critical viewing experience. Fans were led to believe that the show was a well crafted literary masterpiece of characters, action, drama and mysteries.
There is a valid point to what Christian told Jack about everyone in the church waiting for him died before and after him. If this is a true statement, and that the island time was most important to the characters that they had to reunite in the afterlife in order to move on to eternity, then
a) the characters like Sawyer, Kate and Claire left brutally lonely and unfilled lives after Jack died. Which is hard to believe considering Sawyer had a daughter he cared about. Claire had a son. And Kate had her freedom from the law. None of these characters would not have had any new relationships at all?
b) when did the characters who died long before Jack "actually" die? This may be one of those misdirected throwaway lines the writers used to get out of explaining what is happening in the story (equivalent of a fumble in football), but it seems to erase any "good" times that a character had before the island. For example, Locke had a great relationship with Helen. Why was that erased by the island time so that Locke is in the church alone? Boone had no one as well? How sad is that? Boone could not have been reunited with his mother or father?
Since time was handled as a nebulous concept in LOST, when people died may be irrelevant to the analysis of Christian's final speech.
For example, if this is a character study, it is just as likely it is a character study of lost dead souls than of human survivors of a plane crash. If the characters were already dead before getting on the plane (symbolic of taking the ferry across the River Styx), then maybe this was like a test of lost souls who really did not have any strong personal bonds to carry them through to the afterlife.
But since the writers failed to clarify what the sideways world represented in relation to the island world, viewer's personal answers to the gaping holes in the story line are just not as fulfilling as knowing what the show's creator's really wanted to express with the climax and ending. Taking from what the blogger said above, it was the writers who had no idea what was going on in their characters lives and just skated through blindly to the Season 6 ending.
People cannot really disagree on the ending because the ending is obtuse.
If TPTB came out and said this is what the ending means, then people can then accept it on face value or disagree with it. But leaving it open to speculation is a Soprano cop-out to conclude the show. Just calling it a show about relationships is another weak point. Every show is supposed to be about character relationships. Otherwise, the show would be about watching paint dry on a wall.
And even if the crux of the show was about relationships, and finding lost soul mates, then no one can really defend why Sayid, who pined for Nadia for 6 seasons, would wind up with Shannon in the afterlife. If the island was the test for Sayid to give up his past (Nadia), and the way he passed the test was to get in the sack with Shannon, what sort of metaphysical-intellectual system are we dealing with here?
And then the opposite was also in the church at the same time. Rose and Bernard did not purge their past in order to make it to the church. Quite the opposite, Rose and Bernard's strong bonds from the past kept them together through the island ordeals. So, on one level, they did not "let go" of their past in order to move on in their afterlives.
When you don't know what to say, you say things that are vague gibberish hoping that the listener will take those words and create their own interpretation and understanding. Politicians do this technique all the time in order to bolster support without saying much of anything. But LOST was not a political stump speech. It was supposed to be one of the greatest action-adventure-dramas in television history.
Perhaps the lasting relationship of the series was that between the fans and TPTB. In some ways it is still a strong connection. In some ways it is still a simmering disappointment. In some ways it is like a parent who loves their child but knows he can do better.
And that is still a sticking point with some fans. As one blog commentator said long after the show concluded:
If the entire series turned out to be just about the characters and the relationships they/we build in life and how important they are, following us even into the afterlife, then what about all the relationships that Sawyer, Kate, Miles, or any of the survivors made AFTER they got off of the island? Reason I even bring this up is because of what Christian said to Jack in the church and what everyone else mentioned as well, “Some died before you, some died long after you”. So....we are to assume then that when Sawyer or Kate or any of the survivors died, whether it was right after Jack or 30 years after him, that NONE of the relationships that they built were important? What if Sawyer went on to get married and have kids. When he dies the ONLY person in his life that ever meant anything was Juliette?!! Also, a huge lesson we were all supposed to learn was to “let go” of the past. Well how the hell is having them all meet up in the church together letting go of that past?! Even in death they (whomever made it off the island and died sometime later) were still holding on to the experiences from the island, the past!!!
The season finale is what it is and I can’t change that but I don’t understand any of the fans supporting or being okay with it. Makes me think that most people have no idea what’s going on in life and just skate through it blindly.
Taking the writers words at face value was a critical viewing experience. Fans were led to believe that the show was a well crafted literary masterpiece of characters, action, drama and mysteries.
There is a valid point to what Christian told Jack about everyone in the church waiting for him died before and after him. If this is a true statement, and that the island time was most important to the characters that they had to reunite in the afterlife in order to move on to eternity, then
a) the characters like Sawyer, Kate and Claire left brutally lonely and unfilled lives after Jack died. Which is hard to believe considering Sawyer had a daughter he cared about. Claire had a son. And Kate had her freedom from the law. None of these characters would not have had any new relationships at all?
b) when did the characters who died long before Jack "actually" die? This may be one of those misdirected throwaway lines the writers used to get out of explaining what is happening in the story (equivalent of a fumble in football), but it seems to erase any "good" times that a character had before the island. For example, Locke had a great relationship with Helen. Why was that erased by the island time so that Locke is in the church alone? Boone had no one as well? How sad is that? Boone could not have been reunited with his mother or father?
Since time was handled as a nebulous concept in LOST, when people died may be irrelevant to the analysis of Christian's final speech.
For example, if this is a character study, it is just as likely it is a character study of lost dead souls than of human survivors of a plane crash. If the characters were already dead before getting on the plane (symbolic of taking the ferry across the River Styx), then maybe this was like a test of lost souls who really did not have any strong personal bonds to carry them through to the afterlife.
But since the writers failed to clarify what the sideways world represented in relation to the island world, viewer's personal answers to the gaping holes in the story line are just not as fulfilling as knowing what the show's creator's really wanted to express with the climax and ending. Taking from what the blogger said above, it was the writers who had no idea what was going on in their characters lives and just skated through blindly to the Season 6 ending.
People cannot really disagree on the ending because the ending is obtuse.
If TPTB came out and said this is what the ending means, then people can then accept it on face value or disagree with it. But leaving it open to speculation is a Soprano cop-out to conclude the show. Just calling it a show about relationships is another weak point. Every show is supposed to be about character relationships. Otherwise, the show would be about watching paint dry on a wall.
And even if the crux of the show was about relationships, and finding lost soul mates, then no one can really defend why Sayid, who pined for Nadia for 6 seasons, would wind up with Shannon in the afterlife. If the island was the test for Sayid to give up his past (Nadia), and the way he passed the test was to get in the sack with Shannon, what sort of metaphysical-intellectual system are we dealing with here?
And then the opposite was also in the church at the same time. Rose and Bernard did not purge their past in order to make it to the church. Quite the opposite, Rose and Bernard's strong bonds from the past kept them together through the island ordeals. So, on one level, they did not "let go" of their past in order to move on in their afterlives.
When you don't know what to say, you say things that are vague gibberish hoping that the listener will take those words and create their own interpretation and understanding. Politicians do this technique all the time in order to bolster support without saying much of anything. But LOST was not a political stump speech. It was supposed to be one of the greatest action-adventure-dramas in television history.
Perhaps the lasting relationship of the series was that between the fans and TPTB. In some ways it is still a strong connection. In some ways it is still a simmering disappointment. In some ways it is like a parent who loves their child but knows he can do better.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
THE SIDEWAYS
One explanation for the Season 6 sideways plot exit into a confusing after life realm is that two points have to be taken as true.
Christian told Jack in the finale that in the sideways world he was dead (they were all dead) and that his friends died before and long after him.
In other words, people take Christian's comments as the basis that the plane crash and island events were real - - - that Jack and his friends survived the plane crash and were alive until they lived out the remaining time on Earth. The sideways universe was a "purgatory," a place where souls put themselves in limbo until their friends died on Earth.
Each person in this “purgatory universe” created a reality for themselves based on their lingering issues in life – that which they could not “let go” of. For Jack it was Daddy issues; Kate, the guilt of murder; Sawyer, the quest to find “Sawyer” and be a better man; Sayid, the unrequited love of Nadia; Charlie, looking for something “real” like a family instead of trivial past fame as a rock star.
The explanation is that the main characters made a connection amongst themselves because they were all still attached to their personal life concerns. Because of this strong island survival connection, they never forgot the journey and growth they had experienced because of the Island, and then each character could finally understand the connections and “purpose” brought into their damaged lives by being there. With that greater understanding of themselves, they were each ready to “leave” or “move on” to the next phase of existence – i.e., the true after life.
This view does not answer all the lingering questions, like how a dead soul can create a memory blocked sideways world with thousands of strangers based upon the "unforgettable" island experiences. Who or what directed each character's dead soul into a cosmic holding place - - - to actually live out totally different lives than the past, including Jack having a son!, and not making those "new" experiences count for anything except filler?
As explanations for the ending goes, this falls into the supernatural bin.
But look at a few other key elements of the sideways story arc. Eloise, who had present knowledge in both the island world and the sideways after life, tried to keep Desmond from "remembering" his past because she feared Desmond would awaken Daniel, who would leave the sideways world and Eloise. Why was Eloise so hellbent on keeping Daniel in the dark about his life and his current death status? Simple: she feared that Daniel would leave with the other Losties to the next phase of the after life.
But was Eloise smarter than the rest? The puppet master of the entire series? If we look at the Season 6 back story of the island, the answer would be no. Eloise would have just been another "candidate" brought to the island by Jacob. It would then seem that Jacob was the supernatural being capable of creating an after life purgatory.
Jacob did grant Alpert "immortality" on the island. And if one looks at the canon that only the island guardian can bring people to the island, then Jacob manipulated the lives of all the characters to come to his island world. There is something "mad scientist" about Jacob collecting human beings with personal issues and faults to conduct some crude and cruel experiments on them. It is then probable that Jacob orchestrated his candidates to get on the same plane in Sydney in order to crash it on his island. In normal circumstances, everyone on the plane would have died. But Jacob intervened magically and "saved" his candidates from certain death. (Or perhaps, reincarnated them as human beings without their souls - - - which were dispatched to the sideways purgatory to continue to live a false life). The split soul concept is found in ancient Egyptian culture, which was featured heavily in Season 6.
It comes down to a personal definition of "life." Is life the mortal existence on Earth? Or is there a life "ever after?"
All cultures have some sort of "creator" mythology. A super being, usually from the stars, that created all life on Earth. The same could be true for the sideways world - - - some creator imagined a continuation of the characters' airplane journey without the detour to the island - - - while Jacob kidnapped the characters to his island. Perhaps, this is the real conflict between Jacob and MIB. Jacob was the one how kidnaps souls for the island world, while MIB is trying to find a "loophole" in Jacob's game. It is possible that MIB's loophole was the creation of the sideways world (since as a smoke monster, a supernatural being that can manipulate matter and memories of human beings to take any form).
If MIB created the sideways world in order for the characters' souls "to remember" the island, that could be the check mate move - - - no one before had ever "remembered" the island after dying. Once the island was recalled in the after life, Jacob's game was revealed to his superiors as an unsanctioned interference with normal people's lives. Thus, knowledge of the island was the key to stop Jacob's candidate games (like a Hunger Games for lost souls).
Sunday, July 13, 2014
AFTERLIFE WATCH
There is a new comic book that has strange themes similar to LOST's story construction.
It is called The Life After by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Gabo, on Oni Press.
The central theme of the story is religion in the surveillance age.
At the start of The Life After, a young man named Jude breaks the monotonous routine of his life, forcing his way off the bus he takes every day to chase after a woman he’s never met. What seems like a romantic moment of a guy getting up the nerve to meet the girl of his dreams quickly turns into an even bigger moment that begins to reveal Jude's world for what it really is. When he then meets deceased novelist Ernest Hemingway, the only other person who sees the world for what it truly is, that's when the comic really gets started.
The premise is a twist on a story about religion - being watched over by a higher power - but using modern technology of the surveillance age to show that events in an afterlife are all false. That in this world, faceless individuals monitoring and orchestrating every person's move.
LOST dealt with big concepts of life and death, but in either a bloody plot twist fashion or a overreach of white light conclusions.
One similar key is that the characters in the comic and the series may not be aware of their true existence. They go about their business like they are alive, but in fact their own perception of themselves and the world around them is false. LOST was filled with clues telling the viewers that the events they were watching were not real, an illusion, imaginary, or a deception. Individuals with sketchy backgrounds like Eloise seemed to be watching over and manipulating the characters.
But LOST did not sort out or judge the characters by good or evil. People "died" whether they were good or evil. Whether the watchers did it more amusement or for another purpose is unclear.
It is called The Life After by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Gabo, on Oni Press.
The central theme of the story is religion in the surveillance age.
At the start of The Life After, a young man named Jude breaks the monotonous routine of his life, forcing his way off the bus he takes every day to chase after a woman he’s never met. What seems like a romantic moment of a guy getting up the nerve to meet the girl of his dreams quickly turns into an even bigger moment that begins to reveal Jude's world for what it really is. When he then meets deceased novelist Ernest Hemingway, the only other person who sees the world for what it truly is, that's when the comic really gets started.
The premise is a twist on a story about religion - being watched over by a higher power - but using modern technology of the surveillance age to show that events in an afterlife are all false. That in this world, faceless individuals monitoring and orchestrating every person's move.
LOST dealt with big concepts of life and death, but in either a bloody plot twist fashion or a overreach of white light conclusions.
One similar key is that the characters in the comic and the series may not be aware of their true existence. They go about their business like they are alive, but in fact their own perception of themselves and the world around them is false. LOST was filled with clues telling the viewers that the events they were watching were not real, an illusion, imaginary, or a deception. Individuals with sketchy backgrounds like Eloise seemed to be watching over and manipulating the characters.
But LOST did not sort out or judge the characters by good or evil. People "died" whether they were good or evil. Whether the watchers did it more amusement or for another purpose is unclear.
Friday, March 21, 2014
CONTROLLING THE FUTURE
We can have peace if we let go of wanting to change the past and wanting to control the future.
— Lester Levinson
It is probably universal for a person to want a few basic social acknowledgements in their life: acceptance, security, friendship, love, trust or accomplishment. It is when a person tries to go to extremes to reach those goals, he or she becomes anti-social.
In all of our character studies, the most extreme spectrum may have been Ben.
His back story is cruel. For no apparent reason, his parents decide to hike through the Oregon woods on December 19, 1964 while his mother, Emily, is very, very pregnant. As a result of the walk, she goes into premature labor. His father, Roger, panics, but is there to deliver Ben. But his mother bleeds to death, sending Roger into a spiral of anger, depression and regret. He would blame Ben for killing his mother, which is a false statement but it would haunt and change Ben forever.
After Ben's birth, a distraught Roger flags down a car driven by Dharma leader Horus. Horus and his wife, Olivia, help the Linus family. It is this random meeting that would lead Roger and Ben to the island. Roger was unable to cope with the pressure of fatherhood, the loss of his wife, and the responsibility of caring for an infant. He drank heavily, and could not hold a job. This increased his hatred towards Ben.
At some point, Roger reconnects with Horus, who invites him to work for Dharma. Roger accepts the offer, and Ben and his father reach the island with other new workers. But the cruel reality of Roger's life hits him again hard, when he finds that the job he gets is that of a lowly janitor.
Ben has an opportunity to change his life on the island. He is an quiet 8 year old boy. He is smart, attentive, and polite, but extremely shy. His social skills have been repressed because of his father's mental abuse and alcoholic rages. Ben becomes bitter about his lot in life. He longs for a normal family life, and the Dharma group, even though they are nice people, cannot substitute for his family.
Ben's life was immediately different than from the states. The Dharma compound routinely faced attacks from the Hostiles, the native people on the island. Roger, now an alcoholic, neglected his son. Ben did make one friend on the Island - a young girl named Annie. On Ben's ninth birthday, Annie carved two dolls, likenesses of the two children, and Ben kept them for the next 30 years. That same night, he saw his mother's ghost in the jungle. He later packed his belongings and went out in search of her, and he came upon Richard Alpert, one of the Hostiles. Richard was intrigued to learn Ben had seen someone who'd died off the Island, and he said Ben may be able to join the Hostiles one day, if he was patient.
Three years later, Ben thought he found his chance when he heard that Dharma had imprisoned one of the Hostiles. Ben brought the man a book and food (earning Roger's abuse). Ben later broke him out of his cell, setting fire to a van to distract those watching. But the prisoner turned out not to be a Hostile at all - Sayid was a time traveler from Ben's future. Knowing what Ben would become, an evil psychopath, Sayid shot Ben in the jungle, leaving him for dead. Jin found the wounded Ben and brought him back to the Barracks where Juliet tried to operated on him and Kate donated blood. When it became clear that they could not save him, they sought the help of Alpert. Alpert told the time travelers that if he took Ben, it would be irreversible; he would be changed forever. Ben was taken to the Other's Temple, where we would later assume he would have been put into the reincarnation pool like Sayid would be during the final season. Apparently, the temple ritual robbed Ben of his recent memories of being shot by Sayid (but we cannot be for certain) and changed him forever. According to Richard, from this point on, he would "always be one of us."
The Others returned Ben to the Dharma camp, but told him to be patient. When the time was right, he could join the Others. Young Ben was then primed with the mental time bomb of leaving his father and the Dharma collective. It was a long ten years or so that Ben endured living at the Dharma camp after his temple rebirth.
Ben would remain with the camp, eventually becoming a "work man" like his father. But he remained in touch with the Others, and when Widmore ordered the Initiative eliminated, Ben sided with the Hostiles. On Ben's birthday one year, he released gas that killed all the Dharma members. Ben killed his father personally with a separate gas canister, responding to years of ill treatment. Richard offered to retrieve Roger's body, but Ben declined.
Though he'd helped defeat the Others' enemies, Ben still answered to Widmore, and the two maintained a rivalry before and after the Purge. In 1988, Widmore ordered Ben to kill a Rousseau who'd crashed onto the Island. Ben discovered she had a baby girl and spared them both, kidnapping the baby Alex and bringing her to the Others. Widmore initially ordered the baby killed as well but eventually relented and allowed Ben to raise her. Widmore had a daughter, Penny, of his own with an unknown woman from off the Island. When Ben discovered this infidelity some years later, he had Widmore exiled from the island. Ben then replaced him as the leader of the Others. As leader, Ben frequently traveled to the mainland, developing a wide network of resources. He restricted most of his people from leaving the Island and used deception and secrecy to control them. Ben found himself a victim of secrecy as well - despite being the Others' leader, Ben never got to visit the Island's Protector Jacob. Jacob communicated only through Richard and sent Ben instructions and lists to follow. It was a bit ironic that Ben's entire plan was to join then lead the Hostiles, but once he reached that position he continued to be controlled and put into his place by an unknown man, Jacob.
Ben would become to associate Jacob with his father. Everything Ben did for them, he would not receive the acceptance, security, friendship, love, trust or accomplishment that he craved from a father figure. This simmering torment would lead Flocke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob, thereby changing the balance of power on the island forever.
Ben only found peace when he gave up control, his ambitions, and his personal darkness, to become Hurley's assistant guardian. When he awoke in the sideways world, filled with his past memories, he decided to stay to "work things out" with his father, Rousseau and continue to protect Alex, even though they were apparently in the after life, and Rousseau and Alex's island memories of Ben would be harsh hatred for what he did to them. Even if Ben could try to "change" that past, in the sideways world he realized that he could not. Further, he could not control their future responses when they awoke, but Ben seemed to be okay with that - - - because he would try to influence the sideways present to repent for his past by being a kind, caring and trustworthy person. But we really don't know if that would have worked.
All of the couples in the sideways church has at least a strong bond on the island. Those who did not, like Locke and Boone, were left alone. It would seem that would be Ben's fate as well because he passed on moving on with Hurley's group. So there may have remained a hint of Ben still trying to change his past by trying to bond with Rousseau and Alex in the sideways world.
If there was a lesson here it is that no matter what you do, you cannot change the past or control the future because it has too many variables.
It is probably universal for a person to want a few basic social acknowledgements in their life: acceptance, security, friendship, love, trust or accomplishment. It is when a person tries to go to extremes to reach those goals, he or she becomes anti-social.
In all of our character studies, the most extreme spectrum may have been Ben.
His back story is cruel. For no apparent reason, his parents decide to hike through the Oregon woods on December 19, 1964 while his mother, Emily, is very, very pregnant. As a result of the walk, she goes into premature labor. His father, Roger, panics, but is there to deliver Ben. But his mother bleeds to death, sending Roger into a spiral of anger, depression and regret. He would blame Ben for killing his mother, which is a false statement but it would haunt and change Ben forever.
After Ben's birth, a distraught Roger flags down a car driven by Dharma leader Horus. Horus and his wife, Olivia, help the Linus family. It is this random meeting that would lead Roger and Ben to the island. Roger was unable to cope with the pressure of fatherhood, the loss of his wife, and the responsibility of caring for an infant. He drank heavily, and could not hold a job. This increased his hatred towards Ben.
At some point, Roger reconnects with Horus, who invites him to work for Dharma. Roger accepts the offer, and Ben and his father reach the island with other new workers. But the cruel reality of Roger's life hits him again hard, when he finds that the job he gets is that of a lowly janitor.
Ben has an opportunity to change his life on the island. He is an quiet 8 year old boy. He is smart, attentive, and polite, but extremely shy. His social skills have been repressed because of his father's mental abuse and alcoholic rages. Ben becomes bitter about his lot in life. He longs for a normal family life, and the Dharma group, even though they are nice people, cannot substitute for his family.
Ben's life was immediately different than from the states. The Dharma compound routinely faced attacks from the Hostiles, the native people on the island. Roger, now an alcoholic, neglected his son. Ben did make one friend on the Island - a young girl named Annie. On Ben's ninth birthday, Annie carved two dolls, likenesses of the two children, and Ben kept them for the next 30 years. That same night, he saw his mother's ghost in the jungle. He later packed his belongings and went out in search of her, and he came upon Richard Alpert, one of the Hostiles. Richard was intrigued to learn Ben had seen someone who'd died off the Island, and he said Ben may be able to join the Hostiles one day, if he was patient.
Three years later, Ben thought he found his chance when he heard that Dharma had imprisoned one of the Hostiles. Ben brought the man a book and food (earning Roger's abuse). Ben later broke him out of his cell, setting fire to a van to distract those watching. But the prisoner turned out not to be a Hostile at all - Sayid was a time traveler from Ben's future. Knowing what Ben would become, an evil psychopath, Sayid shot Ben in the jungle, leaving him for dead. Jin found the wounded Ben and brought him back to the Barracks where Juliet tried to operated on him and Kate donated blood. When it became clear that they could not save him, they sought the help of Alpert. Alpert told the time travelers that if he took Ben, it would be irreversible; he would be changed forever. Ben was taken to the Other's Temple, where we would later assume he would have been put into the reincarnation pool like Sayid would be during the final season. Apparently, the temple ritual robbed Ben of his recent memories of being shot by Sayid (but we cannot be for certain) and changed him forever. According to Richard, from this point on, he would "always be one of us."
The Others returned Ben to the Dharma camp, but told him to be patient. When the time was right, he could join the Others. Young Ben was then primed with the mental time bomb of leaving his father and the Dharma collective. It was a long ten years or so that Ben endured living at the Dharma camp after his temple rebirth.
Ben would remain with the camp, eventually becoming a "work man" like his father. But he remained in touch with the Others, and when Widmore ordered the Initiative eliminated, Ben sided with the Hostiles. On Ben's birthday one year, he released gas that killed all the Dharma members. Ben killed his father personally with a separate gas canister, responding to years of ill treatment. Richard offered to retrieve Roger's body, but Ben declined.
Though he'd helped defeat the Others' enemies, Ben still answered to Widmore, and the two maintained a rivalry before and after the Purge. In 1988, Widmore ordered Ben to kill a Rousseau who'd crashed onto the Island. Ben discovered she had a baby girl and spared them both, kidnapping the baby Alex and bringing her to the Others. Widmore initially ordered the baby killed as well but eventually relented and allowed Ben to raise her. Widmore had a daughter, Penny, of his own with an unknown woman from off the Island. When Ben discovered this infidelity some years later, he had Widmore exiled from the island. Ben then replaced him as the leader of the Others. As leader, Ben frequently traveled to the mainland, developing a wide network of resources. He restricted most of his people from leaving the Island and used deception and secrecy to control them. Ben found himself a victim of secrecy as well - despite being the Others' leader, Ben never got to visit the Island's Protector Jacob. Jacob communicated only through Richard and sent Ben instructions and lists to follow. It was a bit ironic that Ben's entire plan was to join then lead the Hostiles, but once he reached that position he continued to be controlled and put into his place by an unknown man, Jacob.
Ben would become to associate Jacob with his father. Everything Ben did for them, he would not receive the acceptance, security, friendship, love, trust or accomplishment that he craved from a father figure. This simmering torment would lead Flocke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob, thereby changing the balance of power on the island forever.
Ben only found peace when he gave up control, his ambitions, and his personal darkness, to become Hurley's assistant guardian. When he awoke in the sideways world, filled with his past memories, he decided to stay to "work things out" with his father, Rousseau and continue to protect Alex, even though they were apparently in the after life, and Rousseau and Alex's island memories of Ben would be harsh hatred for what he did to them. Even if Ben could try to "change" that past, in the sideways world he realized that he could not. Further, he could not control their future responses when they awoke, but Ben seemed to be okay with that - - - because he would try to influence the sideways present to repent for his past by being a kind, caring and trustworthy person. But we really don't know if that would have worked.
All of the couples in the sideways church has at least a strong bond on the island. Those who did not, like Locke and Boone, were left alone. It would seem that would be Ben's fate as well because he passed on moving on with Hurley's group. So there may have remained a hint of Ben still trying to change his past by trying to bond with Rousseau and Alex in the sideways world.
If there was a lesson here it is that no matter what you do, you cannot change the past or control the future because it has too many variables.
Monday, February 17, 2014
INSURRECTION
He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.
— George Orwell
The loudest and most polarizing debate point between LOST fans to this day is whether the passengers on Flight 815 actually survived the crash.
It goes back to the very beginning when TPTB stated that the characters were survivors of a plane crash on mysterious tropical island. Viewers believed what the producers said. This was further confirmed in a way by Damon Lindelof in a 2006 interview where he said "When a character dies on the show, they’re dead. The only time you’ll see them again is in someone else’s flashback." The writers initially claimed Lost would feature no actual resurrections. However, that was clearly not true as the series went forward in time. Sayid clearly died and was resurrected at the temple. Some viewers believe Alpert died in the hold of the Black Rock only to be revived by MIB as his pawn to kill Jacob. Jacob himself was resurrected in both adult and childhood form after he died in the statue. And Patchy died apparently several times in front of the castaways but returned to life.
Now some people believe that any magical island resurrections were just mere manifestations of a shape shifting smoke monster.
On the other end of the opinion spectrum, many see The Island as afterlife, in the context of being a place of rebirth. It has been strongly suggested that the original crash killed the main characters, based upon human experience and what was first shown in the pilot episode. Additional evidence came in the form of the plane's discovery in Season 3 with 324 dead bodies aboard fueled this belief, as well as Naomi’s claim that everyone on that plane died. Later, the Widmore story line said he “faked” the wreckage in order to keep the island’s location secret, which in some respects makes no sense since he did not know where the island was located at the time. An early episode script featured Kate jokingly referencing this theory to Sayid's annoyance, and the producers repeatedly dismissed it in interviews. The produers claimed that the characters eventually left and returned to the island, proving it existed on no separate plane of reality.
However, it was pervasive that characters kept saying the opposite. Early seasons portrayed life on the Island as the characters' experiences following a metaphorical death. As Jack told Kate early in the first season, "Three days ago, we all died." Many characters reinvented themselves on the island, attempting to redeem themselves for old mistakes.Jacob in the final season eventually revealed that he brought people to the island to specifically give them a blank slate.
Some characters believed the island was their literal afterlife. MIB convinced Richard that the island was hell, and Richard reverted to this belief years later, even though he'd left the island numerous times. Cooper also thought the island was hell. In “The Brig” Cooper found the island "a little hot for heaven."
Off-island, Hurley believed Jack's perfect life - in love with Kate, raising a child - meant that they'd died and gone to heaven. He was wrong, but they later experienced an afterlife that was, for some, too good to be true.
Characters also referenced heaven and hell separate from the Island. Charlie once tried to baptize Aaron, and later Claire asked Eko to baptize her and Aaron together, so they could reunite after death in heaven. According to Isabella, if MIB escaped from the Island, it would send them "all" to hell. Lostpedia states that the script for the finale referred to the Heart of the Island, with the Light off, as the "cavern of hell," where things have "literally gone to hell."
And then there was the ghosts. Hurley and Miles could speak or hear the dead. Dead Charlie and Dead Ana Lucia had physical contact with Hurley. How could that be? Unless of course, Hurley was in the same plane of existence, i.e. he was also dead but failed to recognize or accept it. Acceptance of death was an underlying theme of the series. When Rose realized that the pain of her terminal cancer was gone, she knew she was dead. That is why she was at peace. That is why she knew she would be reunited with Bernard because they were both dead in the afterlife. And when the whispers were explained by dead Michael, that his spirit was trapped on the island and could not move on, it made sense why he was not shown in the sideways world.
There is also another way to look at the show: as a series of life times. Some Eastern religions believe that a person is reincarnated into several different lives in order to learn and attain enlightenment. One could perceive the characters as having several complete "lives" during the series: their pre-815 lives; their island lives; and their post-island lives (many contained in the afterlife of the sideways world). As easy as it was to suspend belief that the main characters survived a high-altitude fuselage separation, it is just as easy to believe that the characters were already dead and working their way through various second, third or fourth lives in the after life.
So if one wants to start an immediate argument today, just bring up the fact that the 815ers died in the plane crash. Then also mention that the credibility of the story line told by the producers of the series is in doubt, especially after reading the original writer's guide. In any debate, there will be no final answer. Any plausible reasons and explanations were lost in the final season.
The loudest and most polarizing debate point between LOST fans to this day is whether the passengers on Flight 815 actually survived the crash.
It goes back to the very beginning when TPTB stated that the characters were survivors of a plane crash on mysterious tropical island. Viewers believed what the producers said. This was further confirmed in a way by Damon Lindelof in a 2006 interview where he said "When a character dies on the show, they’re dead. The only time you’ll see them again is in someone else’s flashback." The writers initially claimed Lost would feature no actual resurrections. However, that was clearly not true as the series went forward in time. Sayid clearly died and was resurrected at the temple. Some viewers believe Alpert died in the hold of the Black Rock only to be revived by MIB as his pawn to kill Jacob. Jacob himself was resurrected in both adult and childhood form after he died in the statue. And Patchy died apparently several times in front of the castaways but returned to life.
Now some people believe that any magical island resurrections were just mere manifestations of a shape shifting smoke monster.
On the other end of the opinion spectrum, many see The Island as afterlife, in the context of being a place of rebirth. It has been strongly suggested that the original crash killed the main characters, based upon human experience and what was first shown in the pilot episode. Additional evidence came in the form of the plane's discovery in Season 3 with 324 dead bodies aboard fueled this belief, as well as Naomi’s claim that everyone on that plane died. Later, the Widmore story line said he “faked” the wreckage in order to keep the island’s location secret, which in some respects makes no sense since he did not know where the island was located at the time. An early episode script featured Kate jokingly referencing this theory to Sayid's annoyance, and the producers repeatedly dismissed it in interviews. The produers claimed that the characters eventually left and returned to the island, proving it existed on no separate plane of reality.
However, it was pervasive that characters kept saying the opposite. Early seasons portrayed life on the Island as the characters' experiences following a metaphorical death. As Jack told Kate early in the first season, "Three days ago, we all died." Many characters reinvented themselves on the island, attempting to redeem themselves for old mistakes.Jacob in the final season eventually revealed that he brought people to the island to specifically give them a blank slate.
Some characters believed the island was their literal afterlife. MIB convinced Richard that the island was hell, and Richard reverted to this belief years later, even though he'd left the island numerous times. Cooper also thought the island was hell. In “The Brig” Cooper found the island "a little hot for heaven."
Off-island, Hurley believed Jack's perfect life - in love with Kate, raising a child - meant that they'd died and gone to heaven. He was wrong, but they later experienced an afterlife that was, for some, too good to be true.
Characters also referenced heaven and hell separate from the Island. Charlie once tried to baptize Aaron, and later Claire asked Eko to baptize her and Aaron together, so they could reunite after death in heaven. According to Isabella, if MIB escaped from the Island, it would send them "all" to hell. Lostpedia states that the script for the finale referred to the Heart of the Island, with the Light off, as the "cavern of hell," where things have "literally gone to hell."
And then there was the ghosts. Hurley and Miles could speak or hear the dead. Dead Charlie and Dead Ana Lucia had physical contact with Hurley. How could that be? Unless of course, Hurley was in the same plane of existence, i.e. he was also dead but failed to recognize or accept it. Acceptance of death was an underlying theme of the series. When Rose realized that the pain of her terminal cancer was gone, she knew she was dead. That is why she was at peace. That is why she knew she would be reunited with Bernard because they were both dead in the afterlife. And when the whispers were explained by dead Michael, that his spirit was trapped on the island and could not move on, it made sense why he was not shown in the sideways world.
There is also another way to look at the show: as a series of life times. Some Eastern religions believe that a person is reincarnated into several different lives in order to learn and attain enlightenment. One could perceive the characters as having several complete "lives" during the series: their pre-815 lives; their island lives; and their post-island lives (many contained in the afterlife of the sideways world). As easy as it was to suspend belief that the main characters survived a high-altitude fuselage separation, it is just as easy to believe that the characters were already dead and working their way through various second, third or fourth lives in the after life.
So if one wants to start an immediate argument today, just bring up the fact that the 815ers died in the plane crash. Then also mention that the credibility of the story line told by the producers of the series is in doubt, especially after reading the original writer's guide. In any debate, there will be no final answer. Any plausible reasons and explanations were lost in the final season.
Monday, December 9, 2013
JACK'S WORLDS
“ No man is able to make progress when he is wavering between opposite things. ”
— Epictetus
As a follow up on the last post, there is something to be said that Jack was caught in a trap.
Jack was a man by all appearances to have a great career, special skills, admired by colleagues, wealthy and stable. He had an even temperament even in times when miracles were needed for his patients. In some ways, he was a constant dreamer.
But outside his public persona, Jack had his own demons. He had a hard time coping with women; his personal relationships would sour; and he had an addictive streak towards alcohol and drugs as a means of escape. And it appears he tried to escape - - - after his divorce, he went on a bender to Thailand to meet an exotic woman. Why a skilled spinal surgeon would flee his career to to go island native is unexplained.
So during Jack's life, he lived in two separate worlds. The world of medicine where he sought acceptance by his father, and the dream world where his personal life would be perfect. Jack was a perfectionist. He had to be when cutting around a person's spinal cord. But those skills would never transfer to his interpersonal skills.
Next, Jack gets trapped between two worlds on the island. He is an important focal point for the survivors: he has the medical skills to keep them alive and well while they waited for rescue. Jack also gave the aura of being a calming presence which led his fellow passengers to push an uncomfortable leadership role on him. At the same time, he wanted to run away from the responsibility and accountability. He saw people like Kate and Sawyer who had little cares except for their own well being. He must have been envious of their personal freedom as Jack spent his entire life studying and mastering science to get his father to notice him. After a while, the island did give Jack the opportunity to explore his wild side - - - get outside his comfort zone, and lead adventurous missions as a commander.
But once he left the island, Jack broke down mentally. He turned into a shell of his former self: needy, greedy, alone, disheveled, and on the brink of suicide. But apparently at the same time, his soul was running through an opposite world where Jack had a very stable and content after life in the sideways world where he had a relationship with his son.
The concept that the series was really about Jack's mind bouncing back and forth between various worlds is intriguing because Jack's eye is the beginning and the end of the show. The conflict was not with other people or smoke monsters, but the real conflict was within Jack himself.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
THE JOURNEY
Some believe LOST was merely a journey by the various characters through the pitfalls of danger and friendship which led to a lasting impression to reunited in the afterlife.
Others believe that LOST symbolized the ancient religious journeys through the afterlife.
Thoth, the Ibis headed humanoid, was the guardian of the souls on their journey through the afterlife. Other cultures around the globe used bird-men to symbolize the passage from life on Earth to new life in the stars. Ancient cultures believed that the Earth had been visited by star children who gave them knowledge and spiritual rituals to guide them.
In both ancient Egypt and China, leaders of those civilizations were entombed with a massive amount of supplies and other people, such as wives, consorts, guards, soldiers, and servants. The reason was simple: the leaders needed to have people around his soul to help navigate the after life to find paradise. So they were buried with their closest staff members, along with food, weapons and important writings. They left behind cult priests who would pray for their leader's safe passage and appease the gods during his journey.
The statement "live together or die alone" is a modern take on this ancient ritual. In order to move along in the afterlife, a person needs to have "friends" to help him make it to the end. That is why most cultures revere their ancestors, whom they hope to meet in the afterlife to help them get to heaven.
LOST was never heavy on overt religious symbolism. Religion rituals and symbols may be an explanation of what the writers were trying to hide in the plain sight as their vision of what was really happening to the characters. They kept on saying the it was the journey that was the most important thing of the show. That could mean the wild ride of plot twists given the viewer, or the slow progression of angst, loss and perseverance that the characters had to show in order to move on with their lives.
Others believe that LOST symbolized the ancient religious journeys through the afterlife.
Thoth, the Ibis headed humanoid, was the guardian of the souls on their journey through the afterlife. Other cultures around the globe used bird-men to symbolize the passage from life on Earth to new life in the stars. Ancient cultures believed that the Earth had been visited by star children who gave them knowledge and spiritual rituals to guide them.
In both ancient Egypt and China, leaders of those civilizations were entombed with a massive amount of supplies and other people, such as wives, consorts, guards, soldiers, and servants. The reason was simple: the leaders needed to have people around his soul to help navigate the after life to find paradise. So they were buried with their closest staff members, along with food, weapons and important writings. They left behind cult priests who would pray for their leader's safe passage and appease the gods during his journey.
The statement "live together or die alone" is a modern take on this ancient ritual. In order to move along in the afterlife, a person needs to have "friends" to help him make it to the end. That is why most cultures revere their ancestors, whom they hope to meet in the afterlife to help them get to heaven.
LOST was never heavy on overt religious symbolism. Religion rituals and symbols may be an explanation of what the writers were trying to hide in the plain sight as their vision of what was really happening to the characters. They kept on saying the it was the journey that was the most important thing of the show. That could mean the wild ride of plot twists given the viewer, or the slow progression of angst, loss and perseverance that the characters had to show in order to move on with their lives.
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