The New York Post reports:
If you’ve ever tried out a virtual reality headset, you will understand the disarming sensation of pulling the headset from your eyes once it’s game over.
It’s incredibly easy to trick your mind into feeling sensations like fear, panic or even total calm and now — according to scientists in London — dreaming.
Scientists are beavering away at methods that can coax the brain into changing its perception of what’s real.
A group of scientists in London are putting volunteers into a dream state even though they are awake.
Carl Smith, director of the Learning Technology Research Center (LTRC) in London that they have been successful in the process, called “context engineering.”
They can do this using a method called binaural beats, where a tone of a particular frequency is played into one ear and a different tone of another frequency is played into the other.
The brain tries to regulate the sound and creates a third tone that balances the two by creating an equal frequency.
Focusing on this third tone, a method called “delta entrainment,” allows people to drop into a dream state – without going to sleep.
Smith said:”When people want to go into a dream state they can do a 15-minute delta entrainment so their brain actually goes into the delta state, a sleep state, even though they’re not sleeping – and that’s just through listening to binaural sounds.”
It’s not just for inducing different levels of consciousness, these methods can help us regulate sleep patterns, calm us down and help us focus, they claim.
There are a variety of exercises you can perform to train your brain into focusing on senses we typically ignore.
This includes concentrating on your peripheral vision to gain a sense of calm, something athletes are adopting to focus their mind.
It’s part of a subculture called biohacking, which has gained notoriety among amateur scientists.
The implications of this new process engineering the mind are intense. Tricking your mind to feel intense emotions such as fear and panic could be weaponized against an enemy. A soldier in a panic attack state is not concentrating on his training. He is vulnerable. A weak link.
The use of sound, a tone to stimulate delta sleep patterns, to force a waking person to go into a dream state seems like a plausible Dharma experiment. Viewers often questioned why the main characters were oblivious to their surroundings, the lack of questions to get answers, and a general malaise from the beach campers.
When Faraday remarked that the light on the island was "different," he was seeing it as being diffused or interrupted in its normal pattern. Like light, sound is also a wave form. It is possible that the island light refraction was a byproduct of tonal "context engineering" of the island inhabitants. In the last season, there was a strong hint that the characters had to "awaken" in order to be saved. Saved from what? An island experiment into mind control? The re-training of one's human brain to change into an altered state of consciousness to pass on to another dimension (as the ancient Egyptians believed in their burial texts)?
You can put all the characters missteps, misinformation, misguided missions and missed opportunities on the fact that they were sleepwalking through the series. Literally. Sleep deprivation by putting their minds into delta wave patterns mimicking sleep when they were not at rest. You could then "suggest" patterns of behavior like programming a computer to run simulations. For example, when Hurley's imaginary friend came to him in the island and convinced him it was all a dream - - - in his head - - - and the only way to "wake up" was to jump off a cliff, Hurley was going to do it until Libby showed up out of nowhere. And to keep Hurley grounded, Libby then became his unlikely girlfriend. This dramatic shift in Hurley's thought processes could be an example of how he was programmed to change course. And to keep him on the right path, Libby was constructed to give him a new purpose.
Is there a state of consciousness between being awake and being asleep? Does daydreaming create the bridge between those mental states. And can one scramble their defined positions to change a person's personality, thoughts, morals, goals and fears?
LOST was a series of manipulations. Powerful personalities were always looking to manipulate behavior in others. Some did it by intelligence. Some did it by force. Some did it by instilling fear. But the manipulation was to create order, obedience and leadership.
If these manipulations were a series of experimental biohacks, that puts the series in a new light. None of the characters were dead or truly alive. You could think you were immortal (like Jacob and Patchy) if those images were planted in your mind. They were lab rats in an open experiment.
But what was the end game of the experiment? If it was to get the characters to merge their collective thoughts to find the same finish line in the church, then they succeeded in that task. But what was the church? Was it the afterlife or was it merely the end of an elaborate video game? And the idea of the characters walking out into the bright white light (the symbolism of out-of-body death experience) could be the means of bulk erasing their memories by the scientists conducting the experiment.
Or it could have been a crazy military experiment to try to "expand" the territory of mankind by trying to find a way to "jump" into parallel universes or alternative realities (such as heaven after one dies and their spirit is released). One could have a great military advantage is one could control another world embedded in the present reality. People like Widmore saw the power in controlling the island (and its mind altering possibilities).
This news story sheds some more credence on a biohack premise to the show. The character(s) may have been mere test subjects outside the realm of Earth's physics and cultural common sense.
Showing posts with label experiments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experiments. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
BRAIN HACK
With so many unanswered questions about LOST, time have given latent fans more science information to construct new theories about the show.
A new study published in eLife journal states that scientists have developed a way to remotely control your brain. By controlling the brain, scientists can send messages to your muscles that the person does not authorize.
The experiment was done on a small scale but it has big implications. Scientists stated that they were even able to prompt their test subject to run, freeze in place, or even completely lose control over their limbs.
The effort, led by physics professor Arnd Pralle, PhD, of the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, focused on a technique called “magneto-thermal stimulation.” It’s not exactly a simple process — it requires the implantation of specially built DNA strands and nanoparticles which attach to specific neurons — but once the minimally invasive procedure is over, the brain can be remotely controlled via an alternating magnetic field. When those magnetic inputs are applied, the particles heat up, causing the neurons to fire.
The study included experiments where were performed on mice. Using the new technique, the researchers were able to control the movement of the animals, causing them to freeze, lock up their limbs, turn around, or even run.
Despite only being tested on mice, the research could have far-reaching implications in the realm of brain research. This research could very well be an important step towards that future for neurological treatments and re-stabilization of movement for paraplegics.
It is interesting to note that the methods used in this research mimic some of the plot points in LOST. Dharma used human experimentation as a means of control. Surgical implants and mind control rooms were shown to have been used by Ben to control the Others and the 815 survivors. The idea of electromagnetic research to alter brain activity was a theme in series.
By piecing these elements together, one could forge a theory about the island's role in the characters development. If one can control a person's movements through DNA infusions (remember the virus plot line with Clarie?) with EM transmissions (which was the Swan station control center), the next level of experimentation would be using this system to manipulate mental processes as well as physical actions.
For example, the mad Russian Mikal happened to throw himself in the path of bullets and explosions at the whim of Ben. Perhaps, it was involuntary. Ben could have been controlling him through EM/DNA. Over time, he had to submit his free will to serve his master.
The theme of free will and character choices were strong in the show. But certain power brokers like Ben and Widmore used mental manipulation to control people. But a scientific way to control people would be more efficient. Hacking a person's brain to manipulate their will and values would have been a powerful tool that anyone seeking power would want to possess.
A new study published in eLife journal states that scientists have developed a way to remotely control your brain. By controlling the brain, scientists can send messages to your muscles that the person does not authorize.
The experiment was done on a small scale but it has big implications. Scientists stated that they were even able to prompt their test subject to run, freeze in place, or even completely lose control over their limbs.
The effort, led by physics professor Arnd Pralle, PhD, of the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, focused on a technique called “magneto-thermal stimulation.” It’s not exactly a simple process — it requires the implantation of specially built DNA strands and nanoparticles which attach to specific neurons — but once the minimally invasive procedure is over, the brain can be remotely controlled via an alternating magnetic field. When those magnetic inputs are applied, the particles heat up, causing the neurons to fire.
The study included experiments where were performed on mice. Using the new technique, the researchers were able to control the movement of the animals, causing them to freeze, lock up their limbs, turn around, or even run.
Despite only being tested on mice, the research could have far-reaching implications in the realm of brain research. This research could very well be an important step towards that future for neurological treatments and re-stabilization of movement for paraplegics.
It is interesting to note that the methods used in this research mimic some of the plot points in LOST. Dharma used human experimentation as a means of control. Surgical implants and mind control rooms were shown to have been used by Ben to control the Others and the 815 survivors. The idea of electromagnetic research to alter brain activity was a theme in series.
By piecing these elements together, one could forge a theory about the island's role in the characters development. If one can control a person's movements through DNA infusions (remember the virus plot line with Clarie?) with EM transmissions (which was the Swan station control center), the next level of experimentation would be using this system to manipulate mental processes as well as physical actions.
For example, the mad Russian Mikal happened to throw himself in the path of bullets and explosions at the whim of Ben. Perhaps, it was involuntary. Ben could have been controlling him through EM/DNA. Over time, he had to submit his free will to serve his master.
The theme of free will and character choices were strong in the show. But certain power brokers like Ben and Widmore used mental manipulation to control people. But a scientific way to control people would be more efficient. Hacking a person's brain to manipulate their will and values would have been a powerful tool that anyone seeking power would want to possess.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
BRAIN HACK
Gizmondo reports that rapid developments in brain-machine interfacing and neuroprosthetics
are revolutionizing the way we treat paralyzed people, but the same
technologies could eventually be put to more generalized use—a
development that will turn many of us into veritable cyborgs. Before we
get to that point, however, we’ll need to make sure these neural devices
are safe, secure, and as hacker-proof as possible.
Researchers from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva Switzerland have published a new Policy Forum paper to raise awareness of this new breed of neurotechnologies, and the various ways they can be abused. Importantly, the researchers come up with some ways to mitigate potential problems before they arise.
No doubt, work in neurotech is proceeding apace. Researchers are developing brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that are enabling quadriplegics to move prosthetic limbs by using their own thoughts to patients who cannot communicate normally to spell out messages from mental impulses. With each passing breakthrough, we’re learning a little bit more about the brain and how it works. Most importantly, these tools are giving agency and independence back to amputees and paralyzed individuals.
Ghost in the Shell is a anime that broke new science fiction ground by imagining a world where human beings routinely implanted cybernetic modules to enhance their physical limitations. An individual with a cyberbrain could connect to the world wide web easier than logging in your social media site.
Just as Star Trek spawned many 21st Century inventions (including the iPad and smart phone hand held communication devices), the concept of technology upgrades to human beings is driving medical research and development.
There were numerous theories about what LOST was about. A few believed that the entire program was a fantasy inside the head of an individual(s), whether it be a coma patient, a dying patient, a mentally ill person or a computer simulation (like Avatar immersion.)
If one can access the human brain (which still is the most complex organic "computer" known to man), then in theory it is possible to hack it. We hack the brain all the time. When we use simple aspirin, we are hacking the brain's pain receptors to shut down. When we use recreational drugs, we hack the brain's pleasure zones to produce highs.
So it is theoretically possible to hack a human brain to take over or control the human mind. And once that occurs, one could send messages, images, sensations to a person's conscious state that could include everything that we saw in LOST.
Would such a program have any therapeutic effect? Maybe. If you had an individual who was unable to move, communicate or in a vegetative state, some people (parents) may want to have them (their child) at least "experience" humanity even if it is not reality but an elaborate illusion. Even elaborate illusions can create strong memories. For example, people still fondly recall when they first saw the original Star Wars movie.
If LOST was merely a study in character development, then a computer simulation run through a normal or abnormal subject could lead to interesting results, like all the story lines in the show.
Researchers from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva Switzerland have published a new Policy Forum paper to raise awareness of this new breed of neurotechnologies, and the various ways they can be abused. Importantly, the researchers come up with some ways to mitigate potential problems before they arise.
No doubt, work in neurotech is proceeding apace. Researchers are developing brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that are enabling quadriplegics to move prosthetic limbs by using their own thoughts to patients who cannot communicate normally to spell out messages from mental impulses. With each passing breakthrough, we’re learning a little bit more about the brain and how it works. Most importantly, these tools are giving agency and independence back to amputees and paralyzed individuals.
Ghost in the Shell is a anime that broke new science fiction ground by imagining a world where human beings routinely implanted cybernetic modules to enhance their physical limitations. An individual with a cyberbrain could connect to the world wide web easier than logging in your social media site.
Just as Star Trek spawned many 21st Century inventions (including the iPad and smart phone hand held communication devices), the concept of technology upgrades to human beings is driving medical research and development.
There were numerous theories about what LOST was about. A few believed that the entire program was a fantasy inside the head of an individual(s), whether it be a coma patient, a dying patient, a mentally ill person or a computer simulation (like Avatar immersion.)
If one can access the human brain (which still is the most complex organic "computer" known to man), then in theory it is possible to hack it. We hack the brain all the time. When we use simple aspirin, we are hacking the brain's pain receptors to shut down. When we use recreational drugs, we hack the brain's pleasure zones to produce highs.
So it is theoretically possible to hack a human brain to take over or control the human mind. And once that occurs, one could send messages, images, sensations to a person's conscious state that could include everything that we saw in LOST.
Would such a program have any therapeutic effect? Maybe. If you had an individual who was unable to move, communicate or in a vegetative state, some people (parents) may want to have them (their child) at least "experience" humanity even if it is not reality but an elaborate illusion. Even elaborate illusions can create strong memories. For example, people still fondly recall when they first saw the original Star Wars movie.
If LOST was merely a study in character development, then a computer simulation run through a normal or abnormal subject could lead to interesting results, like all the story lines in the show.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
CRACKED UP
Cracked had an article trying to answer the great unsolved mysteries of television.
Of course, LOST was one of those TV enigmas.
This is how it summed up the series and its ending:
It begins with the basic premise question: were the characters time-travelers, incompetent aliens, sexy magicians or spirits in the afterlife? Was everyone on the show dead? Was it all the dream of an autistic child?
Their Explanation:
It's not the afterlife, and the island is magic. As for every other question, some were answered in an epilogue on the Season 6 DVD set, though they too can easily be summed as everything was an experiment by DHARMA.
Some DVD question and answers were referenced as support of their argument:
"What's with that giant bird from Seasons 1 and 2?" DHARMA experimented on animals!
"Why do women have pregnancy problems on the Island?" It's the electromagnetism!
"What was that weird thing in Room 23 that looked like a brainwashing video?" A brainwashing video! DHARMA used it to erase memories!
"Where did the food drops come from?" A warehouse in Guam!
"Why polar bears?" They were good candidates for testing!
>>>> Except, what about the elements not tied to the Dharma folks. Namely, all the island inhabitants, including the immortal guardians Crazy Mom and Jacob? Does the island magic come from these immortals trapped on the island (for what reason?)? See, the question within the question madness?!
Sure, one can logically state that something out of the ordinary would seem to be "magic" to a primitive culture. For example, an isolated island tribe with no contact with modern, western civilization could consider a helicopter as "magic" since they have never seen aircraft. But the pilot could "explain" to the tribe the basic principles of flight. In LOST, the explanation of "magic" has no basic principle in which viewers could believe. It is purely used in this context as a broad brush for a fantasy story (which intentionally did not want to explain its elements).
Of course, LOST was one of those TV enigmas.
This is how it summed up the series and its ending:
What The Hell, Lost?
It begins with the basic premise question: were the characters time-travelers, incompetent aliens, sexy magicians or spirits in the afterlife? Was everyone on the show dead? Was it all the dream of an autistic child?Their Explanation:
It's not the afterlife, and the island is magic. As for every other question, some were answered in an epilogue on the Season 6 DVD set, though they too can easily be summed as everything was an experiment by DHARMA.
"What's with that giant bird from Seasons 1 and 2?" DHARMA experimented on animals!
"Why do women have pregnancy problems on the Island?" It's the electromagnetism!
"What was that weird thing in Room 23 that looked like a brainwashing video?" A brainwashing video! DHARMA used it to erase memories!
"Where did the food drops come from?" A warehouse in Guam!
"Why polar bears?" They were good candidates for testing!
Sure, one can logically state that something out of the ordinary would seem to be "magic" to a primitive culture. For example, an isolated island tribe with no contact with modern, western civilization could consider a helicopter as "magic" since they have never seen aircraft. But the pilot could "explain" to the tribe the basic principles of flight. In LOST, the explanation of "magic" has no basic principle in which viewers could believe. It is purely used in this context as a broad brush for a fantasy story (which intentionally did not want to explain its elements).
Thursday, March 30, 2017
COMPUTER FUSION
Several theories describe the possibility that LOST was merely a technological construct of digital ties in the brain or brains of the main characters. A neuro-network fused together to share dreams, memories, fears and nightmares. The island story was merely the expunged data of a wired community in a bizarre experiment.
These theories may not be that far fetched after all. Science is continuing to press computer technology to new limits. Currently, it is trying to be integrated more into every person's daily life. From powerful hand held smart phones to wearable technology (like fit bracelets), humans are being merged into data collectors.
Google's Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, who has made 147 predictions since the 1990s and has a success rate of 86 per cent, stated recently in a Daily Mail (UK) article that within the next 12 years the human brain will be directly connected to computers.
These theories may not be that far fetched after all. Science is continuing to press computer technology to new limits. Currently, it is trying to be integrated more into every person's daily life. From powerful hand held smart phones to wearable technology (like fit bracelets), humans are being merged into data collectors.
Google's Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, who has made 147 predictions since the 1990s and has a success rate of 86 per cent, stated recently in a Daily Mail (UK) article that within the next 12 years the human brain will be directly connected to computers.
Kurzweil
says when we live in a cybernetic society we will have computers in our
brains and machines will be smarter than human beings. He
claims this is already happening with technology - especially with our
addiction to our phones - and says the next step is to wire this
technology into our brains.
Friday, July 22, 2016
ZOMBIE TRAIN WRECK
Another functioning LOST fan site had its review of Wrecked, the TBS parody of LOST. It concluded that the show was awful.
Some commentators remarked that the Wrecked show's monsters were going to be jungle zombies.
Another commentator replied:
I wonder whether the makers of this show are either insiders or figured out "Lost" themselves.
The makers of "Lost" kidded about a season 7 of zombies, and that was actually a funny clue to the plot of "Lost", because it recalls the way zombies are said to be produced: You induce brain damage in someone, then convince hir that s/he's a certain identified person risen from the dead. That's close to what some of the principal characters on "Lost" had undergone. They were knocked out, convinced they'd been in an airline wreck that in reality killed everybody aboard, and made to believe they were particular individuals known to have been on the flight. It helped that they'd been selected for their resemblance to those persons, and in some cases given plastic surgery to improve the resemblance. They were threatened with disillusionment when they found out flight 815 was found on the bottom of the ocean, but the cover story was that that had been a fake wreck populated with dug-up dead bodies. However, planted among these characters were those who knew all along what was going on, or discovered it at some point.
I had not heard about the potential LOST tangent theory of the characters actually being zombies. But it does contain many of the plot elements of LOST.
LOST was filled with medical experiments and military-industrial complex stations. To hijack a plane or create a plane crash to re-program other individuals into believing that they are someone else falls within the Big Con aspect of the series tangents. There was really never a reason for the castaways to be told that the Flight 815 wreckage that was found was a "fake." (In previous posts on the subject, I found it an unrealistic and unbelievable plot point - - - if wreckage was found, investigators would have retrieved the black boxes and bodies for positive ID. But when the alleged black box showed up on Widmore's freighter, all sense of truth was lost in that story plot.)
Room 23 was used for mental conditioning experiments; brain washing. The Hydra island was used to implant control technology into sharks. There was a scientific foundation to explain was what really happening on the island.
Can you take a bunch of "lost" people from around the world - - - loners, unhappy folks, fugitives and the depressed - - - and crash their lives to the point where they are living the life of another person? Jack was not Jack but someone playing Jack.
Why would this be important? If a person or government could perfect this personality implant in a stranger, that stranger can be weaponized to take the place of generals, presidents or powerful people in the real world. Dopplegangers could be controlled by an elite group, such as Dharma or Widmore or the U.S. military.
The Zombie Theory to LOST seems as plausible as any other fan theory.
Some commentators remarked that the Wrecked show's monsters were going to be jungle zombies.
Another commentator replied:
I wonder whether the makers of this show are either insiders or figured out "Lost" themselves.
The makers of "Lost" kidded about a season 7 of zombies, and that was actually a funny clue to the plot of "Lost", because it recalls the way zombies are said to be produced: You induce brain damage in someone, then convince hir that s/he's a certain identified person risen from the dead. That's close to what some of the principal characters on "Lost" had undergone. They were knocked out, convinced they'd been in an airline wreck that in reality killed everybody aboard, and made to believe they were particular individuals known to have been on the flight. It helped that they'd been selected for their resemblance to those persons, and in some cases given plastic surgery to improve the resemblance. They were threatened with disillusionment when they found out flight 815 was found on the bottom of the ocean, but the cover story was that that had been a fake wreck populated with dug-up dead bodies. However, planted among these characters were those who knew all along what was going on, or discovered it at some point.
I had not heard about the potential LOST tangent theory of the characters actually being zombies. But it does contain many of the plot elements of LOST.
LOST was filled with medical experiments and military-industrial complex stations. To hijack a plane or create a plane crash to re-program other individuals into believing that they are someone else falls within the Big Con aspect of the series tangents. There was really never a reason for the castaways to be told that the Flight 815 wreckage that was found was a "fake." (In previous posts on the subject, I found it an unrealistic and unbelievable plot point - - - if wreckage was found, investigators would have retrieved the black boxes and bodies for positive ID. But when the alleged black box showed up on Widmore's freighter, all sense of truth was lost in that story plot.)
Room 23 was used for mental conditioning experiments; brain washing. The Hydra island was used to implant control technology into sharks. There was a scientific foundation to explain was what really happening on the island.
Can you take a bunch of "lost" people from around the world - - - loners, unhappy folks, fugitives and the depressed - - - and crash their lives to the point where they are living the life of another person? Jack was not Jack but someone playing Jack.
Why would this be important? If a person or government could perfect this personality implant in a stranger, that stranger can be weaponized to take the place of generals, presidents or powerful people in the real world. Dopplegangers could be controlled by an elite group, such as Dharma or Widmore or the U.S. military.
The Zombie Theory to LOST seems as plausible as any other fan theory.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
ORWELLIAN EXPERIMENTS
George Orwell's novel, 1984, sounded an alarm against a government dystopia run by Big Brother. Cameras were spying on citizens. Armed police forces kept citizens in line. There was a single groupthink.
The rigid society was made by taking away everyone’s free will with the power of fear.
That seems to be the basic formula for the island.
And since Dharma has tenets of militarism at its roots, one could assume that the island was set up for various experiments on behalf of the government, or its power elite.
Elections are messy things. Sometimes an outsider wins. Elections are expenses. Politicians feel it is beneath their stature to beg for campaign donations. If you can make the election process more of a show than a real democracy, by imposing a strict code of conduct on everyone, the authoritarian leaders will win.
But how do authoritarians go about crushing the independence of their people, especially in countries like the United States were individualism is treated as a sacred value? You start experimenting on human subjects on how to reshape their thinking to conform with a new order.
You prey on the weakest links in society: the loners, the malcontents, the criminally inclined anti-social types who do not fit into the parameters of the American Dream. LOST's main character list is filled with these types of people.
You take the disenchanted and disenfranchised individuals and make them believe that the "group" is their new family. That was what Locke was searching for his entire life. In some respects, Ben was also searching for a "better" family unit. Kate was running away from her family. Sawyer was trying to avenge his lost family innocence.
So the island was a series of human experimentation programs. Room 23 was clearly a mind control station. Another station just spied on the other stations - - - using paranoia and information to manipulate others.
But the biggest motivator on the island was fear. The unpleasant, highly charged emotion of dread and pain is known to be an easy way to change a person's attitude or behavior.
If anything could be said about the LOST ending, in the context of reshaping the individuals to identify and relate to the group of island survivors proves the point that the island can bring different people together, change their principles, free will, associations and connections into one happy family unit.
The rigid society was made by taking away everyone’s free will with the power of fear.
That seems to be the basic formula for the island.
And since Dharma has tenets of militarism at its roots, one could assume that the island was set up for various experiments on behalf of the government, or its power elite.
Elections are messy things. Sometimes an outsider wins. Elections are expenses. Politicians feel it is beneath their stature to beg for campaign donations. If you can make the election process more of a show than a real democracy, by imposing a strict code of conduct on everyone, the authoritarian leaders will win.
But how do authoritarians go about crushing the independence of their people, especially in countries like the United States were individualism is treated as a sacred value? You start experimenting on human subjects on how to reshape their thinking to conform with a new order.
You prey on the weakest links in society: the loners, the malcontents, the criminally inclined anti-social types who do not fit into the parameters of the American Dream. LOST's main character list is filled with these types of people.
You take the disenchanted and disenfranchised individuals and make them believe that the "group" is their new family. That was what Locke was searching for his entire life. In some respects, Ben was also searching for a "better" family unit. Kate was running away from her family. Sawyer was trying to avenge his lost family innocence.
So the island was a series of human experimentation programs. Room 23 was clearly a mind control station. Another station just spied on the other stations - - - using paranoia and information to manipulate others.
But the biggest motivator on the island was fear. The unpleasant, highly charged emotion of dread and pain is known to be an easy way to change a person's attitude or behavior.
If anything could be said about the LOST ending, in the context of reshaping the individuals to identify and relate to the group of island survivors proves the point that the island can bring different people together, change their principles, free will, associations and connections into one happy family unit.
Friday, October 2, 2015
EXPERIMENTS ON THE UNIVERSE
Man has forever looked up in the sky and wondered about it.
So man has always had a quest to understand the universe. Every culture on the planet has wrapped its mythology around the mysteries of the universe, the stars, the sun and the movement in the sky.
We have advanced far enough to begin to experiment about the universe.
The Large Hadron Collider slams beams of subatomic particles — traveling at more than 99.999999% the speed of light — together in the most energetic head-on hits you can imagine.
The heaping piles of scientific data generated from these powerful mashups, and seen by giant detectors like the one above, is enough to fill 100,000 dual-layer, single-sided DVDs each year. And this data is fueling countless science projects across the globe conducted by more than 10,000 researchers, engineers, and students.
What are the basic building blocks of space and time? Does the universe expand? Is gravity in deep space? What is on the other side of a black hole? Why do we exist when our other solar system planets have no life?
By smashing atoms together to see what happens is trying to re-create our own birthright. Are we part of a large chain reaction of events billions of years ago from the explosion-implosion of matter and energy?
Or our we insignificant lab rats on some other intelligent life form's desk?
Scientists and writers are fascinating with the probabilities. They are searching for a way we can explore the universe like in Star Trek or Star Wars. Is there elements (such as anti-matter) that can make us travel through space-time faster than the speed of light (breaking a rule of known physics)?
And is this bridge between our known scientific world and the cultural-spiritual mythos of a second life in the heavens?
LOST could be described as an experiment on the universe - - - trying to unlock the gateway between life and death, Earth and Heaven, life and the afterlife. The Island is like the LHC, having its own unique properties which defied conventional physics. What would happen if you put human beings into a large particle accelerator device? Time would move differently, or even jump decades at a time? Would the light "bend" differently through the trees? Would you be able to teleport matter? Could you reach heaven before you died?
Those are the types questions LOST could have raised in the finale.
So man has always had a quest to understand the universe. Every culture on the planet has wrapped its mythology around the mysteries of the universe, the stars, the sun and the movement in the sky.
We have advanced far enough to begin to experiment about the universe.
The Large Hadron Collider slams beams of subatomic particles — traveling at more than 99.999999% the speed of light — together in the most energetic head-on hits you can imagine.
The heaping piles of scientific data generated from these powerful mashups, and seen by giant detectors like the one above, is enough to fill 100,000 dual-layer, single-sided DVDs each year. And this data is fueling countless science projects across the globe conducted by more than 10,000 researchers, engineers, and students.
These projects probe and test the fundamental laws of physics that govern our understanding of the universe.
What are the basic building blocks of space and time? Does the universe expand? Is gravity in deep space? What is on the other side of a black hole? Why do we exist when our other solar system planets have no life?
By smashing atoms together to see what happens is trying to re-create our own birthright. Are we part of a large chain reaction of events billions of years ago from the explosion-implosion of matter and energy?
Or our we insignificant lab rats on some other intelligent life form's desk?
Scientists and writers are fascinating with the probabilities. They are searching for a way we can explore the universe like in Star Trek or Star Wars. Is there elements (such as anti-matter) that can make us travel through space-time faster than the speed of light (breaking a rule of known physics)?
And is this bridge between our known scientific world and the cultural-spiritual mythos of a second life in the heavens?
LOST could be described as an experiment on the universe - - - trying to unlock the gateway between life and death, Earth and Heaven, life and the afterlife. The Island is like the LHC, having its own unique properties which defied conventional physics. What would happen if you put human beings into a large particle accelerator device? Time would move differently, or even jump decades at a time? Would the light "bend" differently through the trees? Would you be able to teleport matter? Could you reach heaven before you died?
Those are the types questions LOST could have raised in the finale.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
A DISEASED MIND
One of the branches of LOST theories is mental experiments. The premise of the show has to be centered upon some mental institution where evil scientists are probing the minds of the main characters, manipulating their consciousness while under medications or sedation.
It is possible to make a connection between the strange and wild mental swings of the characters to anyone who has watched the slow unraveling of the mind of a loved one to Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer's is one of the crueler diseases because it does not affect the patient's body but slowly takes away their mind. Or so that is how loved one perceive is happening to the patient because the patient begins to lose a sense of reality, goes back deeper into memory, to finally be lost to the real world.
Science knows how crucial it is to develop new treatments. In America alone, currently more than 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and 15 million are providing care for loved ones with the disease. Unless treatments are developed to slow or even cure it, 28 million baby boomers will fall ill with Alzheimer's by 2040, consuming 24 percent of Medicare spending, according to AAIC.
Alzheimer’s, an aggressive form of age-related dementia is a result of accumulations and “misfolding” of proteins in the brain known as amyloid fibrils and tau tangles.
In large amounts, these proteins are toxic to brain cells and cause degeneration.
But there is hope on the horizon for earlier detection due to new research, and new studies into treatments that may eventually lead to drugs and, possibly, a cure. Since Alzheimer’s is generally considered an elderly person’s disease, very early onset Alzheimer’s—which can begin as early as age 50—often goes undetected until it’s far too late for significant symptom treatment. That's why earlier detection is such a focus of research.
The idea that the LOST universe is the collapsing mind of an Alzheimer's patient has never been discussed as a fan theory, but it makes some sense. If the LOST characters actions on the island were internal manifestations of the disease at various levels of severity (like when Claire went squirrel insane), then the island as a fantasy world inhabited by "real" people makes some sense.
A wasted mind is a terrible thing. A diseased mind is a sad occurrence. If one has wasted their life, would those regrets and sadness compound themselves in a diseased mind to create a vivid and dangerous LOST world?
It is possible to make a connection between the strange and wild mental swings of the characters to anyone who has watched the slow unraveling of the mind of a loved one to Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer's is one of the crueler diseases because it does not affect the patient's body but slowly takes away their mind. Or so that is how loved one perceive is happening to the patient because the patient begins to lose a sense of reality, goes back deeper into memory, to finally be lost to the real world.
Science knows how crucial it is to develop new treatments. In America alone, currently more than 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and 15 million are providing care for loved ones with the disease. Unless treatments are developed to slow or even cure it, 28 million baby boomers will fall ill with Alzheimer's by 2040, consuming 24 percent of Medicare spending, according to AAIC.
Alzheimer’s, an aggressive form of age-related dementia is a result of accumulations and “misfolding” of proteins in the brain known as amyloid fibrils and tau tangles.
In large amounts, these proteins are toxic to brain cells and cause degeneration.
But there is hope on the horizon for earlier detection due to new research, and new studies into treatments that may eventually lead to drugs and, possibly, a cure. Since Alzheimer’s is generally considered an elderly person’s disease, very early onset Alzheimer’s—which can begin as early as age 50—often goes undetected until it’s far too late for significant symptom treatment. That's why earlier detection is such a focus of research.
The idea that the LOST universe is the collapsing mind of an Alzheimer's patient has never been discussed as a fan theory, but it makes some sense. If the LOST characters actions on the island were internal manifestations of the disease at various levels of severity (like when Claire went squirrel insane), then the island as a fantasy world inhabited by "real" people makes some sense.
A wasted mind is a terrible thing. A diseased mind is a sad occurrence. If one has wasted their life, would those regrets and sadness compound themselves in a diseased mind to create a vivid and dangerous LOST world?
Thursday, September 4, 2014
THE NEW DHARMA
Ben Linus is the ruthless CEO of Dharma. He obtained his power by leading a coup against the former chief executive, Horace, who struggled in finding the magic life force energy, and Juliet's former lover that Ben killed in "a bus accident."
Ben's focus in recruiting Juliet to Dharma was her research in infertility problems. Ben wanted to use her knowledge in order to understand why in a petrie dish filled with the same elements of a human womb, life could not be created and sustained to term. The missing component was the life force found in all living things. Ben wanted to find out how the life force created or sparked new life.
Ben's other problem was the failed fertility experiments where he had dozens of women dying in their third trimester. It was becoming a disposal problem. As a result, Ben would lock down the Dharma facilities and become the tyrant he was on the island. This was his reaction to his rival's alleged advancements in "life source research" coming from spies Ben planted in Widmore's facilities.
Ben would recruit a down and out surgeon who ratted out his own father in a medical malpractice case to be head of his research department. As a result of his own initial cover-up, Jack lost his hospital privileges and started his downward spiral toward drug and alcohol abuse. But Ben took advantage of Jack's personal misfortune and gave him a job, a purpose, and a leadership role in something bigger than what Jack was told. But Ben would also use Jack's own weaknesses to control him. Over time, Jack and Juliet would find a common bond in realizing that they were trapped in a madman's plan. They would begin their own escape plan to leave Dharma (which they realized the only past escape for Dharma people was death.)
Just as Jack and Juliet were about to launch their escape plan, Ben throws them a curve: human test subjects. Juliet had been wrapped up in her own life's work of saving pregnant women. Now she is rocked with guilt if Ben was going to forge ahead with more deadly experiments on innocent women. So she has a conflict with Jack, who needs her help in order to escape. So Jack seeks an alternative avenue, and starts to align himself with new assets: Kate and Sawyer, the new test subjects.
Here is where some of the island romantic friction begins to assert itself between Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. As the heat is turned up, Ben suddenly becomes jealous and threatens them all with severe sanctions. Kate and Sawyer are then clued in on what a mad house Dharma was becoming, so they agree to work with Juliet and Jack in order to escape. In exchange, Juliet and Jack hold off on actually experimenting on Kate or Sawyer, faking data or giving fake injections to keep Ben at bay.
As Kate is prone to run away from problems and authority, Sawyer begins to revel in the concept that overthrowing Ben and taking his position is worthy prize for a lowly con man. He begins his own alternative path to wealth and power within Dharma's own ranks, using his charm to entangle other scientists in his revolutionary thinking.
Things get complicated when the Dharma Widmore rivalry gets personal. Instead of raiding talent, the companies begin to actually physically attacking each other's facilities. A bitter turf battle begins, and it pits highly placed researchers like Jack and Juliet as targets in the cross fire. But just as things get real nasty and dangerous, Jack's group encounters a new, low level janitor and former monk named Locke, who has some crazy ideas of his own. Locke is a plant from the guardians of the life force order. His mission is to gather information, assess the situation, and sabotage Dharma's ultimate research and path to the life force spring which could include eliminating any people in his way.
With another faction inside Dharma, office politics will turn into open warfare over the destiny of the research and the lives of the researchers. Ben will become more paranoid and cruel. He will hire paramilitary assistants to keep his people in line. He will have a siege mentality that Jack and the others will try to exploit to their advantage.
But the best plans derail when Locke, being Locke, stumbles across underground tunnels that lead him to a frozen chamber containing hieroglyphs. Inside, he finds a wooden donkey wheel implanted into the stone wall, with an green light flickering inside. He does not know what it means, but not thinking logically (but believing he is destined to be a super hero), he turns the wheel. His action leads to a cascade of terrible events as the universe itself become unbalanced.
Ben's focus in recruiting Juliet to Dharma was her research in infertility problems. Ben wanted to use her knowledge in order to understand why in a petrie dish filled with the same elements of a human womb, life could not be created and sustained to term. The missing component was the life force found in all living things. Ben wanted to find out how the life force created or sparked new life.
Ben's other problem was the failed fertility experiments where he had dozens of women dying in their third trimester. It was becoming a disposal problem. As a result, Ben would lock down the Dharma facilities and become the tyrant he was on the island. This was his reaction to his rival's alleged advancements in "life source research" coming from spies Ben planted in Widmore's facilities.
Ben would recruit a down and out surgeon who ratted out his own father in a medical malpractice case to be head of his research department. As a result of his own initial cover-up, Jack lost his hospital privileges and started his downward spiral toward drug and alcohol abuse. But Ben took advantage of Jack's personal misfortune and gave him a job, a purpose, and a leadership role in something bigger than what Jack was told. But Ben would also use Jack's own weaknesses to control him. Over time, Jack and Juliet would find a common bond in realizing that they were trapped in a madman's plan. They would begin their own escape plan to leave Dharma (which they realized the only past escape for Dharma people was death.)
Just as Jack and Juliet were about to launch their escape plan, Ben throws them a curve: human test subjects. Juliet had been wrapped up in her own life's work of saving pregnant women. Now she is rocked with guilt if Ben was going to forge ahead with more deadly experiments on innocent women. So she has a conflict with Jack, who needs her help in order to escape. So Jack seeks an alternative avenue, and starts to align himself with new assets: Kate and Sawyer, the new test subjects.
Here is where some of the island romantic friction begins to assert itself between Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. As the heat is turned up, Ben suddenly becomes jealous and threatens them all with severe sanctions. Kate and Sawyer are then clued in on what a mad house Dharma was becoming, so they agree to work with Juliet and Jack in order to escape. In exchange, Juliet and Jack hold off on actually experimenting on Kate or Sawyer, faking data or giving fake injections to keep Ben at bay.
As Kate is prone to run away from problems and authority, Sawyer begins to revel in the concept that overthrowing Ben and taking his position is worthy prize for a lowly con man. He begins his own alternative path to wealth and power within Dharma's own ranks, using his charm to entangle other scientists in his revolutionary thinking.
Things get complicated when the Dharma Widmore rivalry gets personal. Instead of raiding talent, the companies begin to actually physically attacking each other's facilities. A bitter turf battle begins, and it pits highly placed researchers like Jack and Juliet as targets in the cross fire. But just as things get real nasty and dangerous, Jack's group encounters a new, low level janitor and former monk named Locke, who has some crazy ideas of his own. Locke is a plant from the guardians of the life force order. His mission is to gather information, assess the situation, and sabotage Dharma's ultimate research and path to the life force spring which could include eliminating any people in his way.
With another faction inside Dharma, office politics will turn into open warfare over the destiny of the research and the lives of the researchers. Ben will become more paranoid and cruel. He will hire paramilitary assistants to keep his people in line. He will have a siege mentality that Jack and the others will try to exploit to their advantage.
But the best plans derail when Locke, being Locke, stumbles across underground tunnels that lead him to a frozen chamber containing hieroglyphs. Inside, he finds a wooden donkey wheel implanted into the stone wall, with an green light flickering inside. He does not know what it means, but not thinking logically (but believing he is destined to be a super hero), he turns the wheel. His action leads to a cascade of terrible events as the universe itself become unbalanced.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
CRACKING THE THOUGHT CODE
Researchers have made interesting inroads into the human brain thought process.
The BBC reported that brain neurons function by sending bursts of electric pulses to parts of the brain, which in turn form the basis of thoughts and memories. Scientists have begun to use these pulse patterns to make algorithm or formulas to determine how the brain functions.
They have used probed rats to run mazes to record the thought patterns of the subjects.
While the rat runs the maze researchers record where it is, and simultaneously how the cells in the hippocampus are firing. The cell firing patterns are thrown into a mathematical algorithm which finds the pattern that best matches each bit of the maze. The language of the cells is no less complex, but now science believes it has a Rosetta Stone against which scientists can decode the thought process. Researchers then test the algorithm by feeding the freshly recorded patterns back into the subject, to see if it correctly predicts where the rat was at the point that pattern was recorded.
It doesn’t allow a complete code crack, because scientists still don't know all the rules, and it can’t help them read the patterns which aren't from this bit of the brain or which aren't about maze running, but it is still a powerful tool. For instance, using this technique, the research team was able to show that the specific sequence of cell firing repeated in the brain of the rat when it slept after running the maze (and, as a crucial comparison, not in the sleep it had enjoyed before it had run the maze).
Fascinatingly, the sequence repeated faster during sleep – around 20 times faster. This meant that the rat could run the maze in their sleeping minds in a fraction of the time it took them in real life. This could be related to the mnemonic function of sleep; by replaying the memory, it might have helped the rat to consolidate its learning. And the fact that the replay was accelerated might give researchers a glimpse of the activity that lies behind sudden insights, or experiences where our life “flashes before our eyes”; when not restrained, our thoughts really can retrace familiar paths in “fast forward”.
This new scientific research plays very well in the LOST universe.
Look at the key reference points: flashes before our eyes, flash forwards, mazes, sleep and memory. These were all critical components in the story lines. So much so that it brings us to a new theory based on this science.
When one is asleep, one can have vivid dreams. Dreams so vivid that they seem absolutely real. And once one wakes up, these vivid dreams seem like actual memories.
When one is in a dream state, the mind processes information 20 times faster than in one's waking state. This tends to give dreamers the impression that their dreams may last for hours, but in reality the REM sleep was only for minutes. This is a illusion of time displacement in one's mind.
What Daniel's Oxford experiment was similar to was the thought researchers experiment about a lab rat learning a maze. In Daniel's case, learning it before it ran it. But in a certain way, Daniel "programmed" his rat, Eloise, to run the maze by imputing the maze algorithm while at the subject was asleep. Eloise "learned" the maze in a dream state so vivid that she thought it was a real memory when she was put at the starting gate.
And this segment of the story line, glossed over by many viewers, is probably the key to unraveling a better explanation for the series sci-fi foundation. For if one takes the confusing "time travel" and "time skip" elements of the story lines and realize that they are merely metaphors for "thought coding" dreams, then LOST takes a whole different road to understanding.
In all the time travel segments, if one substitutes the fact that no real time travel happened - - - that it was all thought code imparted into a character's mind, then things start to make better sense.
Dharma was a research group looking into various components of mental applications. Room 23 was clearly a mind control chamber. But there is other evidence of mind and thought control. If one imparts new memories into polar bears that they are actually tropical animals, the bears would be more quickly adapt to their new environment. If Dharma found the way to implant new memories into human beings, then that control would be extremely important - - - and possibly a military weapon.
So the island vanishing and time skipping to the 1970s never really happened; the characters merely thought it did because their brains were re-wired with those adventures. The main characters were actually lab rats in some grand experiment on human beings. Perhaps Jacob was not the immortal demigod, but the guardian of the process in which he fed various events into his subjects to determine whether he could actually change a person's free will, good or evil personality or behavior patterns. Or whether those long term personality traits would "corrupt" the new mental programming which would lead to failure (or death). Instead of remembering the actual programmed events, the character's minds could short circuit and take those memories and turn them into twisted nightmares by merging with older memories.
It also gets back to the unexplained big clue that the characters had to "awaken" in order to move on or be free. Awaken from what? The dream and thought experiments?
What better way to treat a mental health patient than creating a new, better personality for him or her. For example, Hurley was destined to be a lonely, semi-skilled fast food worker filled with anxiety, self-worth issues and manic depression. But if he was re-programmed to be a lottery winner, a person with new found confidence, a business owner success, could that really change his life? If not, would the programmers ramp up the thought conversion process to shock his mind with an extreme plane crash island survival story in order to "cure" Hurley's mental state?
It is a good theory but not a complete one because the sideways world makes a mess of most theories. Since the sideways world is death, plain and simple, then which memories are actually the "true" ones? One could say the reason the characters met in the church was that there one great shared experience that bonded them together was the collective thought control experiments - - - which led to actual deaths. But those strong memories were so vivid and clear, that it was those imprints on the characters' souls that matter most in the after life.
Trouble real characters + failed thought control experiments with fake island events = death = sideways world reunion of souls bonded together by the memories from their experiments.
The BBC reported that brain neurons function by sending bursts of electric pulses to parts of the brain, which in turn form the basis of thoughts and memories. Scientists have begun to use these pulse patterns to make algorithm or formulas to determine how the brain functions.
They have used probed rats to run mazes to record the thought patterns of the subjects.
While the rat runs the maze researchers record where it is, and simultaneously how the cells in the hippocampus are firing. The cell firing patterns are thrown into a mathematical algorithm which finds the pattern that best matches each bit of the maze. The language of the cells is no less complex, but now science believes it has a Rosetta Stone against which scientists can decode the thought process. Researchers then test the algorithm by feeding the freshly recorded patterns back into the subject, to see if it correctly predicts where the rat was at the point that pattern was recorded.
It doesn’t allow a complete code crack, because scientists still don't know all the rules, and it can’t help them read the patterns which aren't from this bit of the brain or which aren't about maze running, but it is still a powerful tool. For instance, using this technique, the research team was able to show that the specific sequence of cell firing repeated in the brain of the rat when it slept after running the maze (and, as a crucial comparison, not in the sleep it had enjoyed before it had run the maze).
Fascinatingly, the sequence repeated faster during sleep – around 20 times faster. This meant that the rat could run the maze in their sleeping minds in a fraction of the time it took them in real life. This could be related to the mnemonic function of sleep; by replaying the memory, it might have helped the rat to consolidate its learning. And the fact that the replay was accelerated might give researchers a glimpse of the activity that lies behind sudden insights, or experiences where our life “flashes before our eyes”; when not restrained, our thoughts really can retrace familiar paths in “fast forward”.
This new scientific research plays very well in the LOST universe.
Look at the key reference points: flashes before our eyes, flash forwards, mazes, sleep and memory. These were all critical components in the story lines. So much so that it brings us to a new theory based on this science.
When one is asleep, one can have vivid dreams. Dreams so vivid that they seem absolutely real. And once one wakes up, these vivid dreams seem like actual memories.
When one is in a dream state, the mind processes information 20 times faster than in one's waking state. This tends to give dreamers the impression that their dreams may last for hours, but in reality the REM sleep was only for minutes. This is a illusion of time displacement in one's mind.
What Daniel's Oxford experiment was similar to was the thought researchers experiment about a lab rat learning a maze. In Daniel's case, learning it before it ran it. But in a certain way, Daniel "programmed" his rat, Eloise, to run the maze by imputing the maze algorithm while at the subject was asleep. Eloise "learned" the maze in a dream state so vivid that she thought it was a real memory when she was put at the starting gate.
And this segment of the story line, glossed over by many viewers, is probably the key to unraveling a better explanation for the series sci-fi foundation. For if one takes the confusing "time travel" and "time skip" elements of the story lines and realize that they are merely metaphors for "thought coding" dreams, then LOST takes a whole different road to understanding.
In all the time travel segments, if one substitutes the fact that no real time travel happened - - - that it was all thought code imparted into a character's mind, then things start to make better sense.
Dharma was a research group looking into various components of mental applications. Room 23 was clearly a mind control chamber. But there is other evidence of mind and thought control. If one imparts new memories into polar bears that they are actually tropical animals, the bears would be more quickly adapt to their new environment. If Dharma found the way to implant new memories into human beings, then that control would be extremely important - - - and possibly a military weapon.
So the island vanishing and time skipping to the 1970s never really happened; the characters merely thought it did because their brains were re-wired with those adventures. The main characters were actually lab rats in some grand experiment on human beings. Perhaps Jacob was not the immortal demigod, but the guardian of the process in which he fed various events into his subjects to determine whether he could actually change a person's free will, good or evil personality or behavior patterns. Or whether those long term personality traits would "corrupt" the new mental programming which would lead to failure (or death). Instead of remembering the actual programmed events, the character's minds could short circuit and take those memories and turn them into twisted nightmares by merging with older memories.
It also gets back to the unexplained big clue that the characters had to "awaken" in order to move on or be free. Awaken from what? The dream and thought experiments?
What better way to treat a mental health patient than creating a new, better personality for him or her. For example, Hurley was destined to be a lonely, semi-skilled fast food worker filled with anxiety, self-worth issues and manic depression. But if he was re-programmed to be a lottery winner, a person with new found confidence, a business owner success, could that really change his life? If not, would the programmers ramp up the thought conversion process to shock his mind with an extreme plane crash island survival story in order to "cure" Hurley's mental state?
It is a good theory but not a complete one because the sideways world makes a mess of most theories. Since the sideways world is death, plain and simple, then which memories are actually the "true" ones? One could say the reason the characters met in the church was that there one great shared experience that bonded them together was the collective thought control experiments - - - which led to actual deaths. But those strong memories were so vivid and clear, that it was those imprints on the characters' souls that matter most in the after life.
Trouble real characters + failed thought control experiments with fake island events = death = sideways world reunion of souls bonded together by the memories from their experiments.
Friday, August 8, 2014
TIME SHIFTS
On another tangent on the theme of Time, if one overlays the pivot points of the series time lines around the Flight 815 trip, this comes into focus:
One thing you notice immediately is that the sideways time line starts at two different points on the main island story time line. The sideways beginning point is the 2004 safe landing at LAX, but in the island time line the arrival is 7 days before the island time line ends in 2007, more than three years later in that relative time frame. Since island time memories were the key to the characters revelations in the sideways world, one can conclude that the sideways time line is not chronological.
Now, when the island time lines reunified, the island events lasted another 14 days; while concurrently the sideways time events lasted only 7 days. But even those characters, like Locke, who died before the time merger, retained their memories in the sideways world which apparently was "created" by the island time lines merging after the Incident.
What fed the strong personal memories that created the sideways holding station? One could assume that it is the time riff itself that caused strong emotional bonds to be severed (and thus strongly remembered) until they could meet again. This philosophical approach parallels the ancient Egyptian burial ritual where the soul and body are separated then reunited in the after life. So the concept of Time was not really actual time in the show's construction, by a emotional capsule to capture the strong character bonds in order for them to good friends to help them move on in the after life. Perhaps there is an alternative time for a collective soul to acquire enough life force energy in order to make it to the next level of existence.
Now, when the island time lines reunified, the island events lasted another 14 days; while concurrently the sideways time events lasted only 7 days. But even those characters, like Locke, who died before the time merger, retained their memories in the sideways world which apparently was "created" by the island time lines merging after the Incident.
What fed the strong personal memories that created the sideways holding station? One could assume that it is the time riff itself that caused strong emotional bonds to be severed (and thus strongly remembered) until they could meet again. This philosophical approach parallels the ancient Egyptian burial ritual where the soul and body are separated then reunited in the after life. So the concept of Time was not really actual time in the show's construction, by a emotional capsule to capture the strong character bonds in order for them to good friends to help them move on in the after life. Perhaps there is an alternative time for a collective soul to acquire enough life force energy in order to make it to the next level of existence.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
TRANSPLANTS
Medical science makes great leaps year after year.
One of the greatest successes has been in the area of organ transplants.
From a science fiction standpoint, would it be a great leap to have "mental" transplants.
The idea of reconditioning a person's brain function has been around for centuries. Ancient people bored holes into skulls to let out "evil spirits" who may have been causing seizures or dizziness. Electroshock treatments were used to try to alter the pathological condition of criminals in a means of rehabilitating them.
As a different explanation to the "smart drugs" post, there may be a day in the future where science will allow people to transfer, transpose or overwrite a person's brain and memories and implant new ones.
Brain washing has been used in the spy game. Emotional abuse has been seen to alter people's character and behavior (mostly for the worse). But those techniques and trauma is used to suppress and repress a personality and memories. If one transplants an entire new persona, with "fake" memories that seem real, does a person believe in his or her new self?
Probably to absolutely.
Reformatting a hard drive is the closest analogy to this theory.
By altering the character's past, one can easily manipulate and control their future.
How many LOST characters could have been brain transplant recipients? All of them.
As a few viewers remarked during the original run, many characters flashbacks did not line up exactly with the personality matrix of the island world, and clearly not with the sideways world.
Why would someone want to take a character and make a "new" Jack, a "new" Kate, a "new" Locke, etc.? Because he could. And for some reason, it appears the likely source of that reprogramming is Jacob, who by his "touch" altered the lives of all his candidates and people brought to his island laboratory. Recall, Jacob and MIB's conversations about the humans coming to the island was couched in socio-experimental terms, that in the end no matter who came to the island, they would become corrupted and die. LOST could be seen as a rogue human experiment by attempting to alter a person's brain memories in order to see if the transplant could truly change the person's actions.
One of the greatest successes has been in the area of organ transplants.
From a science fiction standpoint, would it be a great leap to have "mental" transplants.
The idea of reconditioning a person's brain function has been around for centuries. Ancient people bored holes into skulls to let out "evil spirits" who may have been causing seizures or dizziness. Electroshock treatments were used to try to alter the pathological condition of criminals in a means of rehabilitating them.
As a different explanation to the "smart drugs" post, there may be a day in the future where science will allow people to transfer, transpose or overwrite a person's brain and memories and implant new ones.
Brain washing has been used in the spy game. Emotional abuse has been seen to alter people's character and behavior (mostly for the worse). But those techniques and trauma is used to suppress and repress a personality and memories. If one transplants an entire new persona, with "fake" memories that seem real, does a person believe in his or her new self?
Probably to absolutely.
Reformatting a hard drive is the closest analogy to this theory.
By altering the character's past, one can easily manipulate and control their future.
How many LOST characters could have been brain transplant recipients? All of them.
As a few viewers remarked during the original run, many characters flashbacks did not line up exactly with the personality matrix of the island world, and clearly not with the sideways world.
Why would someone want to take a character and make a "new" Jack, a "new" Kate, a "new" Locke, etc.? Because he could. And for some reason, it appears the likely source of that reprogramming is Jacob, who by his "touch" altered the lives of all his candidates and people brought to his island laboratory. Recall, Jacob and MIB's conversations about the humans coming to the island was couched in socio-experimental terms, that in the end no matter who came to the island, they would become corrupted and die. LOST could be seen as a rogue human experiment by attempting to alter a person's brain memories in order to see if the transplant could truly change the person's actions.
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.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
PROJECTIONS
Astral projection is the ability to travel to places only with your
consciousness and awareness. Yogis were able to achieve this ability by
reaching one of the slowest frequency of their mind through meditation
(the point between awake and asleep. In psychology known as Theta
brainwaves). This ability can be very useful in many ways.
First, an industrial-military use of such a mental projection would be spying. To travel with just your mind to any place to retrieve information would be a huge benefit to a major corporation or a super power in developing strategy and responses to alleged threats.
Second, in a personal way, projections to spy on personal relationships would be both useful and creepy. If a person can mentally project his conscious into a private conversation with their significant other to glean information, feelings, thoughts (or infidelity), that could cause significant changes in the relationship.
Third, the ability to know people's future actions could change the future. If one spies on Wall Street traders to get inside information, one could become extremely wealthy with no visible paper trail on mergers, acquisitions, or undisclosed information that could drastically affect stock prices.
This psychic ability seems more probable to Desmond's ability than the explanation of "mental time travel." Desmond's premonitions were mostly wrong. For example, he saw Claire being rescued by helicopter, which never happened. One thinks that there were some intervening events (such as saving Charlie) which changed those visions, but we can't be sure.
The ability to astral project into another's emotions and thoughts could be in play after Desmond was supercharged with island electromagnetic energy. With this new found power would come some confusion on how Desmond would read those emotions and thoughts. This also comes to explain why the smoke monster, or Man in Black, can re-create a human being's life and project things from their past on the island: the ability access conscious, emotions and memories of human beings.
Widmore may have tapped into this psychic ability while on the island to amass his large fortune. It was the ability to see into his competitors and crush any competition was the driving force for his return to the island. Likewise, Eloise had some psychic ability to foretell Desmond's future, as well as the Oceanic 6.
If one can tap into the mind of another person to read it, one can also project the ability to tap into another person's mind and "reprogram it." We do it all the time in real life. In new relationships, we tend to go slow, get to know a person, gain their trust, capture their feelings in order to bond with them. With mental projection, it could be possible to avoid the hard work of interpersonal communications and just get to the end emotional bond attachment to you. This could explain the 180 degree emotional turns in relationship status during the island events, as the main characters feelings towards their closest friends would shift dramatically and without warning (the prime example was Kate's love interests).
If the main characters were manipulated by the island, the Others or Jacob and the smoke monsters, does that answer the big mysteries of the show? Not really. In the themes of free will vs. fate, the concept of mental manipulation is non-existent.
First, an industrial-military use of such a mental projection would be spying. To travel with just your mind to any place to retrieve information would be a huge benefit to a major corporation or a super power in developing strategy and responses to alleged threats.
Second, in a personal way, projections to spy on personal relationships would be both useful and creepy. If a person can mentally project his conscious into a private conversation with their significant other to glean information, feelings, thoughts (or infidelity), that could cause significant changes in the relationship.
Third, the ability to know people's future actions could change the future. If one spies on Wall Street traders to get inside information, one could become extremely wealthy with no visible paper trail on mergers, acquisitions, or undisclosed information that could drastically affect stock prices.
This psychic ability seems more probable to Desmond's ability than the explanation of "mental time travel." Desmond's premonitions were mostly wrong. For example, he saw Claire being rescued by helicopter, which never happened. One thinks that there were some intervening events (such as saving Charlie) which changed those visions, but we can't be sure.
The ability to astral project into another's emotions and thoughts could be in play after Desmond was supercharged with island electromagnetic energy. With this new found power would come some confusion on how Desmond would read those emotions and thoughts. This also comes to explain why the smoke monster, or Man in Black, can re-create a human being's life and project things from their past on the island: the ability access conscious, emotions and memories of human beings.
Widmore may have tapped into this psychic ability while on the island to amass his large fortune. It was the ability to see into his competitors and crush any competition was the driving force for his return to the island. Likewise, Eloise had some psychic ability to foretell Desmond's future, as well as the Oceanic 6.
If one can tap into the mind of another person to read it, one can also project the ability to tap into another person's mind and "reprogram it." We do it all the time in real life. In new relationships, we tend to go slow, get to know a person, gain their trust, capture their feelings in order to bond with them. With mental projection, it could be possible to avoid the hard work of interpersonal communications and just get to the end emotional bond attachment to you. This could explain the 180 degree emotional turns in relationship status during the island events, as the main characters feelings towards their closest friends would shift dramatically and without warning (the prime example was Kate's love interests).
If the main characters were manipulated by the island, the Others or Jacob and the smoke monsters, does that answer the big mysteries of the show? Not really. In the themes of free will vs. fate, the concept of mental manipulation is non-existent.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
VAMPIRE MICE
There has always been a question of why the heart of the island, which is the life force that has the properties to give life, death and rebirth, needs to be protected from human beings.
It is one of those common sense questions that has no logical answer.
Which gets us to "vampire mice."
New medical research studies published in Science and Nature Medicine state that older mice given blood from younger rodents quickly become rejuvenated, exhibiting greater strength and memory. The concept of injecting older mice with younger blood leads to immortal comparisons with literary vampires.
The studies stated that a protein called GDF11 — also found in human blood — is behind the rejuvenating properties. Concentration of the substance appears to decline in advanced years.
An an unrelated study, aging and death was tied to a person's lack of blood stem cells which also decline as one ages.
These findings could be used to treat age-related diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. However, some scientists warn that stimulating the rapid regrowth of cells could possibly lead to increased risks of cancer.
The concept of "new blood" is an old phrase that embraces change. But now it has the meaning of prolonging life.
So why were guardians needed to "protect" the island? Perhaps, it was another red herring. The concept was not to protect the island but to bring young human beings to the island so the mythical light force (if it was a being) could feast upon the blood of the young to remain rejuvenated and strong.
If you add the pre-Columbian rituals of the ancient Mayan civilization which were very keen on human blood and blood sacrifices, there may be something to this notion of young blood. The Mayans used sacrifices, including small children, as a means to appease their gods. They believed that the gods provided them with everything, including rain and good harvests. In order to keep the cycle of life going, the Mayans had to offer blood to those gods.
Is it possible that the LOST survivors were used like cattle to feed the blood requirements of an alien island being? Was Jacob not the guardian of the island, but the person in charge of procuring the next candidates for the blood feast? This would also explain why there was no moral compass on the island. Those living on it lived and died in a brutal fashion. The island itself conformed its power into smoke monsters to take the appearance of humans in order to have those on the island have more conflict and blood shed. And if it was not at the level the island wanted, the smoke monster would rage out of control like it did at the Temple in Season 6.
If the characters on the island were only brought there to feed the blood lust of the island's heart, that puts LOST into a whole new, creepy perspective.
It is one of those common sense questions that has no logical answer.
Which gets us to "vampire mice."
New medical research studies published in Science and Nature Medicine state that older mice given blood from younger rodents quickly become rejuvenated, exhibiting greater strength and memory. The concept of injecting older mice with younger blood leads to immortal comparisons with literary vampires.
The studies stated that a protein called GDF11 — also found in human blood — is behind the rejuvenating properties. Concentration of the substance appears to decline in advanced years.
An an unrelated study, aging and death was tied to a person's lack of blood stem cells which also decline as one ages.
These findings could be used to treat age-related diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. However, some scientists warn that stimulating the rapid regrowth of cells could possibly lead to increased risks of cancer.
The concept of "new blood" is an old phrase that embraces change. But now it has the meaning of prolonging life.
So why were guardians needed to "protect" the island? Perhaps, it was another red herring. The concept was not to protect the island but to bring young human beings to the island so the mythical light force (if it was a being) could feast upon the blood of the young to remain rejuvenated and strong.
If you add the pre-Columbian rituals of the ancient Mayan civilization which were very keen on human blood and blood sacrifices, there may be something to this notion of young blood. The Mayans used sacrifices, including small children, as a means to appease their gods. They believed that the gods provided them with everything, including rain and good harvests. In order to keep the cycle of life going, the Mayans had to offer blood to those gods.
Is it possible that the LOST survivors were used like cattle to feed the blood requirements of an alien island being? Was Jacob not the guardian of the island, but the person in charge of procuring the next candidates for the blood feast? This would also explain why there was no moral compass on the island. Those living on it lived and died in a brutal fashion. The island itself conformed its power into smoke monsters to take the appearance of humans in order to have those on the island have more conflict and blood shed. And if it was not at the level the island wanted, the smoke monster would rage out of control like it did at the Temple in Season 6.
If the characters on the island were only brought there to feed the blood lust of the island's heart, that puts LOST into a whole new, creepy perspective.
Monday, March 31, 2014
LOST ELEMENTS EXPLAINED
There were several major elements in the LOST saga which do not appear to be compatible.
The first, and most confusing aspect to LOST, was time travel. The idea of a human being going back and forth to the past or the future is physically impossible. It is pure science fiction. It is a device to throw a character into an unknown situation in order to elicit a reaction.
Second, there was concepts of the supernatural. The smoke monster does not exist in our current world. It has to be something supernatural, beyond nature, because we know that smoke cannot aggregate, travel with intelligence, steal the minds of individuals and transform into human beings. This is also science fiction.
But every person today time travels. People time travel every day of their lives, and not just in the linear clock from dawn to dusk. People who access their memories are effectively time traveling back to their past. Those memories can be good or bad. But they are strong enough emotionally to be stored in one's long term memory.
People also time travel to the future. It is called dreams. The element of subconscious interplay with memories, experience, emotions and events creates a fantasy scape similar to the manifestation of a smoke monster. Depending on whether a person can control their dreams, then act upon them during their waking lives, is transformational.
A child could dream to one day become a fire fighter. He can imagine himself as a grown man riding in a hook and ladder engine racing to a blazing fire. He takes those dreams and places them into his memory. He uses his subconscious to help him run scenarios on how to achieve his goal. As he grows up, he channels his time and resources into becoming a fireman. He goes to school. He stays physically fit. He enrolls in the academy. He works on his training. He reaches his goal and then assigned to a fire station.
It may take years in order to accomplish such dream. But that is why people need to sleep - - - to recharge their physical body, but also organize their mind to meet their dreams. A cluttered or disrupted mind will not help a person achieve their goals; it may create the situation where nightmares begin to control their thoughts - - - making them a mental wreck.
The time travel and supernatural elements to the series may be only metaphors for a series of character developments as individuals try to take control of their own fantasies without applying their dreams in their waking lives. It is only when a person has the courage to take action on their inner feelings in their waking life can there be true change and new beginnings. Instead of "what could be" a person who awakes with road map to a goal, can achieve that goal - - - whether it be a career, a project completion, or even relationships.
The first, and most confusing aspect to LOST, was time travel. The idea of a human being going back and forth to the past or the future is physically impossible. It is pure science fiction. It is a device to throw a character into an unknown situation in order to elicit a reaction.
Second, there was concepts of the supernatural. The smoke monster does not exist in our current world. It has to be something supernatural, beyond nature, because we know that smoke cannot aggregate, travel with intelligence, steal the minds of individuals and transform into human beings. This is also science fiction.
But every person today time travels. People time travel every day of their lives, and not just in the linear clock from dawn to dusk. People who access their memories are effectively time traveling back to their past. Those memories can be good or bad. But they are strong enough emotionally to be stored in one's long term memory.
People also time travel to the future. It is called dreams. The element of subconscious interplay with memories, experience, emotions and events creates a fantasy scape similar to the manifestation of a smoke monster. Depending on whether a person can control their dreams, then act upon them during their waking lives, is transformational.
A child could dream to one day become a fire fighter. He can imagine himself as a grown man riding in a hook and ladder engine racing to a blazing fire. He takes those dreams and places them into his memory. He uses his subconscious to help him run scenarios on how to achieve his goal. As he grows up, he channels his time and resources into becoming a fireman. He goes to school. He stays physically fit. He enrolls in the academy. He works on his training. He reaches his goal and then assigned to a fire station.
It may take years in order to accomplish such dream. But that is why people need to sleep - - - to recharge their physical body, but also organize their mind to meet their dreams. A cluttered or disrupted mind will not help a person achieve their goals; it may create the situation where nightmares begin to control their thoughts - - - making them a mental wreck.
The time travel and supernatural elements to the series may be only metaphors for a series of character developments as individuals try to take control of their own fantasies without applying their dreams in their waking lives. It is only when a person has the courage to take action on their inner feelings in their waking life can there be true change and new beginnings. Instead of "what could be" a person who awakes with road map to a goal, can achieve that goal - - - whether it be a career, a project completion, or even relationships.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
POLAR BEARS
There are many theories about why polar bears were on the island.
The first theory was that Dharma brought polar bears to the island to manipulate their genes so they could adapt to warmer temperatures. Some believe evidence of this is contained on the Blast Door map which stated "STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE." If Dharma was concerned about "the end of the world" through global collapse of the environment, it could have been looking to find a way for animals and humans to adapt to the massive eco-disaster as foretold by the Valenzetti Equation.
However, the gene experimentation on the polar bears seems weak considering that most American zoos have polar bear exhibits in climates well above the natural Arctic habitat.
The second theory was that Dharma was using polar bears to train them to do certain tasks. When Sawyer and Kate were locked up in the cages, Mr. Friendly told them the bears took little time figuring out how to receive fish biscuits from the cage machine.
Dharma was training polar bears to turn the frozen donkey wheel in order to move the island. The evidence of that is the polar bear (with Dharma dog tag) skeleton found in the Tunisia desert, around the same place as Ben wound up after he turned the frozen donkey wheel. We can assume that the early Dharma folks were concerned about the energy fields, as it killed at least one worker in the Orchid station. As a result, the science team conditioned the polar bear, a strong animal, to move the donkey wheel so as not to risk human life. Polar bears were chosen because they could tolerate the cold chamber where the wheel was located (which in itself is contra-indicated because the deeper one goes below the surface of the earth, the hotter it would get). But after some time, the concern over humans using the donkey wheel must have subsided as both Ben and Locke turned it and wound up okay in the desert halfway across the globe.
A third theory is more simple: polar bears were brought to the island to mess with visitor's minds. Dharma was all about mind control (see, Room 23). What is more disorienting to a visitor in a tropical jungle than being confronted by a large polar bear? The expression on Sawyer's face was priceless when he was firing rounds at the charging polar bear. It also brought to the the first major mystery, as spoken by Charlie to the fans, of "where are we?" This mystery of what was the island; where was it located; and what was its purpose is still unresolved.
But some may consider the polar bears as another writer twist of throwing something that should not belong in the normal course of events. It is a prop designed to confuse viewers with the aura of mystery but with no answers forthcoming (i.e. the theory that the writers were just making up things as they went along to keep fan interest whether it made sense or not).
The polar bears could also symbolize the main characters: people who were out of their normal place, being manipulated by forces unknown to them, and losing control over their own lives.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
QUANTUM EXPERIMENTAL VIEW
There is a new way to look at the LOST conundrums.
It is an analogy often used to explain difficult situations in the show, The Big Bang Theory. It is called "Schrodinger's cat." Schrodinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes explained as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Edwin Schrodinger in 1935. Though he never actually created the experiment, he wanted to illustrate a problem in one interpretation of quantum mechanics as it applied to everyday objects. The issue Schrodinger had was the this interpretation of quantum mechanics did not yield a description of an objective reality but dealt only with probabilities of observing, or measuring, various aspects of energy quanta, entities that fit neither the classical idea of particles nor the classical idea of waves. The act of measurement causes the set of probabilities to immediately and randomly assume only one of the possible values.
Schrodinger's experiment postulated that a cat would be placed in a sealed box with a vial of poison. The poison would be released at an unknown, random time. This uncertainty of what is happening inside the sealed box presents the possibility that a cat that may be both alive and dead, depending on an earlier random event. This thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of quantum physics. In the course of developing this experiment, Schrodinger coined the term Verschränkung ("entanglement").
LOST is the cat in the magic box we all call our television sets.
Based upon the information we have received, we did not know whether the characters were dead or alive at any given moment in the series. Also, the show featured themes that included paradoxes (time travel events), various aspects of unique energy properties (the heart of the island) and most certainly the entanglement of various diverse character lives with each other. Faraday thought of the island dynamic as a measurable place in time and space, until he found that the set of probabilities could be adversely affected by "variables," which in some viewers minds meant the free will decisions of the characters.
Further, Ben clearly described the concept of the Magic Box to Locke. Ben said that if Locke wanted something badly, the magic box would produce it. Locke wanted to see the box, but Ben scoffed that aside. In Locke's case, suddenly Anthony Cooper was captured and on the island (as he said right after an automobile accident; and that the island was hell). At the time, Locke's whole life revolved around the betrayal of his father and the revenge he sought for the downfalls in his life. Those strong emotional thoughts created the situation where Locke could confront his worse nightmare face to face.
The island as a magic box does not yield an objective reality, but dealt with the probabilities of observing various aspects of a person's life outside the classical ideas of religious thought (judgment, punishment, penance, accountability, and redemption). It gave the main characters various opportunities to relive difficult moments in their lives, to give them second chances or the possibility to change (their perceived outcome of key life events). The island could be viewed as one large interactive, interpersonal experiment in which the viewers got an inside peek of the events transpiring therein.
It is an analogy often used to explain difficult situations in the show, The Big Bang Theory. It is called "Schrodinger's cat." Schrodinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes explained as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Edwin Schrodinger in 1935. Though he never actually created the experiment, he wanted to illustrate a problem in one interpretation of quantum mechanics as it applied to everyday objects. The issue Schrodinger had was the this interpretation of quantum mechanics did not yield a description of an objective reality but dealt only with probabilities of observing, or measuring, various aspects of energy quanta, entities that fit neither the classical idea of particles nor the classical idea of waves. The act of measurement causes the set of probabilities to immediately and randomly assume only one of the possible values.
Schrodinger's experiment postulated that a cat would be placed in a sealed box with a vial of poison. The poison would be released at an unknown, random time. This uncertainty of what is happening inside the sealed box presents the possibility that a cat that may be both alive and dead, depending on an earlier random event. This thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of quantum physics. In the course of developing this experiment, Schrodinger coined the term Verschränkung ("entanglement").
LOST is the cat in the magic box we all call our television sets.
Based upon the information we have received, we did not know whether the characters were dead or alive at any given moment in the series. Also, the show featured themes that included paradoxes (time travel events), various aspects of unique energy properties (the heart of the island) and most certainly the entanglement of various diverse character lives with each other. Faraday thought of the island dynamic as a measurable place in time and space, until he found that the set of probabilities could be adversely affected by "variables," which in some viewers minds meant the free will decisions of the characters.
Further, Ben clearly described the concept of the Magic Box to Locke. Ben said that if Locke wanted something badly, the magic box would produce it. Locke wanted to see the box, but Ben scoffed that aside. In Locke's case, suddenly Anthony Cooper was captured and on the island (as he said right after an automobile accident; and that the island was hell). At the time, Locke's whole life revolved around the betrayal of his father and the revenge he sought for the downfalls in his life. Those strong emotional thoughts created the situation where Locke could confront his worse nightmare face to face.
The island as a magic box does not yield an objective reality, but dealt with the probabilities of observing various aspects of a person's life outside the classical ideas of religious thought (judgment, punishment, penance, accountability, and redemption). It gave the main characters various opportunities to relive difficult moments in their lives, to give them second chances or the possibility to change (their perceived outcome of key life events). The island could be viewed as one large interactive, interpersonal experiment in which the viewers got an inside peek of the events transpiring therein.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
HUMAN EXPERIMENT
In all civilized societies, there are limits which set acceptable behavior.
In LOST, those social governors were stripped away once individuals reached the island. There were no rules. People either tried to hold on to the moral compass, or fell deep into the darkness of instinctive savagery.
In a land where there is no accountability or responsibility, how would a average human being operate? LOST could be seen as a window into human behavior if all controls were turned off.
It is not a theory, but a new way to look at the show.
Early on, many of the passengers came to the conclusion that their past did not matter anymore. They could start fresh, a new, without the baggage of their past mistakes or daunting secrets. It is quite the gift to eliminate one's past and create your own new future.
So this may be the human experiment that MIB loathed for centuries. Human beings were brought to the island but they all wound up corrupting it. The Flight 815 arc was no different. Ben turned mass murderer with his purge of the Dharma folks. The survivors ambushed the Others at the beach camp. Widmore's people on the Hydra Island allegedly wiped out the people on board the Ajira plane.
It would seem that individuals who gain or seize power tend to allow it to consume their souls in the quest for more power. That is the basic grease that spins the wheel of corruption.
If you would view the series as a space alien, could you actually analyze the data (the show and its events) in any way other than being a series of barbaric episodes with no social redeeming qualities?
Human beings have done bad things under the cause of being just (i.e. The Great Wars). But in the LOST island environment, there was never even a cause identified to justify the brutality that human beings inflicted upon each other. How did the brain washing of Karl in Room 23 have any greater good?
If the characters were symbolic lab rats wandering the island maze of missed opportunities, broken dreams, deep rooted fears, childhood fantasy and low moral self esteem, how did the human race do?
In LOST, those social governors were stripped away once individuals reached the island. There were no rules. People either tried to hold on to the moral compass, or fell deep into the darkness of instinctive savagery.
In a land where there is no accountability or responsibility, how would a average human being operate? LOST could be seen as a window into human behavior if all controls were turned off.
It is not a theory, but a new way to look at the show.
Early on, many of the passengers came to the conclusion that their past did not matter anymore. They could start fresh, a new, without the baggage of their past mistakes or daunting secrets. It is quite the gift to eliminate one's past and create your own new future.
So this may be the human experiment that MIB loathed for centuries. Human beings were brought to the island but they all wound up corrupting it. The Flight 815 arc was no different. Ben turned mass murderer with his purge of the Dharma folks. The survivors ambushed the Others at the beach camp. Widmore's people on the Hydra Island allegedly wiped out the people on board the Ajira plane.
It would seem that individuals who gain or seize power tend to allow it to consume their souls in the quest for more power. That is the basic grease that spins the wheel of corruption.
If you would view the series as a space alien, could you actually analyze the data (the show and its events) in any way other than being a series of barbaric episodes with no social redeeming qualities?
Human beings have done bad things under the cause of being just (i.e. The Great Wars). But in the LOST island environment, there was never even a cause identified to justify the brutality that human beings inflicted upon each other. How did the brain washing of Karl in Room 23 have any greater good?
If the characters were symbolic lab rats wandering the island maze of missed opportunities, broken dreams, deep rooted fears, childhood fantasy and low moral self esteem, how did the human race do?
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