DARK MATTER MODEL

Science wants to have unified answers to the Big Questions. So did LOST viewers.


A new physics model of the universe, formulated by Guillermo Ballestros at the University of Paris-Saclay in France and his colleagues, may be the answer to  explain dark matter, neutrino oscillations, baryogenesis, inflation and the strong CP problem.


Dubbed SMASH, the model is based on the standard model of particle physics, but has a few bits tacked on. The standard model is a collection of particles and forces that describes the building blocks of the universe. Although it has passed every test thrown at it, it can’t explain some phenomena.


For example,  science does not understand dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 84 per cent of the universe’s mass. Nor why there is more matter than antimatter. Nor why the universe grew so rapidly in its youth during a period known as "inflation."  

Something is still fundamentally missing from the standard model. Scientists think they new "new" particles to help balance or explain the formulas.


Some models, like supersymmetry,  add hundreds of particles – none of which have been spotted at colliders like the LHC. But SMASH adds only six: three neutrinos, a fermion and a field that includes two particles.

SMASH is several theories smashed together. It builds on Shaposhnikov’s model from 2005, which added three neutrinos to the three already known in order to solve four fundamental problems in physics: dark matter, inflation, some questions about the nature of neutrinos, and the origins of matter.
SMASH adds a new field to explain some of those problems a little differently. This field includes two particles: the axion, a dark horse candidate for dark matter, and the inflaton, the particle behind inflation.


As a final flourish, SMASH uses the field to introduce the solution to a fifth puzzle: the strong CP problem, which helps explain why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.

Why is this important? Curiosity about the heavens has been the main focal point of humanity from the very beginning. Our first ancestors looked up to the sky and wondered what it was. The sun and the moon orbits fascinated people. They used the sky to help organize their lives to correspond to the seasons. Some sociologists believe that the questions about nature helped develop mankind's brain function to be the planet's alpha species. 


To unlock the building blocks of the universe may be the key to understanding everything: what causes cancer, why humans have a limited life span, what elements of the universe are or are not on Earth?


As these questions continue to puzzle science, they are also used by writers to speculate on how the lack of knowledge can be captured into dramatic prose. The "what if" premise of film and television shows stokes the curiosity of the viewer. If there is a real sci-fi backbone in the stories, it can mentor people to find scientific careers (as many NASA employees admit Star Trek did for them.)


LOST had an opportunity to inspire a new generation to science if it captured the essence of any new theory about the universe in its mythological story foundation. But it did not. It still remains a disappointing lapse by the show runners. These new scientific theories could have helped explain the time/space tangents, the strange EM radiation and the Numbers used in the Hatch.

THE ANTI-HERO

We live in dark times in culture and literature, partly because of the long malaise of a deep recession and less opportunities for young graduates in their career fields. Modern culture has a clear dystopian future vibe.

In many respects, LOST also culled that genre.

An anti-hero is a flawed hero, and therefore, much more interesting then the more traditional heroes.

Anti-heroes can be working on the side of good, but with a serious flaw, or a horrible past, or for reasons that are selfish and not entirely "pure." They can also be working for the side of evil, but with hidden noble intentions, or other underlying complexities. These darker heroes can be jerks, pathetic, hard, jaded, or mean. However, all anti-heroes must have enough heroic qualities, intentions, or strength (physical including attraction or mental) to somehow gain the sympathy of the audience.

The show was filled with many (maybe too many) anti-heroes.

Ben had an immediate and strong fan base. The portrayal of a cold, emotionless psychopath was a brilliant hook to apply real danger to the series characters.

Sawyer was the traditional anti-hero. He was a loner, a criminal, a charmer and a thief. He was so easy going to be likeable and despised at the same time.

Kate was also an anti-hero but wrapped up in the mirage of the girl-next-store image. She was entirely selfish and manipulating the men who crossed her path, usually ending in very bad trauma.

Locke was never a true hero. He was the door mat that other characters used to scuff on on their way to their goals. He was a dreamer who could never connect to his dreams. He was naive, and heroes are wise. He had self-esteem issues while heroes can look beyond their own faults to the common good.

The body snatching by MIB to create an evil Flocke did nothing to restore any honor to the Locke character.  MIB, as an intellectually evil smoke creature, had similar qualities of Ben, but with no thread of heroic intentions. MIB vowed to somehow leave the island, but we don't know why nor did we care. One has to care about their heroes, including the anti-heroes.

Jack should have been the traditional hero. He had the skill set, being a "miracle" surgeon. He had the calm intellect to command order within the group. But once he got out of that traditional role to begin lead missions into the jungle or attack the Others, he fell out of favor with many in the group. The castaways first leaned on Jack for survival, but once rescue was lost and the beach camp settled in Jack's traits were no longer needed by them.

INTO THE LIGHT

Part of the evolution of man was the innate fear of the dark.  Man was not the alpha predator. There were various wild animals that could kill man. Many current top predators feed at night, when their prey are resting and cannot see properly.

One of the aspects of man's assent to the top of the food chain was the ability to gather in groups. Groups allowed for more eyes, ears and senses. There is truly safety in numbers. The more people who looked out for each other, the better. Once families merged with other families to create communities, tribes and later settlements, the fear of wild animal attacks subsided. But the fear did not go away, because in nature the competition for food and resources is always present. Fear of animals may have turned into fear of other tribes attacking for their resources.

One of the earliest safe guards to attack was the domestication of the wolf. Less aggressive wolves came to be trained by early man as canine protection devices. Dogs have more than 10 times the smell perception of humans. They also have keen eye tracking abilities. With the taming of dogs, man brought into his shelter the first "alarm" system. The dog would forewarn his master of trouble before the master could recognize it. It was a beneficial relationship, since the dog was fed and cared after by the tribe. Dogs would help man in hunts. This man-dog bond lasts to the present day.

Everyone knows dogs are man's best friends.

But in LOST, we are not so sure.

For some, Vincent, Walt's dog, was the only animal associated with the survivors. Yet, Vincent rarely did anything to protect Walt or the castaways. In reality, Vincent was briefly used as a conduit for the viewers to find the early characters, such as awakening Jack in the bamboo jungle, or to lead a character into the jungle (to be surprised by something like an Other or smoke creature). In all of the dangerous missions, including foraging for wild boar, Vincent was not part of any of those sojourns.

This is very "non-dog" like behavior.

Vincent really was not that close to Walt.  Once Walt left, Shannon took it upon herself to watch over him, but she was not very good at anything. And then Shannon died. He would eventually walk away to live with Rose and Bernard, who left the group to isolate themselves from the politics, danger and mistrust of the remaining beach castaways. In that regard, Vincent was pretty smart to find a new traditional "home" setting with Rose and Bernard.

But even Bernard scolded Vincent for not being a good guard dog.

In a few fan theories, Vincent is not really Walt's dog, but the smoke monster reflection of memories of Walt's dog. It would be a classic spy inside the enemy camp. No one would suspect a dog as a supernatural creature. It would explain why Ben had so much information on each castaway (not withstanding the reference to a large communication center that Patchy used to run). Information seemed to be the premium currency on the island, as both Jacob and MIB needed it to manipulate their followers.

If the island was truly a dark place, where lost souls had to shudder at the thought that their personal demons were in the shadows, then the only light of purity was Vincent. He seemed to be above all of the fray. He never attacked, nor was he attacked. He had the most freedom of any character. When he wandered off, no one seemed to mind (except Walt). But once Walt was gone, no one seemed to take a vested role in Vincent. Perhaps, it was symbolic that the people on the island were resigned to their fate that their freedom (and going home) was lost.  Only Vincent's actions kept alive even the impression of hope.

UP IN SMOKE

Another significant feature to LOST was the island smoke monster. It took many forms, as a menacing and killing mass of darkness, to human form in Christian Shephard, a horse and Flocke.

But if the characters were in a dream state, what does smoke symbolize?

The smoke is a dream symbol for conflict-laden forces which are stronger, the closer, biting or more darkly the smoke is in the dream. It is a good sign if the smoke still resolves during the dream action or pulls. This points because to a relaxation of the dreaming or his conflict, a solution can be found. We should find out whether it concerns the grey-black smoke of a fire or the white-grey of a blazing fire. Smoke can symbolize in the dream also passion, even if it is not 'roused' maybe yet for a certain person. In addition, smoke stands at the same time for cleaning.

At the spiritual level the smoke in the dream is a symbol for the prayer or the victim which climbs to the sky. In addition, smoke can also show climbing the soul figuratively. This may be the process of cleansing the soul for its journey to the after life.

If everyone needs to be or become a smoke monster in order to clean up their sins, issues, emotional failings and burdens as a means of enlightenment and re-birth in the after life, the island could have been that proving ground. In the theme of light and dark, it is possible that the soul is split into two separate divisions, the dark side of the soul going to the island while the light side going to the sideways world. As such a person's aura gets two ways in which to see the bigger picture of life. The sideways world draws out the "goodness" in a person, while the island world draws out the bad. It is when a person true soul can come to terms with both the dark and light can it be re-awakened to continue its journey through eternity.

It would seem to be a personal redemption without a moral component. Most people have issues based upon environment, personality, disorders, relational and cultural factors that may bog down a person's achievements in their life. The separation of the darkness from the good is a means of purifying the spirit so one side does not dominate over the other. Balance, which is key in nature, is restored when the person is ready to accept themselves for whom they are.

CONSUMED BY THE LIGHT

What happened when a person came into direct contact with the light source?

The first instance we know of was Jacob's brother drifting into the main light cave, and then a raging smoke monster flew out. The question is whether a human being or soul that comes into contact with the light turns into a dark smoke monster.

It is a good question. And it would help explain a lot of mysteries.

Desmond was consumed by the light when he turned the fail safe key. He should have been killed, or better, he was killed but "reborn" by the light itself. So what would the light create? Another smoke monster.

As a result of that incident, Desmond became special or different, in both time and space.

When Jacob finished the frozen donkey wheel his brother started, we assumed he used it. Did it turn him into an ageless smoke monster? He used the FDW to leave the island to go touch his candidates to bring them to the island.

When Ben used the FDW did he also die and become a smoke monster, too? Despite all the beatings, injuries and near death experiences, Ben never died on the island time periods.

When Locke used the FDW to re-set the time skipping island, did he die in the teleportation to the desert? If so, how could he have died in the seedy hotel room if he was a smoke monster? Because Ben, another smoke monster, killed him.

So when Locke's body returned to the island with Ben, who really assumed its form? We all assume that it was MIB, the darkness created from Jacob's brother's death in the light cave. But could have been someone else?

Since we don't know what the smoke monster was, we can't say for sure how many of them inhabited the island. Some believe that there was a smoke monster judging each person on the island; that a person's subconscious itself manifests as a smoke monster. 

THE DARK

A major theme of LOST was fear. Many characters dreaded the jungle, the unknown wild, and the appearance of the smoke monster. They also feared the island's Others and the dangers they posed to their survival.

Fear of the dark is common and an almost universal fear for at least a part of our lives (usually some part of our childhood). Though it's not so much the dark that we fear, but the unknown. There is an inner sense of danger that brings it to the conscious mind. Things one cannot see can hurt you. This trait or human characteristic is from early man's development, when mankind was not the top predator in his environment. 

As humans mature, we internalize the real odds of something dangerous hiding in the dark, and that calms us in appropriate situations, but that fear can come back when we are in unfamiliar places. The reason we are all afraid of the dark at times is because that fear gave us an advantage during our evolutionary history. Since man relies upon his senses for survival, taking away one of them (sight) because of darkness would naturally lead to anxiety about what could be out there in the dark.
Ancient man quickly learned that many predators prefer the cover of darkness to hunt and over time that association strengthened into a subconscious absolute: stay out of the dark because that's where the danger is.

 

While fear of the dark can manifest itself as an acute reaction—like panicked screaming when someone suddenly turns out the lights, or as insomnia, as a recent study conducted at the University of Toronto suggests—it more commonly manifests as foreboding anxiety. The emotion of anxiety plays a specific role in our behavioral responses to stimuli just as the emotions of love, anger, and sadness do, acting to increase our ability to cope with stress and more fully exploit beneficial opportunities.

Each emotion can be thought of as a computer program designed to accomplish some specific fitness task particularly well. If the current task is courtship, romantic love is helpful. If one is being betrayed, anger is useful. If a tiger is attacking, then fearful flight and avoidance are best. If people are disapproving, then social anxiety may be appropriate. Different emotions, however, must be orchestrated, just as endocrine function must be coordinated in an endocrine orchestra. Emotional responses must fit changing adaptive challenges, with each emotion fitting a particular kind of situation.

Specifically, anxiety increases your awareness of situations that may damage your reproductive resources. Not just your vital signs, but your relationships, income, social standing, physical features; anything that makes you more attractive to the opposite sex and more likely to reproduce.
Unlike anger or sadness, which occur in direct response to a specific event, the study showed responses to environmental cues indicating a potential future loss with anxiety prior to the expected event, since that's when it is most evolutionarily beneficial. Our ancestors who best recognized and responded to these cues increased their chances of survival and reproduction compared to their more less-aware peers.

Since that response is correlated with natural selection, certain cues—such as snake- or cat-eye patterns, spider-like objects, and darkness (where the snakes, leopards, and spiders all live)—more easily invoke that emotion. This is the result of generation upon generation of early humans reacting to and subsequently preparing for dangers such as these. That's why many ancient threats—uncontrolled fire, spiders, snakes, predators, and darkness—are more easily instigate a negative response, even in small children, than modern threats like automobiles, nuclear war, or guns do.

While anxiety is deeply rooted in our psyche, it is not entirely instinctive. We also learn fear and anxiety responses from our parents. If a small child is frightened of an new or unknown object and its mother responds in a calming manner, the kid learns that the item is not a threat. If the parent responds with apprehension herself, however, the child's fears are confirmed and enhanced. This allows for offspring to rapidly learn of the dangers around themselves without actually having to be bitten by snakes, mauled by lions, or be electrocuted by a penny in the wall socket while simultaneously figuring out that everything from leaves and small rocks to thunder and scary scenes on TV aren't actual threats.

It is a system that is based on experience and transfer of knowledge, but triggers an instinctive response. This subtle gnawing emotion has been honed and refined over millennia by both nature and nurture into a vital survival response that remains as useful in the modern world as it did in the Neolithic Period of Humanity. As environmental cues have changed over time, anxiety over social interactions and property such as finding shelter and not starving to death, remains the same. Humans have the inner voice that tells us to keep safe so you can live to reproduce another day. 

The fear of the dark, and by extension the fear of the unknown, are hard wired tools to make sure humans don't ever forget the basic purpose of all human beings. Fear itself is a survival mechanism.

WHAT WE KNOW

Diagrams are useful tools to express ideas and alternatively, to try to find answers to complex problems.

One of the great mysteries of the series was the island. We know a lot about the island, but we really don't know a lot of important information about the island.

Using Jacob as the focal point, I began to draw the above diagram. We know that Jacob was the central authority on the island during the 815 era. We know that he was brought to the island by Roman shipwreck. He was kidnapped by Crazy Mother, who at the time was the central authority on the island. Jacob and his brother lived together with Crazy Mother on the island.

One thing we do know is that the island is hard to find, even with the most advanced technologies. Therefore, the island is a "closed" system. It has a special barrier that limits who can ingress or egress its boundaries.

During the family feud, Jacob's brother killed Crazy Mother, and then Jacob killed his brother (which was strictly forbidden). As a result, a smoke monster took the form of his dead brother (MIB). It appears that they were to live alone on the island forever. Jacob was given the role of island guardian, and MIB was given the role of island security dog. But if no one could find the island, their existence would have been futile. Without MIB presence, Jacob probably would have gone mad in isolation (which was probably what happened to Crazy Mother).

We know that the unique energy of the island is contained in the heart of the island, which equates to some kind of "life force." The light source was described as "life, death and rebirth." The context of this description is that the heart of the island is the heart of the universe - - - the creator of all life and the religious recycler of all death into new life.

So we know the importance of the island as it houses the power to create life, destroy life and re-create life.

To save his own sanity, Jacob decided to bring "candidates" to the island in order to a) play a game or b) experiment with human behavior to prove a point to MIB. We know that deep inside MIB's memories is the strong desire to "escape" the island (as Jacob's brother did), so MIB played along with Jacob's work. MIB's support of Jacob bringing people to the island was a mere ploy to learn how to get off the island. If MIB could not directly kill Jacob (as was the rule with his brother), then MIB would use trickery to get one of Jacob's candidates to do it. MIB frustration with the people brought to the island was clear: they would get her, settle in, then devolve into "corruption." From MIB's perspective, corruption could have been worship of Jacob and not plotting his demise. From Jacob's perspective, the people brought to the island did not get the result he secretly wanted: death and release of his responsibilities as Crazy Mother had lured Jacob into thousands of years ago. Even though they did not know it, both Jacob and MIB were looking for the same result but took their own different paths to try to achieve it. This caused a frustrating stalemate.

Since the candidates were brought to the island, they were under the sphere of influence of the heart of the island. We do not observe any intelligent behavior of the light source itself. We do not observe it changing or killing either Desmond or Jack when they went into the light cave to reboot the island. Whether Dez and Jack were marked with immortality earlier by the island is unclear, but whatever they did together did set the stage for the final time of Jacob and MIB.

The light source had to transform the candidates into one of the three categories: giving life, giving death or giving rebirth. We know that all of the candidates and their closest friends were reincarnated in the sideways church world, a place in the after life. The exact process of that reincarnation is unknown. It appears not automatic, as there were several candidates who were either trapped on the island as spirits or never made it to the sideways world.

As a machine diagram, the island looks like it takes through its barrier human souls, experiments with them in order to either remold or change their behavior, then releases them back to their lives, or kills them directly, or gives them rebirth either on or off the island.

REBOOT EPISODES 105-108

POSTING NOTE: Due to work changes, I may not be able to post updates on Tuesdays after Monday night marathon G4 reruns, but updates will occur later in the week.
LOST REBOOT 
Recap: Episodes 105-108 (Days ????- - ????)

Many writers believe that the aftermath from Juliet's “detonation” of the hydrogen bomb is revealed as the sideways world, as her last thoughts were “it worked,” however, it is clear that the bomb did not explode because Sawyer finds Juliet alive in the Hatch site implosion debris.

Sawyer decides to leave the Temple and Kate follows him, while the  Temple leader, Dogen, tests with a resurrected Sayid and finds him “infected” with the darkness that will turn him into presumably a smoke monster when it reaches “his heart” just like Claire.

Flocke takes Sawyer through the jungle to find answers. Sawyer learns of Jacob’s candidates, including himself, and that the people brought to the island were for Jacob’s purposes.

Hurley convinces Jack to follow him to find Jacob. Jin is forced to watch mad Claire
interrogate an Other, Justin, about the whereabouts of Aaron. Jin lies about where Aaron is (with the Others at the Temple) in order to save his own life.


Science:

Infection and Darkness.

An infection the process of some foreign substance (virus, bacteria, fungal) infecting or attacking the person and his immune system. It can also mean in computing the presence of a virus in, or its introduction into, a computer system, which causes corruption and damage to system files and operations.

Sepsis is a serious medical condition caused by an overwhelming immune response to infection. Chemicals released into the blood o fight infection trigger widespread inflammation.
Inflammation may result in organ damage. Blood clotting during sepsis reduces blood flow to limbs and internal organs, depriving them of nutrients and oxygen. In severe cases, one or more organs fail. In the worst cases, infection leads to a life-threatening drop in blood pressure, called septic shock. This can quickly lead to the failure of several organs --lungs, kidneys and liver -- causing death.
Darkness is defined as:
1.     the partial or total absence of light: the office was in darkness.
• night: they began to make camp before darkness fell.
the quality of being dark in color: the darkness of his jacket.

2.     wickedness or evil: the forces of darkness.
• unhappiness, distress, or gloom: moments of darkness were rare.
• secrecy or mystery: they drew a veil of darkness across the proceedings.
• lack of spiritual or intellectual enlightenment; ignorance: his accomplishments shone in a world of darkness.

It would appear from the Temple explanations, that a person killed on the island may become “infected” by a substance that would turn them into a dark being, one who would lack spirituality or intellectual enlightenment.

Improbabilities:

The “immortal” Jacob being killed by Ben, and turning up to Hurley as a ghost.

A “smoke monster” that can recreate dead people can suddenly become “mortal” as Ilana says that Flocke is “stuck” in Locke’s body after Jacob’s death.

Jacob changing into a form a small child to haunt Flocke in the jungle, reminding Flocke that he cannot kill Sawyer because that would be against the rules.


Clues:

The hydrogen bomb did not explode, because the site wreckage was an implosion. Further, Juliet’s voice is heard by Sawyer and the crew trying to rescue her. Therefore, the Incident was not the bomb going off, but the catastrophic EM release.

The Incident EM release, like the FDW, turned the time travelers back to the present, which may be what Jacob referred to when he said dying, “they’re coming.” They, meaning the 815 “candidates” are the last of his pawn pieces in the game with MIB.

The large wooden ankh symbol in the guitar case represents LIFE in ancient Egyptian mythology. It is a key or passport in the after life journey.

Dead Sayid’s reincarnation at the temple into an evil spirit and follower of MIB may show how MIB acquires his game “pieces” against Jacob.

Jacob’s death somehow imparts “mortality” into the smoke monster that is inhabiting Locke’s body; the only means of leaving the island for the smoke monster is to be in mortal, human form.

Sideways Jack cannot remember his appendectomy that his mother says happened when he was 7 or 8 years old. If one links that information to the lighthouse where Jack says he has not been at since he was a young child and the school yard fight where Jack is severely beaten up, one could make the case that Jack is really just a soul of a 7 or 8 year old child.

Flocke tells Sawyer that everyone was brought to the island by Jacob when Sawyer is shown the cave with the names and numbers. Flocke tells him that Jacob believes himself to be the guardian of the island, but “the joke” is that the island does not need protection. All Flocke wants to do is to “go home.” He asks Sawyer to join him, and he responds “hell, yes.” One can deduce that one of the “rules” is that mortal MIB cannot leave the island “alone.”

Hurley remarks that it is “old school” to trek across the jungle on a mission that they do not understand. It may be a reference to an old school yard game, “follow the leader.” In that children’s game, one person is assigned  the role of leader and the rest are followers.  The leader starts to doing something. He can walk, run, dance, sing, talk or do any activity or combination of activities he wants to do, in any order he wants.

The rest of the players must follow the leader, doing whatever the leader does exactly the way she does it. Anyone who doesn't follow exactly is out of the game.The game ends when only person is left following the leader. That person then becomes the leader of the next game.

There are variations of the follow the leader game. In the relay version, a leader from chosen among the group. The rest of the group breaks into two teams and have each form a single-file line. The leader is sent to the other end of the room or playing field. He instructs the two teams that they are to follow the commands of the leader such as hop, run or skip. The first person in the each line follows the directions of the leader until they reach the leader. Once they reach the leader, they turn around and head back to their team while following the leader's instructions. The first team to have all the members complete the relay wins.

In the Blind Fold version, a simple obstacle course is created for the children to go through using pillows and other soft objects you have around the house. You can also play this outside with your children's toys as the obstacles. Blindfold each child and assign a leader to each kid. Have the leader (the person without the blindfold) guide the blindfolded child through the obstacle course. This game will challenge the children who are blindfolded to trust the leader and learn to listen more than see.

The versions of follow the leader are incorporated into the LOST Jacob and MIB dynamic: they are leaders who tell followers what to do, either directly like telling Hurley in a cab to get back to the island or showing Jack in the lighthouse that he has been spied on since he was a child in order to get him to act on Jacob’s behalf. It also appears that once MIB as Flocke “becomes the leader,” he is somehow fixed in a mortal form, even though he can still change into the smoke monster and attack people like Bram in the statue (which is a major inconsistency in MIB’s eventual demise).



Discussion:

“ The power of man is his present means to obtain some future apparent good. ”
— Thomas Hobbes

“ Travel makes a wise man better but a fool worse. ”
— Benjamin Franklin

“ The past cannot be changed, the future is still in your power. ”
— Hugh White

During the show’s initial run, I took a great deal of time attempting to translate the hieroglyphs in order to glean some premise and meaning in plain sight:

My translation of he glyphs on the pillars that face the spring in the Temple appears to form prayers like passages of a ceremony from a Book of the Dead:

1. In the name of Horus, alas spirit enter. Horus, sacred god father's duties.

2. Horus, enter father's gardens.

3. Stand for father's long past ideas of health (rebirth).

4. Lord father, patron of the Dead, heal for eternities.

5. Lord father.

6. Island Heaven (sacred/magical sign symbol).

7. Enter Horus (Ra).

8. Heaven conspire against evil fires. 

9. Stand Ra. (sacred/magical sign symbol).

My translations of the hieroglyphs in the temple hallway as Hurley searched for the secret passageway:

The first one on his left:
SON WHO MAKES OFFERS (TO) GOD HORUS
The first one on his right:
YOU SAID TO THE MAN: ETERNITY.
The second one on the left:
OSIRIS' YOUTH (SON) HORUS CONTROLS BIRTHS.
The third one on the left, where Hurley stopped and was ready to touch:
The symbol of a coiled rope means ETERNITY and PROTECTION.

In the Lighthouse, the hieroglyphs were hard to read but this my best translation:

I approach the Devine Spirit, Lady Nephthys.

Support the King.

Fetch your Father's (Geb) Support.

Give and justify that which binds the Two Lands after binding the dangerous under ruler scourge.

Destroy Hell's entrails (on the) Island, our Garden.

Nephthys is the patron of the dead, funerals and protector of the house. She is the sister of Osiris and wife of Seth. She helped put together Osiris after Seth's murdered him. She is often depicted on a boat riding with the dead toward the Blessed Land.

Her father, Geb, is the God of the Earth, and a member of the Ennead, the council of the founding gods.

What is the importance of all these translations? Because the show’s creators continually used them in various scenes and important moments of the characters, symbols to help explain (we hope) the action going on in the foreground (such as Ben’s judgment in the Temple wall, meeting the smoke monster, and then Dead Alex).

Clearly, the sets of the final run of LOST invoke and scream ancient Egyptian mythology and belief systems. Such ancient rituals are a mystery to modern Americans, but in many respects are the starting points for most modern religious philosophies.

In the Egyptian pantheon of the living and the dead, there are many characters who serve various purposes; gods who would help the living, and gods who would punish the dead. At some time in the island’s own time line, people brought to the island were deeply moved to build a large temple complex, a huge Tawaret statue and an ancient lighthouse to serve their god(s), which apparently consist of Jacob (as Anubis) and MIB (the smoke monster, as depicted in the mural).

But in this series arc, we see that in the forefront of the Egyptian mythology and magic of the underworld, we have a “contest” between Jacob and his brother. The end for MIB (Flocke) is clear: he wants to leave the island and “go home.” But what is home to a disembodied spirit? Heaven? Hell? Nothingness? So what game are the brothers playing? There are two choices: backgammon or its forerunner, Senet (which we will see them play in later episodes).

A lesson on backgammon (wikipedia):

Backgammon playing pieces are known variously as checkers, draughts, counters,  stones, men, pawns, discs, or chips.

The objective is to remove (bear off) all of one's own checkers from the board before one's opponent can do the same. The checkers are scattered at first and may be blocked or hit by the opponent. As the playing time for each individual game is short, it is often played in matches, where victory is awarded to the first player to reach a certain number of points.

Each side of the board has a track of 12 long triangles, called points. The points are considered to be connected across one edge of the board, forming a continuous track in the shape of a horseshoe, and are numbered from 1 to 24. Players begin with two checkers on their 24-point, three checkers on their 8-point, and five checkers each on their 13-point and their 6-point. The two players move their checkers in opposing directions, from the 24-point towards the 1-point.

Points 1 through 6 are called the home board or inner board, and points 7 through 12 are called the outer board. The 7-point is referred to as the bar point, and the 13-point as the midpoint.

To start the game, each player rolls one die, and the player with the higher number moves first using both the numbers shown. If the players roll the same number, they must roll again as the first move can not be a doublet. Both dice must land completely flat on the right hand side of the game board. The players then alternate turns, rolling two dice at the beginning of each turn.

After rolling the dice players must, if possible, move their checkers according to the number of pips shown on each die. For example, if the player rolls a 6 and a 3 (notated as "6-3"), that player must move one checker six points forward, and another or the same checker three points forward. The same checker may be moved twice as long as the two moves are distinct: six and then three, or three and then six. If a player rolls two of the same number, called doubles, that player must play each die twice. For example, upon rolling a 5-5 that player may move up to four separate checkers forward five spaces each. For any roll, if a player can move both dice, that player is compelled to do so. If players cannot move either die in a roll, given the position of their checkers, then that turn is over and the turn passes to the opponent. If either one die or the other but not both can be moved, the higher must be used. When removing checkers from the board ("bearing off"), the exact roll must be used unless a die is greater than any checker can use to bear off; in that case the die is played by taking a checker from the highest-numbered point off the board. If one die is unable to be moved, but such a move is made possible by the moving of the other die, that move is compulsory.

In the course of a move, a checker may land on any point that is unoccupied or is occupied only by a player's own checkers. It may also land on a point occupied by exactly one opposing checker, or "blot". In this case, the blot has been hit, and is placed in the middle of the board on the bar that divides the two sides of the playing surface. A checker may never land on a point occupied by two or more opposing checkers; thus, no point is ever occupied by checkers from both players simultaneously.

Checkers placed on the bar re-enter the game through the opponent's home board. A roll of 2 allows the checker to enter on the 23-point, a roll of 3 on the 22-point, and so forth. A player may not move any other checkers until all checkers on the bar belonging to that player have re-entered the game.
When all of a player's checkers are in that player's home board, that player may start removing them; this is called bearing off. A roll of 1 may be used to bear off a checker from the 1-point, a 2 from the 2-point, and so on. A die may not be used to bear off checkers from a lower-numbered point unless there are no checkers on any higher points.

 For example if a player rolls a 6 and a 5, but has no checkers on the 6-point, though 2 checkers remain on the 5-point, then the 6 and the 5 must be used to bear off the 2 checkers from the 5-point. When bearing off, a player may also move a lower die roll before the higher even if that means 'the full value of the higher die' is not fully utilized. For example, if a player has exactly 1 checker remaining on the 6-point, and rolls a 6 and a 1, the player may move the 6-point checker 1 place to the 5-point with the lower die roll of 1, and then bear that checker off the 5-point using the die roll of 6; this is sometimes useful tactically.

If one player has not borne off any checkers by the time that player's opponent has borne off all fifteen, then the player has lost a gammon, which counts for double a normal loss. If the losing player has not borne off any checkers and still has checkers on the bar or in the opponent's home board, then the player has lost a backgammon, which counts for triple a normal loss.

To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used. The doubling cube is not a die to be rolled but rather a marker, in the form of a cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 inscribed on its sides, denoting the current stake. At the start of each game, the doubling cube is placed on the bar with the number 64 showing; the cube is then said to be "centered, on 1". When the cube is centered, the player about to roll may propose that the game be played for twice the current stakes. His opponent must either accept ("take") the doubled stakes or resign ("drop") the game immediately. If the opponent takes, the cube, now showing the doubled stake, is moved to the opponent's side of the board. This is done to indicate that the right to re-double belongs exclusively to the player who last accepted a double. Whenever a player accepts doubled stakes, the cube is placed on his side of the board with the corresponding power of two facing upward. If the opponent drops the doubled stakes, he loses the game at the current value of the doubling cube. For instance, if the cube showed the number 2 and a player wanted to redouble the stakes to put it at 4, the opponent choosing to drop the redouble would lose two, or twice the original stake.

The game is rarely redoubled beyond four times the original stake, but there is no limit on the number of redoubles. Although 64 is the highest number depicted on the doubling cube, the stakes may rise to 128, 256, and so on. In money games, a player is often permitted to "beaver" when offered the cube, doubling the value of the game again, while retaining possession of the cube.

A variant of the doubling cube "beaver" is the "raccoon." Players who doubled their opponent, seeing the opponent beaver the cube, may in turn then double the stakes once again ("raccoon") as part of that cube phase before any dice are rolled. The opponent retains the doubling cube. E.g. White doubles Black to 2 points, Black accepts then beavers the cube to 4 points; White, confident of a win, raccoons the cube to 8 points, whilst Black retains the cube. Such a move adds greatly to the risk of having to face the doubling cube coming back at 8 times its original value when first doubling the opponent (offered at 2 points, counter offered at 16 points) should the luck of the dice change.
Some players may opt to invoke The Murphy rule or the "automatic double rule." If both opponents roll the same opening number, the doubling cube is incremented on each occasion yet remains in the middle of the board, available to either player. The Murphy rule may be invoked with a maximum number of automatic doubles allowed and that limit is agreed to prior to a game or match commencing. When a player decides to double the opponent, the value is then a double of whatever face value is shown (e.g. if two automatic doubles have occurred putting the cube up to 4, the first in-game double will be for 8 points). The Murphy rule is not an official rule in backgammon and is rarely, if ever, seen in use at officially sanctioned tournaments.

The Jacoby rule, named after Oswald Jacoby, allows gammons and backgammons to count for their respective double and triple values only if the cube has already been offered and accepted. This encourages a player with a large lead to double, possibly ending the game, rather than to play it to conclusion hoping for a gammon or backgammon. The Jacoby rule is widely used in money play but is not used in match play.

An ancient version of backgammon board game in Egypt was called SENET.

Senet is one of the oldest known board games in the world. It has been found in burial sites of Egypt around 3500 BC. It was one of the most popular games of Egypt. Senet  had become a kind of talisman for the journey of the dead. Because of the element of luck in the game and the Egyptian belief in determinism, it was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the major gods of the national pantheon: Ra, Thoth and Osiris. Consequently, Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the afterlife and the game is referred to in Chapter XVII of the Book of the Dead.

The Senet gameboard is a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten. A Senet board has two sets of pawns (at least five of each and, in some sets, more, as well as shorter games with fewer). The actual rules of the game are a topic of some debate, although historians have made educated guesses. Senet historians Timothy Kendall and R.C. Bell have each proposed their own sets of rules to play the game. These rules have been adopted by different companies which make Senet sets for sale today.
Senet is an Egyptian race game and may be the ancestor of our modern backgammon. We know of this game through ancient Egyption boards that have survived to this day. More than 40 have been discovered, some in very good condition with pawns, sticks or knucklebones still intact. The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Hesy (Third Dynasty circa 2686-2613 BCE).

The game board is composed of 30 squares: 3 rows of 10 squares each. If we number each square, the board can be represented like this:

 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

The path of the pawns probably followed a reversed S across the board.

Squares 26 to 30 have symbols on them. We will represent them in order by X, O, III, II and I. It seems that the square with an X, carrying the sign nfr, was beneficial, whereas the one with an O, associated with water, had a negative meaning. Square 15, also called the "square of Rebirth," might have been the starting square.

Other elements found with the game boards were pawns. The Hesy painting shows a game with seven pawns for each player. Then, some time after 1600 - 1500 BCE, the players were represented with seven or five pawns. Some games have even been found with ten pawns per player.

The movement of pawns was probably decided by the throw of four, two-sided sticks (as depicted in the Hesy painting) or, later, knucklebones might have been used to determine the moves.

What was the function of Senet? A game or something more? In his book, Lhôte notices that the first pictures show two human players whereas later the human player is depicted alone with an invisible opponent. It appears that Senet began as a simple game and later acquired a symbolic, ritual function.
Of course, the original rules of Senet are not known. No record of the rules on papyrus or tomb wall has ever been discovered. It is very difficult to reconstruct the game through the pieces and the tomb images.

A summary of Timothy Kendall's work on the reconstruction of the rules of Senet :

At the beginning of the game the seven pawns per player alternate along the 14 first squares. The starting square is counted as the 15th. In the oldest games this square featured an ankh, a "life" symbol. The pawns move according to the throw of four sticks or, later, one or two knucklebones. When using the sticks the points seemed to have been counted from 1 to 5: 1 point for each side without a mark and 5 points if the four marked sides were present together.

        When a pawn reached a square already occupied by an opponent pawn, they have to exchange their positions.

        The special squares have the following effects on play:

    15 : House of Rebirth, starting square and the return square for the pawns reaching square number 27.
    26 : House of Happiness, a mandatory square for all the pawns.
    27: House of Water, a square that can be reached by the pawns located on squares 28 to 30 which moved back when their throws did not allow them to exit the board. They have to restart from square 15.
    28 : House of the Three Truths, a pawn may only leave when a 3 is thrown.
    29 : House of the Re-Atoum, a pawn may only leave when a 2 is thrown.

        The winner is the first to move all of their pawns off the board.

Another version of the rules was proposed by RC Bell.

Each player has 10 pawns. Four two-sided sticks (one side painted) are thrown to determine movement.

When only one painted side is visible : 1 point.
With two : 2 points.
With three : 3 points.
With four : 4 points.
With none : 5 points.

        At the beginning of the game there are no pawns on the board.

        Each player in turn throws the sticks, and puts his pawns on the board on the squares with the symbols I, II, III, X, O according to the number of points thrown. Only one pawn may be present on each square. So if a pawn is already present the turn is lost.

        A player may either move one pawn or add a new pawn to the board, if possible, with each throw. The pawns located on the marked squares are in shelters.

        Pawns may not be stacked. When a pawn arrives on a square already occupied by an opponent pawn, the opponent is removed and must restart from the beginning. This rule does not apply for the marked squares which are shelters.

        The first pawn to reach square number 1 earns a bonus of five points and it fixes the goal of the game: that player's other pawns have to reach odd squares whereas the opponent must reach the even squares. The game ends when the pawns of the two players are alternately placed on the first and second rows.

        When a pawn has reached its last square, it cannot be attacked.
        The first player to have put all his pawns on his own squares wins the game and earns 10 points. He also gets one point for each move his opponent makes while placing all of his remaining pawns.

Senet is played in a LOST the episode in Season Six called “Across the Sea.”  It depicts the origins of the characters of  Jacob and his brother, MIB, and how they came to be on the island. It also reveals the identities of the corpses discovered in the cave in "House of the Rising Sun".

The backgammon game, referenced by Locke to Walt early in the show, as a struggle between black and white is reference to Jacob and MIB. And the roll of the dice (in some gambling parlance “bones”) moves men around the board. The basic doubling numbers include the Numbers 4, 8, 16, which correspond to Locke, Reyes and Sayid.

Other candidate numbers for the doubling cube (with names lined through meaning dead or taken out of the game):

2 - Lacombe, probably from Rousseau’s expedition
32- Rutherford, probably Shannon
64- Goldstein, unknown
128- Paddock, unknown
256- unknown

The other unlined or “live” game pieces are Reyes (8) Sawyer (15), Sayid (16), Jack (23), Jin (42), Kate (51). Sayid is infected and should be crossed off like Claire (313). Kate was crossed off by Jacob because “she was a mother” caring for Aaron, but on her return she could have been reinstated - - - possibly unknown to MIB who does not think she can kill him anymore - - - which is a fatal assumption (Jacob’s loophole, perhaps).

It could be as simple as the entire island game is merely a game of senet in the Underworld against Osiris's evil brother, Seth! If you win, your ba-spirit will attain immortality, as well as the ability to "go forth by day" and to take on any shape you desire. If you lose, your spirit will be swallowed up by Ammit, the Devourer-of-the-Dead. The 815 survivors and any other person brought to the island are the “game pieces” for this contest. Jacob and MIB must "claim" or "recruit" the people as their game pieces, and in a twist, must have the other brother kill off, or take off the island (board) the other person's people in order to win the contest. Example, infected Sayid (MIB's piece) will come to kill Dogen (a Jacob piece).


However, there is a twist to this gamesmanship. There may be another set of players than the basic brothers.

The "game" may be more complex if the goal is control of the island itself. It does seem at this junction, Jacob and MIB each have 5 living pawns, just like in a real game of Senet. However, it appears that each piece must square off against another one, to take out like in chess or checkers. Claire told Jin that if Kate took Aaron, she would kill her. Sayid will tangle with Dogen. Sawyer once sought revenge against Jack for Juliet's death. So each chip aligns with another one as the final clash is about to begin.  The wild card is Eloise. She is the outside variable, pulling the strings on Widmore and his men; she "recruited" Desmond to go to the island to stay there forever (so as not to awaken in the sideways dream world).

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

The Lighthouse where the names on the mirror gear magically opens a window into the lives of a person.

The Temple’s magic “healing” spring that first kills, then brings Sayid back to life.


Last lines in episodes:

EP 105:

SAYID: What happened?

EP 106:

JIN: Claire?

EP 107:

SAWYER: Hell yes.

EP 108:
CLAIRE: That's not John. This is my friend.

[Malevolent smile from Locke. Claire smiles at Jin.]


New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

Point One:

In a pseudo-scientific explanation of the Dogen analysis could follow the pattern of a supernatural staph infection:

Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected. Healthy people can be colonized and have no ill effects. However, they can pass the germ to others.

>>>> This is what could have happened to the 815ers. Once they were "brought" to the Island, they have been in contact with the Island bacteria and "colonized."

Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people.

>>>> More proof that you are safe unless you have an open portal for the Island bacteria to invade a body. Prime example: Sayid's gunshot wound in the belly.

A weakened individual can have the bacteria grow into a serious infection. The bacteria could be immune from antibiotics as over time the germs find a resistance to the drugs. Also, germ mutations can form making current antibiotics ineffective.

Using this foundational knowledge, we can transfer it to a sci-fi plane of existence:
Smokey can have the pattern of a mutant Island bacteria colony. It can infect human bodies when they are in a weakened state, such as just before death. Example, during the freighter fire-fight, Claire's cabin was blown up, and she came back to life in a groggy state (just like Sayid at the Temple). Dogen claims that Claire is like Sayid, infected by the darkness that will spread to their heart, obliterating that person as you would know them (like Flocke). Whether this Smokey bacteria can be a parasite and use dead bodies like Christian as a reanimated host is unclear. There may be two different minute cellular organisms at work.

The bacteria can only take hold with a weakened individual. In an Island sense, that may mean an individual whose mental or moral state has been weakened to a state of collapse and abandonment of hope. Sayid's conversation to Hurley at the van was a good example: Sayid was resigned to his fate because knew his time was up, and he knew he was going to hell ("an unpleasant place"). But little did he know, he would have a second chance on the Island to become a different kind of monster.
I think that since the Island is a spiritual place, elements such as free will and faith have more power than in a material world. A person who is in a weakened spiritual state would be in greater danger of being infected by then consumed by the dark side.

It would show that Jacob and MIB have a parasitic relationship with any humans or human souls brought to the island. Whether these souls bring life force, nourishment or entertainment is unclear.


Point Two:

Is Lost merely a game of revenge?

MIB, Jacob’s dead brother, was trapped by the island’s Life Force to continue to live on as smoke monster after Jacob violated “his mother’s rule” by killing his brother for killing Crazy Mother.

For some, both Jacob and his brother died when their Roman ship wrecked on the island. But, if their spirits (conscious) separated and were reincarnated by the powers of the Crazy Mother, then they would be living on the island as isolated children.

So to pass the time as an immortal being trapped on the island, MIB plots for a way to kill his brother. His brother, bored by the isolation of the guardianship of the Life Force, “brings” people to the island to play a game of chess-checkers-Senet with MIB. MIB complains that the game always ends the same: the people come, become corrupt and die (lose).

The goal of MIB is simple: his spirit wants to leave the island “and go home.” That may be a symbolic metaphor for leaving the island and move on in the after life. But so long as Jacob is alive, MIB is trapped with him on the island because Jacob will not leave because he made a promise to Crazy Mother to protect the island. That is why MIB deeply wants to kill Jacob; it is the only means for him to finish dying and to go home.

Throughout the centuries, MIB cannot kill Jacob himself. He needs a proxy, a substitute, a patsy, to do the actual deed. He finds an emotionally fragile and defeated Ben to do his dirty work. Ben knifes Jacob, and then MIB burns the body so he cannot come back to life (reincarnated by the life force). Now, MIB believes he is free to leave the island by
manipulating the remaining humans into getting the Ajira jet to take off.

It seems like a Rube Goldberg story line to get MIB in the position that he can leave the island by a round-about way of getting Locke to kill himself, have his body return to the island so he can reincarnate it, to have Ben believe dead Alex and do everything that Flocke tells him, to recruit crazed 815ers like Claire and Sayid to do his bidding and wage war against themselves, all to gain some form of mortality to leave his island prison.

How can a smoke monster, a shape shifter, turn mortal? That is not explained.
How can Jacob, an immortal being, be killed? That is not fully explained.
For if Jacob broke the “rule” in killing MIB in the first place, MIB is not his “brother” per se so why didn’t the smoke monster kill Jacob on the beach?
If Jacob is immortal, then why would he want or need candidates to replace himself?

Jacob death = mortality/human form for MIB
Locke death and return = vessel for MIB to take a human form
Jacob is only person who can “bring” people to the island.
Flocke instructs Alpert to tell time travel Locke to die to bring back 815ers.


Jacob & MIB “born” on island.
Jacob & MIB raised by Crazy Mother on island; her rules.
MIB decides to leave island and CM objects and kills survivors.
MIB gets mad and kills CM.
Jacob gets mad and kills MIB, throwing his body into the light cave to create smoke monster.
Jacob and MIB have a truce and reinstate rules about killing each other.
However, they devise a game of revenge to kill each off by using substitutes.
Jacob can bring people to the island for MIB to judge or recruit to try to kill Jacob.
Jacob counters by turning the Others into a cult like worship group.
MIB can take human souls and reincarnate dead bodies as vessels.
If MIB gets someone to “kill” Jacob, MIB “wins” mortality and an opportunity to leave its island prison.
If MIB gets mortality, Jacob’s substitute(s) can “kill” MIB forever.

But does that leave Jacob as ghost on the island?
Or if MIB mortally dies, their spirits both “let go” of the island and move on together? How?

If the plane crash caused death, but the dead's consciousness may live on (like in near death experience). A human conscious may be independent; it has no element of time or space - - - it takes personality, memory and emotions and goes to some unknown place (an island re-creation world) to play out the lost human life experiences until they awaken or they eventually die.

So the 815 survivors are actually in a sideways world #1, which upon their actual deaths
creates sideways world #2, a purgatory holding area, until the spirits in SW#1 “awaken” and “let go.”

Jacob and his brother may have been going through this same complex sideways world “life” until they found a way to kill off their faux lives. It brings into doubt whether the 815 survivors, Dharma or the Others are actual people, but spiritual recreations of the living consciousness of dead or dying people.

Whether the island rounds up the collective conscious of dead human souls to appease the island gods is unknown, but when the Lost game ends, there are still pieces are left on the board at the end of the game.

Why? Is it like chess, where once the king is captured or destroyed, the game ends?
Or in backgammon, when you take all your pieces off the board, you win?

If consciousness is an independent entity from the brain and human biologic life,
some consider it a “portal” to another dimension (after life, spirit world, etc.) So why do some consciousness leave forever, while other consciousness is trapped as a whisper on the island (Michael, others)?

Rose and Bernard apparently never leave the island. And what about Cindy and the children, Emma and Zach? In the End, the Others are in chaos, leaderless and torn a part by the smoke monster’s wrath. Do they go on in a feral existence for all time? And Hurley “shutting down” the island with Ben makes no sense either because the island itself is greater than one human being. How can Hurley change the life force and EM power of the island and take it away from Widmore, who also was left behind on the island?

The pure game explanation is “the” ending for the series, but who won? Jacob and MIB are gone.They do not appear in the sideways world.  The survivors whom Frank pilots out are returning to what? Nothing. Flocke told Sawyer that John Locke was the only person to “get it,” that all of the characters had nothing but miserable petty lives back home, which is not the sideways world because that is a soul fantasy world according to Christian.

And then, people who are aware of their own demise in the sideways world (Eloise, and later Ben) are allowed to stay in that fantasy purgatory and not forced to move on. That seems odd, that one can control their own spiritual progression.

Point Three:

The question becomes whether Jacob and MIB are actually two souls in their own sideways world, being trapped on the island because they died in their mother’s womb during her shipwreck. They need to somehow move on together, but for some reason Jacob is too scared to leave with MIB. So a complex game is devised in order for MIB to at least have a chance to go home, to rest in the after life.

In the same token, it is possible that the 815 characters sideways world is not the first fantasy soul land. The island may be sideways world number one and the sideways world being number two. As stated in earlier posts, it is possible that every major character on the island has a back story of being killed when they were a young child, and as such, their souls may have been given a chance to “experience” a life in the island realm. That may explain why Christian tells Jack in the church that these people present were the most important people in his life, a “life” which technically lasted less than four years in island linear time. So one conclusion could be that the island is a “life force nursery” for dead children’s souls.

the Lighthouse is a portal to find children; a spyglass to "touch" or claim children's souls by Jacob. He is told of manipulating all events in a person's life in order to get them to the island, seemingly by free choice. So every weird coincidence to get everyone on Flight 815 was done by Jacob's hand? So all the playing pieces are Jacob's at the beginning; only to be "corrupted" by MIB and killed off.

It is more probable that the island visitors are young dead children given a chance to "experience" a life. Sideways Jack does not remember his appendectomy at age 7 or 8; on the island, he has one. Which is real? If the Lighthouse is fixated on his house where he lived at age 7 or 8, is that when Jack died as a result of a school yard beating? That the island time and backstories are merely sideways world view number one and the Season 6 sideways world is after life realm number two.

If the island was created by the imagination of two still born children (Jacob and MIB) infused by the island (in the form of Crazy Mother) and its "life force" power (which must include the ability to give life and to take it away), who learn about their lost humanity by bringing other dead souls to their "play ground," that could be a simple explanation of the entire series.