HEAVEN AND HELL

One of the interpretive themes of LOST was heaven and hell. Some fans felt that the main characters were in hell, symbolized the by the island and its various monsters, sinners and punishments. Others thought that the characters found their heaven in the sideways world, which ran concurrently in the Season 6 series - - - but if you look at Alpert's back story, it had been running for eternity.

The concept of duality - - - two different planes of existence - - - is also a reoccurring theme. Many scientists believe in the time-space continuum contains multiverses, where each action creates a new and slightly different universe based upon those probable effects of an action.

But there is a simple way of looking at the LOST's split story personality.

From a spiritual perspective, each living person has two states: an awaken state and a sleeping state. When you are awake, you are living and experiencing the good and bad of real life. Over time, daily routines like work and family become grinds. The repetitive nature of living is a drain upon one's creative, adventurous curiosities. In order to fulfill that need, people tend to have deeper, more complex dreams when they sleep. Sleep is a person's way of repairing and re-energizing their body. But it can also be a needed fantasy diversion to a person's "perfect world."

In fact, people sometimes can get "lost" in their dreams. They may not be able to tell what is real and what is fantasy. The illusions in dreams become delusions in real life. And this creates personality disorders and mental mistakes, deep problems at work or with family. A prime example could be Locke, who drifted fantasy games into his real life to the point where he gave up his normal existence to join a commune in the hope of finding a "family"

It can be said that when people are awake in their boring, rotten, habitual work world, they are living in hell. For most of us, we cannot change the relentlessness of this existence. We are trapped by circumstance and obligation.

But when we totally get away from the daily routine, our dreams can appear to be heavenly. Our fantasies make us the star of our own movie. We can be the hero, the lover, the protector, the superhero, the leader, the greatest person in the world.

LOST's island world could be considered the collision of both the heaven and hell aspects of a person's existence. It contains fragmented bits of both worlds which cannot exist together. The show rarely showed anyone sleeping - - - insomnia was rampant. It could be a clue that the characters were trapped in a limbo between being awake and being asleep - - - a place ruled by their nightmares.

MIRROR MIRROR

One of the props and themes of LOST was the mirror. Characters would look into a mirror to contemplate a decision or change. The main characters personal issues seem to mirror each other.

But what is a mirror? 

A mirror is a reflective surface, now typically of glass coated with a metal amalgam, that reflects a clear image. It also means something regarded as accurately representing something else: the stage is supposed to be the mirror of life. In Computing, it is a site on a network that stores some or all of the contents from another site.As a verb, mirror means to show a reflection something such the clear water mirrored the sky.
It also means to correspond to, such as gradations of educational attainment that mirror differences in social background.

The origin of the word "mirror" is Middle English: from Old French mirour, based on Latin mirare ‘look at.’ Early senses also included ‘a crystal used in magic’ and ‘a person deserving imitation.’

And the early sense may be the basis for the plots of LOST.  Ben told Locke that the island was "a magic box," and if wished hard enough, he would get his wish granted. In Locke's case, his wish was to confront his devious father, Cooper, for one last time. In that situation, Cooper said that he was driving along then he was run off the road in an accident - - - and suddenly wound up as a prisoner on the island. Cooper clearly believed he had died and gone to hell.

Sideways Jack once looked into a mirror and saw unfamiliar scars, scars from his childhood or injuries from the island plane crash. That could have meant that Jack was looking at his future self, or that Jack was looking through a portal to another universe. 

The main characters in the sideways world would frequently confronted themselves in mirrors or reflective surfaces. According to Jack Bender, executor producer and director of LOST, these scenes showed the characters figuratively and literally "confronting their images and the reflections of themselves." The visual metaphor expressed the flash sideways' theme of introspection, and also represented how the flash sideways showed "what you wish for or what you're scared of."

That may be a too simple, too vague explanation of this device.

And it does not explain why the series added a second dimension of the sideways world into the main story line.

The various fan theories on mirrors from lostpedia are:

Deja Vu

• The mirror moments correspond to characters' brief *remembrance* of their lives on the island, before some major shift causes the alternate timeline to take over their lives and cause fairly complete amnesia. The reflective gaze is especially apt to triggers these memories, though it need not be the only way a character experiences deja vu.
  • This seems to be supported by Jack's behavior. He notices an inexplicable bruise on his neck at LAX airport and later suffers similar confusion over his appendectomy (albeit via direct body inspection, not mirror use).

Parallel "Bleed Through"

• The moments when alt-timeline characters observe themselves in mirrors represent the effect of a bleed-through with the simultaneously occurring main time line.

Mirror as Window into Different Timeline

• Gazing through a mirror, either on the Island Lighthouse  or within the alt-timeline, provides a means of seeing into the other timeline.  Jacob uses the mirror to gaze into many different possible outcomes, past, future, and within the flash-sideways. Characters in the flash-sideways gazing or reacting emotionally to a mirror are subliminal accessing a different chronology/reality.

 But coupled with the other evidence that the frozen donkey wheel was a time-space portal, the link between the mirror (magic) and the two different worlds (island, sideways-after life) leads to different universes theory.

Many scientists believe that there are multiple parallel universes that exist simultaneous in the same space. Think of it like your car radio - - - each separate station is a different universe but in the same space of your vehicle. Just like when a storm or electric power lines cause radio interference, two stations may blur today on the sound speakers. This overlap may be what was happening at certain points in the LOST story lines. Mainland Jack was seeing images of Island Jack; Sideways Jack was seeing images of Island Jack. But each Jack was a different "person" in a different "universe." That would explain the major differences in Jack's personal life: in the Mainland, he had been married without a child to Sarah; but in the Sideways world he had been married to Juliet and he had a son. "Jack" never reconciled the differences in his personal life between the Mainland and the Sideways realities. Maybe, he did not need to. Perhaps his "death" in the portal island world collapsed his various separate lives into one universe - - - the sideways one. 

That would explain why Juliet suddenly fell for a complete stranger, Sawyer, with only a glancing touch. Their island universe experience suddenly rushed into their sideways world and overwhelmed their sideways past experiences.

Three different universes. Three different Jacks, Juliets, Sawyers, etc. Their lives seem to collapse into one time line like the matter at the event horizon of a black hole.

WHOLE WORLD SIMULATION PART TWO

There was a fan theory that LOST was just an elaborate computer game. The main characters were merely avatars in computer worlds (which do not have to conform to science, laws of physics or even continuity). Most fans discounted the game theory notion because the series had live actors so it seemed real.
 
But for a long time, scientists and philosophers have debated our own understanding of the world around us. There has been some traction that everything we know may just be part of a Matrix-style simulation, according to physicists who claim that we could all be part of a giant GAME.

A new theory has suggested that our entire lives and memories may not be real, instead being part of a computer program played by advanced robots, according to Yahoo News article.

The so-called ‘simulation argument’ has been theorized for several years, with noted academics including Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom, suggesting that the plot of The Matrix could be closer to real life than we think.

In the sci-fi classic, humans are bred in vats that are fed with simulations that make them believe they are living an ordinary life. Scientists say that we could all be living in the future, and our life in 2015 is nothing more than a series of numbers in a computer program.

It may sound like science fiction but scientists believe they may actually be able to PROVE that what you know isn’t what you know.

Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of artificial intelligence (AI) thinks that there may be tell-tale signs if the programmer of our mass simulation “has made some slips."

He said that some laws of physics that “aren’t quite right” could be the start of being able to prove that the universe is a simulation.

Silas Beane, from the University of Bonn, suggested several years ago that if humans were to build a small-sale simulation of the universe we would be able to identify any constraints. These constraints would include a cut-off in the spectrum of high energy particles - exactly the kind of cut off in the energy of cosmic rays. This would be the start of proving that our universe is not what it seems - and that it is part of a giant construct.

This is an interesting notion because of Daniel's express comments when he arrived at the island, that the light "acted differently" and the spectrum was off. This could be the biggest clue that the island itself was not what we viewed it as, but as another construct (with various other theories such as alternative dimension, time loop, mini-worm hole, alien space craft, different planet through a cosmic gateway, etc.)

These theories are not the first time that humans have debated whether we are actually real - French philosopher Rene Descartes theorized that nothing we perceive is true except our consciousness being aware of itself and its doubts - which is how the phrase ‘I think, therefore I am’ came about.

However, some believe that our own thoughts can also be part of a simulation or program that is being controlled by robots or aliens. The concept of "free will" may be artificial intelligence programming that allows people "choices" from various sets of rational, irrational, logical, illogical, emotional, intellectual, etc. 

But what about us as human beings? In the U.S.-U.K series Humans, android AI robots called synths look and act like human beings but they are just complex machines. They are called synths because that is what they are programmed to be; so there is no reason why artificial intelligent machines could be called "humans."

But then what about our own perceptions and senses, like touch, smell, vision? Again, in theory we occupy three dimensional space because that is what our brains process as three dimensional space. WE touch, hold, feel objects because our brain processes the tactile responses from the sensors in our hands and fingertips. At its core, that is merely data being processed by an organic computer module which automatically sends back feedback in the form of conscious recognition of touch, smell or imagines of the world around us.

It does put an introspective question to any human being. What is our true reality?

We may be organic beings, but could some other advanced civilization have created organic computing machines? We could be nanobots in a different universe. There is a basis for that belief because every time a scientist puts a prepared glass plate under a microscope, he will find an invisible world of microbes and viruses which have no perception of our world view. So, logically, in some other world view, we are microbes and viruses to another alien world.

Even our current generation of video games have graphics that begin to rival HD movie films. So the idea that perception is reality is something that everyone thinks about daily at a subconscious level.  It is when it reaches a conscious level discussion that things get strange.

In a logic program, the smoke monster may have been not a security system, but a software program to use to combat computer viruses (in the form of evil, destructive character avatars). 

But if humans are part of a complex computer program or network, does that put doubt into the meaning of our lives? Perhaps. And that may be the main reason why human beings need to pair bond, to form communities, share resources and values and create religious principles to calm and comfort those desiring a better explanation of life and death. All machines have a useful life expectancy. So do human beings. Creating circuit pathways to lead to productive output is the goal of both man and machine.  It may be the reason why some consider humans the greatest machines in history.

WHOLE WORLD SIMULATION PART ONE

The notion that humanity might be living in an artificial reality — a simulated universe — seemed sophomoric, at best science fiction. 

However, many scientists and philosophers realized that the notion that everything humans see and know is a gigantic computer game of sorts, the creation of super-intelligent hackers existing somewhere else, is not a joke. Exploring a "whole-world simulation," Yahoo News reported:

David Brin, sci-fi writer and space scientist, relates the Chinese parable of an emperor dreaming that he was a butterfly dreaming that he was an emperor. In contemporary versions, Brin said, it may be the year 2050 and people are living in a computer simulation of what life was like in the early 21st century — or it may be billions of years from now, and people are in a simulation of what primitive planets and people were once like.

It's like the movie "The Matrix," Bostrom said, except that "instead of having brains in vats that are fed by sensory inputs from a simulator, the brains themselves would also be part of the simulation. It would be one big computer program simulating everything, including human brains down to neurons and synapses."

Bostrum is not saying that humanity is living in such a simulation. Rather, his "Simulation Argument" seeks to show that one of three possible scenarios must be true (assuming there are other intelligent civilizations):

All civilizations become extinct before becoming technologically mature; 

All technologically mature civilizations lose interest in creating simulations; 

Humanity is literally living in a computer simulation.

His point is that all cosmic civilizations either disappear (e.g., destroy themselves) before becoming technologically capable, or all decide not to generate whole-world simulations (e.g., decide such creations are not ethical, or get bored with them). The operative word is "all" — because if even one civilization anywhere in the cosmos could generate such simulations, then simulated worlds would multiply rapidly and almost certainly humanity would be in one.

As technology visionary Ray Kurzweil put it, "maybe our whole universe is a science experiment of some junior high school student in another universe." 

Kurzweil's worldview is based on the profound implications of what happens over time when computing power grows exponentially. To Kurzweil, a precise simulation is not meaningfully different from real reality. Corroborating the evidence that this universe runs on a computer, he says, is that "physical laws are sets of computational processes" and "information is constantly changing, being manipulated, running on some computational substrate." And that would mean, he concluded, "the universe is a computer." Kurzweil said he considers himself to be a "pattern of information."
"I'm a patternist," he said. "I think patterns, which means that information is the fundamental reality." 

 If people are in a whole-world simulation, how could they know it? Brin suggests a "back door" in the simulation program that would enable the alleged programmers to control people (much like countries accuse each other of installing "back doors" in code to conduct espionage). 

"If we are living in a simulation, then everything is software, including every atom in our bodies," Brin said, "and there may be 'back doors' that the programmers left ajar."

Marvin Minsky, a legendary founder of artificial intelligence, to distinguish among three kinds of simulations: (i) brains in vats, (ii) universal simulation as pure software and (iii) universal simulation as real physical stuff.

"It would be very hard to distinguish among those," Minsky said, "unless the programmer has made some slips — if you notice that some laws of physics aren't quite right, if you find rounding-off errors, you might sense some of the grain of the computer showing through."

If that were the case, he says, it would mean that the universe is easier to understand than scientists had imagined, and that they might even find ways to change it. 

The thought that this level of reality might not be ultimate reality can be unsettling, but not to Minsky: "Wouldn't it be nice to know that we are part of a larger reality?" 

Martin Rees, U.K. Astronomer Royal, is a bold visionary and hard-nosed realist. "Well, it's a bit flaky, but a fascinating idea," he said. "The real question is what are the limits of computing powers."

Astronomers are already doing simulations of parts of universes. "We can't do experiments on stars and galaxies," Rees explained, "but we can have a virtual universe in our computer, and calculate what happens if you crash galaxies together, evolve stars, etc. So, because we can simulate some cosmic features in a gross sense, we have to ask, 'As computers become vastly more powerful, what more could we simulate?'

"It's not crazy to believe that some time in the far future," he said, "there could be computers which could simulate a fairly large fraction of a world."

A prime assumption of all simulation theories is that consciousness — the inner sense of awareness, like the sound of Gershwin or the smell of garlic — can be simulated; in other words, that a replication of the complete physical states of the brain will yield, ipso facto, the complete mental states of the mind. (This direct correspondence usually assumes, unknowingly, the veracity of what's known in philosophy of mind as "identity theory," one among many competing theories seeking to solve the intractable "mind-body problem".) Such a brain-only mechanism to account for consciousness, required for whole-world simulations and promulgated by physicalists.

"That may be the kind of question that would demand a superhuman intelligence to answer," which, Rees said on whether human-level consciousness and self-consciousness can be simulated., "could be forever beyond our capacity." 

Physicist Paul Davies has a different take. He uses simulation theory to tease out possible contradictions in the multiple universe (multiverse) theory, which is his countercultural challenge to today's mainstream cosmology.

"If you take seriously the theory of all possible universes, including all possible variations," Davies said, "at least some of them must have intelligent civilizations with enough computing power to simulate entire fake worlds. Simulated universes are much cheaper to make than the real thing, and so the number of fake universes would proliferate and vastly outnumber the real ones. And assuming we're just typical observers, then we're overwhelmingly likely to find ourselves in a fake universe, not a real one." 

Davies claims that because the theoretical existence of multiple universes is based on the laws of physics in our universe, if this universe is simulated, then its laws of physics are also simulated, which would mean that this universe's physics is a fake. Therefore, Davies reasoned, "We cannot use the argument that the physics in our universe leads to multiple universes, because it also leads to a fake universe with fake physics." That undermines the whole argument that fundamental physics generates multiple universes, because the reasoning collapses in circularity.

Davies concluded, "While multiple universes seem almost inevitable given our understanding of the Big Bang, using them to explain all existence is a dangerous, slippery slope, leading to apparently absurd conclusions."

Five premises to the simulation argument:

(i) Other intelligent civilizations exist; 
(ii) their technologies grow exponentially; 
(iii) they do not all go extinct; 
(iv) there is no universal ban or barrier for running simulations; and 
(v) consciousness can be simulated. 

If these five premises are true, humanity is likely living in a simulation. The logic seems sound, which means that if you don't accept (or don't want to accept) the conclusion, then you must reject at least one of the premises. 

Which to reject? Other intelligent civilizations? Exponential growth of technology?
Not all civilizations going extinct? No simulations ban or barrier? Consciousness simulated?
Whichever you choose, it must apply always, everywhere. For all time. In all universes. No exceptions. 

Would the simulation argument relate to theism, the existence of God? Not necessarily.

Bostrum said, "the simulation hypothesis is not an alternative to theism or atheism. It could be a version of either — it's independent of whether God exists." While the simulation argument is "not an attempt to refute theism," he said, it would "imply a weaker form of a creation hypothesis," because the creator-simulators "would have some of the attributes we traditionally associate with God in the sense that they would have created our world." 

They would be superintelligent, but they "wouldn't need unlimited or infinite minds." They could "intervene in the world, our experiential world, by manipulating the simulation. So they would have some of the capabilities of omnipotence in the sense that they could change anything they wanted about our world."

So even if this universe looks like it was created, neither scientists nor philosophers nor theologians could easily distinguish between the traditional creator God and hyper-advanced creator-simulators.
But that leads to the old regress game and the question of who created the (weaker) creator-simulators.

At some point, the chain of causation must end — although even this, some would dispute.
 But because the simulation argument seems to work, what it seems to do is to uncover deep discrepancies, or fundamental flaws, in how people think about deep reality — about this universe, multiple universes, consciousness, and even inferences for and against theism.

THE END AS WE KNOW IT

The BBC ponders this:

Don't panic, but our planet is doomed. It's just going to take a while. Roughly 6 billion years from now,the Earth will most likely be vaporized when the sun dies and expands into a red giant that engulfs Earth.

But the Earth is just one planet in the solar system, the Sun is just one of hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy, and there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable universe. What's in store for all of that? How does the universe end?

There was The Big End Question asked in LOST when the alleged motivation to stop Flocke was that if he escaped the island, the world would be destroyed.  But what world?

We assumed it was Earth. But how? 

Flocke was a smoke monster, an intelligent being that could shape shift matter, take human form and steal human memories. It may have lived on fear. It had emotions that anger, rage to violence.

If the island was its prison, a containment field of electromagnetic energy, would Flocke's release into the universe or solar system expand its smoke powers to levels that would destroy the vacuum of space as we understand it?

We were told that Flocke escaping would destroy the planet. Could Flocke's mere presence in the atmosphere or orbit could shape shift, change or destroy the planet? If it had that much power to begin with, how could the tiny island contain it?

Of course, the destruction of the universe could have been a lie. A con. A reason Jacob had to recruit and keep his candidates at bay. But it seemed that there was a real possibility that Flocke would harm anyone or anything to get his way. But we never really knew where Flocke wanted to go.

Some rationalize that Smokey could be Satan, a fallen angel, whose only goal was to leave his personal hell on Earth to return to Heaven. But if he is not welcome in Heaven, then the disruption of the afterlife world would happen. Could that be the ripple in time and space (between dimensions) that the island's "cork" was really trying to keep steady? A parallel universe could collapse or engulf our present universe like a dying sun? If that was spelled out clearly in the series, we could probably get a greater purpose in the final showdown between the candidates and Flocke. This seems to be an important plot point that should have been explained to the viewers.

So we don't know if the "death" of Flocke was really the end of danger or merely the trigger to switch planes of parallel universes. If one believes in parallel universes, each of us has a doppelganger in that other world. But through experience, chance, free will and personal decisions, our doppelgangers can be different people. If the release of energy (memories) from one universe to another could be just as catastrophic, the sideways world view becomes clearer. If the main characters began to "awake" with memories from the wrong universe - - - that could destroy the belief system in their universe. It could disrupt the natural flow of energy, time and space that separates universes much like the different currents in the layers of an ocean.

We don't know if the awakening of the characters in the afterlife was just the end of a journey, or the actual cause of destruction of an entire universe.

MULTI-VERSES

One of the bothersome aspects of LOST was its backhand use of Time to distort the plot lines.

Most people consider a time line as a lineal progression of events in a daily second, minute, hour grid. Ancient people felt that time was a cycle that progressed like the seasons.

One science fiction genre is the parallel universe. It is trope that allows a writer to "alter" present reality but mask it with the all the familiar settings of our current world.

Multiverses is the plural of a parallel universes. In some fictional mythologies, every action one does in real life affects and changes the pathway and development in an alternative universe. And since there are trillions of daily decisions, there are almost infinite parallel universes based on the outcomes.

A basic example of this change is this:

You are in Universe A at a stop sign. Your plan is to turn left to go to the store. But if you turn right, you suddenly alter the decision to create a Universe B. In Universe A you get to the store and buy your goods. But in Universe B you drive into a gas station, to be shot and killed during a botched robbery. In Universe A you go home to your family. In Universe B your family comes to the morgue, setting off a series of unintended consequences. In Universe B, your spouse can either remain single or remarry a close friend, which creates a new Universe C. In Universe C, the second marriage complicates the relationships between your children, splitting them onto various destructive paths in other universes. It is an avalanche or domino effect.

One theory about LOST is that the show's premise is that of multiverses. The continuity errors between shows and seasons are not errors per se, but the effects of previous actions.

If one breaks a part the show, one can find four different parallel universes:

1. The Pre-Flight 815 World.
2. The Post-Crash Island World.
3. The O6 World.
4. The Sideways World.

The Pre-Flight 815 World seems to be the "real" world in the context of the characters' background stories, and how they came to Sydney, which was the focal point of change. There was something in the preboarding that altered the normal time line to create the post-crash island world. Perhaps it was the airline not putting Christian's body on the plane. As a result, the normal universe created a second parallel universe where the plane lands safely in LAX. However, there is an alternative explanation that the pre-flight world was actually part of the sideways continuum.

The Sideways World where Flight 815 did not crash could be considered by some to be the first or "real" world view. This is because in normal course of events, planes arrive at their destination. In the sideways world, people go forward with their lives unaffected by the flight events. (This is problematic for some viewers because that would infer that the real world began as an afterlife setting.)

Some event on board the plane, such as Bernard going to the back cabin, altered the normal universe event line, which in turn caused a parallel universe to be created where the plane crashes on the island.  This can be considered true because in the sideways universe, Ben was seen as an Sydney airport employee, which would be impossible since he was on the island at the time of the plane crash unaware of Flight 815.

Once the second world, the island, was created, it spawned two more parallel universes.  The island world seems to be a "closed" system since it was difficult for outsiders to find. The barrier could be considered the border between universes. Some scientists believe that time and space (or Einstein's concept of space-time) can be the separation fields between universes. The next universe created would be the O6 world which had different events and outcomes than the sideways world.

Since each universe is self-contained, the timing of the life events can be different. This is the only way to logically explain why Aaron and Ji Yeon could be "born" both in the sideways world and in other worlds. On the island world, Sun was found pregnant on the island and gave birth in the O6 world. However, she had to be far along her pregnancy in the sideways world because in that time line (a few weeks) she gave birth to her child in the hospital.

When the show runners talk now about asking the big questions like life or death to help temper the complaints about the show's direction and conclusion, that seems like a throw-a-way bone to fans. It does not help explain the apparent inconsistencies in scripts and seasons. The bigger question is whether the multiverse theory is the best foundation to help understand the show's big premise.

DEAD ENDS & VERSES

How does one get one's self out of a painted corner?

The LOST writers continually put themselves into mystery corners without an explanation to free themselves from their own dead ends.

And there were too many such instances of huge plot inconsistencies to understand let alone explain.

Here are few of the nagging writing problems:

1. If Aaron was born on the island; why was he not born already in the sideways world?
2. If Ben was shot as a boy in the chest by Sayid, why didn't Ben remember him when 815 crashed?
3. Generally, why did so many characters fail to ask basic questions to their fellow castaways?

Here is a possible deux es machina explanation for the writing inconsistencies: multiverses.

Science is still trying to grapple with the workings of the cosmos. The discovery of the minuscule mass of the Higgs boson, whose relative smallness allows big structures such as galaxies and humans to form, falls roughly 100 quadrillion times short of expectations. Trying to put math to the known quantum pieces yields a result that none of us should be in our universe. Instead, there has to be another theory to explain our place in space.

Leading cosmologists like Alan Guth and Stephen Hawking envision our universe as one of countless bubbles in an eternally frothing sea. This infinite “multiverse” would contain universes with constants tuned to any and all possible values, including some outliers, like ours, that have just the right properties to support life. In this scenario, our good luck is inevitable: A peculiar, life-friendly bubble is all we could expect to observe.

Many physicists loathe the multiverse hypothesis, deeming it a cop-out of infinite proportions. But as attempts to paint our universe as an inevitable, self-contained structure falter, the multiverse camp is growing.

The problem remains how to test the hypothesis. Proponents of the multiverse idea must show that, among the rare universes that support life, ours is statistically typical. The exact dose of vacuum energy, the precise mass of our underweight Higgs boson, and other anomalies must have high odds within the subset of habitable universes. If the properties of this universe still seem atypical even in the habitable subset, then the multiverse explanation fails.

When a science fiction show can tap a real scientific theory (however unproven), it can free itself of the dead end badness of a misplayed plot line.

 Our characters were not jumping around in time travel when the island shifted, but our characters were jumping between multiverse bubbles, different parallel dimensions.

Instead of seeing a bubble, the LOST explanation is clear with a deck of cards analogy. In each island time skip, the deck was shuffled and a new card would be the "current" universe while the characters would continue on unknowingly in the other 51 parallel story verses. For example, boarding the plane in Sydney is Universe 1. When the plane hits turbulence, we are not shown a continuation of Universe 1 but a switch to Universe 2. As such, Universe 1's time line may continue the plane to LA (as seen in the sideways flashbacks). But then, when the island goes critical when Locke trips the numbers computer for a lockdown, Universe 2 switches to a different but similar Universe 3. When Ben turns the FDW, he triggers a series of multiverse quakes shifting through several different universes. This may be why we see Locke's paralysis come back on the island, for in a different universe he did not recover. When Locke vanishes the island with his FDW turn, this may be the clearest evidence of the multiverse concept: the shift to Universe X meant that the island was not in that X location.

After enough shuffling of multi-dimensions, a few individuals who can remember the "constants" in each plane of existence have a great advantage to control other people and events (such as Eloise Hawking and Desmond). One can guess more accurately if they had experienced an event generator of possible outcomes before making a final decision.

The multiverse explanation can help cushion the frustration of so many plot dead ends in the series, but it is still a trick to skip to a happy ending.

DARK MATTERS

Science knows about the element called dark matter. It can be observed by the gravitation pull of other objects. It makes up about a quarter of the universe. But science does not know what it really does.

Some researchers have tried to postulate that dark matter may attach itself to dying pulsars, in such a fashion that the density becomes so great that a black hole is created in the universe.

Scientists also believe that at the edge of any black hole, where the gravitational forces are the greatest, physics and notions of time and space are out of whack.  Even a pinpoint black hole singularity could disrupt time and space.

These are known concepts. Using known science concepts is a good basis for science fiction.

LOST posters have often looked to black holes, dark matter and strange energy as a basis of trying to explain the underlying events in the series. The show's time travel events became quite problematic. Even the island's "re-sets" have inconsistent triggers which does not lead to a clear explanation.

Humans are curious; we want answers to mysteries.

What is the universe? What is our role in the universe? What is life? Is there something after life? Why can't we take all the chemicals found in a human body and mix up a human being in the lab?

To explain sporadic time events on the island, one must assume that the cork has to be shifted in some manner to release the built up energy. However, the Swan computer station was not tied directly the heart of the island. In fact, the cork was a large stone, not a mechanical device. So was the Swan station a pressure value to release energy used to keep the light source in check? And why would anyone need to do that anyway? The light source was on the island long before humans. Did the ancient Egyptians first harness its power, i.e. ability to time travel through space portals, in the quest to actually get the after life? That makes some sense in the realm of the burial temple rituals. But in order to create such a time riff, one must have the pull of a black hole singularity.

So it is possible that the island is the bridge between a dark matter pocket creating a black hole and the unique electromagnetic light source (the Big Bang so to speak) from which all life in the universe got its component parts. So is the island the location of a possible Second Big Bang?

We think the island was returned to balance when Jack died. So the existing universe would have been saved from destruction. But then again, a second parallel universe was created from the island which we called the sideways world - - - one in which Desmond was aware of on the island prior to his awakening in the sideways plane of existence. So the fabric of normal space time had to have been altered by the island time shifts. Then, was the sideways truly an after life experience, or merely an alternative dimension populated by the memories of the island castaways? A echo, a memory, a fiction created by the disruption of the known universe carried about on the nodes of dark matter.

LOGO

The slowly spinning and drifting LOST opening credit logo.

In stark black and white, a color theme in the series.

Blackness as in the vast void of space. The unknown dimensions for which time and space resides.

Darkness, another theme of the series. Good against evil; science against faith.

The word "lost," which infers definitions like misguided, fear, troubled, misplaced, forfeited, neglected, fallen, irredeemable, irreclaimable, irretrievable, past hope, past praying for, vanished, strayed, condemned, cursed, doomed. All words which could describe elements in the series.

Is the LOST logo opening the perfect symbol for the show?

It probably can mean that viewers got "lost" in the various mysteries, twists, Easter eggs, red herrings, blind corners, pseudo-science, theories, counter-theories and relationship twists.

It probably can mean that the producers-writers got "lost" in their flashback format, their editing techniques to drive up emotions or drama, background details, cliffhangers and supernatural elements to concentrate on a coherent final season script.

It may also in the annals of television history a "lost" opportunity to be the greatest show ever; one with total critical, peer and viewer overwhelming approval.

MULTIVERSE

Theoretical scientists are at the cross roads of quantum dynamics with the Higgs Bosom and particle string theories. Some believe that current information suggests that there are no parallel or multi-universes.

Parallel universes or alternative dimensions have been part of the human culture since the beginning. Ancient cultures had a clear understanding of cosmic planetary and star movements which was the foundation for after death dimensions where souls would go to live in paradise.

When the sideways story arc came into view, many fans thought that the sci-fi element of a parallel universe would explain it. It had its merits. One, there are many writers who believed that there are several parallel universes, like onion skin layers, that contain the same people, places and events but are shaped solely by the decisions individuals make at key points in time.  For example, if Jack did not ask out Sarah in universe one, then Jack would wind up with Juliet in universe two.

Two, other writers believe that scientists like Einstein calculated that there may be as many as 26 separate dimensions that compose of our known universe. The idea of another dimension was used to explain the anomalies in time and space formulas. It also may be a crutch to dream that if there are other dimensions, our laws of physics may not apply - - - which could result in objects going faster than the speed of light.

Three, other people believe that we live in a plain of existence that overlaps into other worlds. For example, people believe that somewhere on the planet there is your double, a doppelganger. Others believe that their sixth sense is actually caused by encounters with one's self from another dimension. Finally, some people believe there is duality within each of us: that the conscious and subconscious mind operate in two different universes in which they cross over when the mind rests in a dream state.

A multiverse explanation would diminish the poor writing and continuity errors in the sideways story arc. But it would be such a bad McGuffin that most fans really don't want to go down that tired road.

THE MAYAN EXAMPLE

The Island had a mix of artifacts from ancient to modern civilizations. There were Egyptian temples to modern science research facilities. There were many places where tests were conducted, and/or where the LOST characters had to pass test in order to survive.

In trying to find an analogy to help clarify the concepts lost by TPTB when the series concluded, one can find context by examining the Mayan culture.

In the Mayan culture, the underworld was called Xibalba, as a place below the surface of the Earth associated with death and with twelve gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba, often referred to as demons and are given commission and domain over various forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, and ultimately death. These Lords all work in pairs to sicken people's blood; to cause people's bodies to swell up; to turn dead bodies into skeletons; to hide in the unswept areas of people houses and stabbed them to death; andto cause people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road. The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of one of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.


Xibalba was a large place and a number of individual structures or locations within Xibalba, among these was the council place of the Lords, the five or six houses that served as the first tests of Xibalba, and the Xibalban ballcourt.

Xibalba seemed to be rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone who came into the city. Even the road to Xibalba was filled with obstacles: first a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, and then a river filled with pus. Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from between four roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse and beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, one would come upon the Xibalba council place, where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords. Realistic mannequins were seated near the Lords to confuse and humiliate people who greeted them, and the confused would then be invited to sit upon a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into one of Xibalba's deadly tests.

The city was home to at least six deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The first was Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The second was Rattling House or Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold and rattling hail. The third was Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. The fourth was Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats, and the fifth was Razor House, filled with blades and razors that moved about of their own accord. A sixth test, Hot House, filled with fires and heat, is identified. The purpose of these tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they could not outwit the test.

This underworld contained 9 levels. For those souls who could finish their journey, there was the possibility of 13 levels of heaven.

What was the LOST series to the characters but "rife with tests, trials, and traps for anyone" who came to the Island. Much of the island action centered upon long treks through the jungle, fighting off unknown forces, and dealing with people like Ben whose main purpose was "to confuse and humiliate people."

What greater "test" was Ben bringing Sawyer to the cliff face of the island and pointing to Sawyer's chest scar to tell him he implanted a device that would explode if he ever left the island. Was it true? Was it a bluff? Was it shear madness? But it did cause Sawyer to change his own plans to stay on the island until the miracle Ajira plane take off at the End. We do not know when Frank got the plane off the ground whether Sawyer's chest sprayed the cabin with his blood and guts, but we do know that Sawyer found his way to the afterlife party.

Jacob was another character to used, abused, confused and tormented other people that he brought to his Island realm. Jacob may have thought it a evil diversion with his brother, using human pawns, like two Lords of the Mayan underworld playing a game.

Since the biggest unanswered LOST factor was what the Island actually was, we can only speculate on what it could represent in order to fashion a coherent, orderly and plausible end result.

TIME LINES

There are seven possible story constructions for LOST. Whether the flashbacks, island world or the sideways world are real or fake (imaginary). A chart is helpful:


(FB=I) means flashbacks are in sync with island
(I*SW) means the island and sideways are not in sync
(Wild Card) means island and sideways world are both correct.

The context of LOST can vary depending on the final Context. From this analysis, it is more probable that the flashbacks and island time lines correlate. Jacob infers such as he has watched the candidates, and the island characters have referenced their flashbacks.

It is interesting to note the wild card possibilities:

the Flashbacks and Sideways are real and the island is not; and
the Flashbacks are false but the Island and Sideways are real (but in different dimensions?)

The finale needs to confirm one of these story constructions otherwise the context of the characters actions cannot be considered in their true light.