CYNICAL

A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. - - - Oscar Wilde

The dictionary meaning of cynic is a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons, i.e.  some cynics thought that the controversy was all a publicity stunt.

A cynic is a person who questions whether something will happen or whether it is worthwhile.

The main characters of LOST were cynics, in the sense that they were motivated purely by self-interest. Each person fell to the island with a gnawing sense of dread. Each of the main characters felt that they could only control their lives by being true to themselves first and foremost; to the abandonment of friends, hopes and dreams.

As a result, the characters in LOST were deeply flawed from the start. Kate, the selfish runaway. Sawyer, the vengeful child. Jack, the weak son. Locke, the born loser. Sayid, the tortured soul. Claire, the responsibility shirker. Charlie, the troubled loner. Ben, the psychopathic control freak. Shannon, the manipulative, selfish, trust fund baby. Even Frogert, the whiny idiot.

Just as the characters were cynics, a good portion of the LOST fan base became cynical in the direction of the series long before the twisty turns of Season 6. The lifeboats were started to be lowered around the middle of Season 2 when the drama series started to turn toward science fiction-fantasy with more questions than answers.

The sentiment grew more cynical when TPTB told viewers that they had mapped out the complex stories in advance, so expectations were high for a monumental ending to the show. But the grand mysteries were never explained or solved; the show dissolved into what the TPTB claimed at first "a character study," then retreated further into a show about "asking the big question" (but at the same time not answering it).  Some mysteries are left alone, but when the show runners pumped up the mysteries to retain viewership, the bargain should have been honored to give solutions (even if they were not expected or reasonable). This led to many fans after the finale to be critical and cynical that the writers and producers were making the show up "on the fly," that there was no real story plan, and that the sudden mysteries, plot turns were "a con" to retain viewers and to maintain TBTB employment with ABC.

There was a lasting cynicism in television audiences since LOST. Show runners today are well aware of being caught in a LOST-trap - - - promising something to viewers and not delivering it in the end.

CONSCIENCE

People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things. You don't necessarily even have to be afraid of punishment after death; purgatory, hell, and heaven are things that a lot of people can't accept, but still a religion, it doesn't matter which, keeps a person on the right path. It isn't the fear of God but the upholding of one's own honor and conscience. How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that: "A quiet conscience makes one strong!" — Anne Frank

A productive use of dreams to review one's day to judge whether you have been good or bad as a matter of honor and conscience.

Viewers dwelled on science and culture to explain LOST's events.

Perhaps, we should dwell more on honor and conscience to explain things.

Conscience is an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior, i.e. he had a guilty conscience about his desires.

It's meaning is from Middle English (also in the sense ‘inner thoughts or knowledge’): via Old French from Latin conscientia, from conscient- ‘being privy to,’ from the verb conscire, from con- ‘with’ + scire ‘know.’

Were the actions of the characters driven by their "inner voices" which guided them subconsciously?
If there were no conscious intent, then these characters could not be judged for their intentional actions, whether right or wrong. It would erase any religious context to the show.

Or course, psychopaths have no belief that their cruel actions are wrong. In fact, they may have convinced themselves that there actions, including murder, are justified for a greater purpose.

We never really saw any of the characters "sleep on" a major decision, then the next day change course and do the exact opposite. Most of the actors were pretty stubborn in their opinions and beliefs. In fact, critics often quipped that the characters failed to think things through before taking action.

The concept that the island was a dream factory to have the characters re-live their past actions, to judge themselves for themselves, then learn from their experiences is interesting, but flawed.