LOST-Theories.com

A simplified examination of time travel, paradoxes, course correction and other phenomenon in the LOST universe

— Billy_G_Oat

Some edits intended to better explain a point or offer more conclusive proof of a theory. Thursday, April 03 at 2:20 pm.

Edited credits from end to beginning. Corrected spelling of Novikov from Noviki. Added new wiki source and improved grammar under Novikov section. Thursday, April 03, 4:20 pm.

Edited to add Preface on April 05, 2008, 4:00 pm

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Preface

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It’s clear from the comments by ravenontheleft here:

http://www.lost-theories.com/theories/2008/apr/05/rumor-mill-and-why-time-travel/

regarding my post here:

http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/apr/03/dr-manhattan-or-how-i-learned-/

that I was far too general when I discussed some, if not all, of my points, despite the growing size of the presentation. It is not my intention to ruin anyone’s day or sway the masses toward or against a particular theory. This is simply how I “perceive” some of the events of LOST to date.

I didn’t want to start a whole new post in reply to ravenontheleft’s rebuttal simply for me revisit the same subjects and themes in my previous post. So I’m just adding this preface to the beginning. I’ve kept it as short as possible so that those who’ve already read the previous information can quickly catch up on the addition.

I encourage all readers to visit the other theories and form their own opinions.

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Original Theory - Dr. Manhattan and The Watchmen

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My suggestion (it’s certainly not my theory) is that Desmond is not time traveling in the traditional sense of the word and is able to see time as the past, present and future simultaneously, as shown by the character Dr. Manhattan in The Watchmen comic. He either always had this ability to some degree or inadvertantly received this ability when he turned the failsafe key. I propose that Desmond’s life is predetermined, in tragic and poetic way, like that of James Cole in 12 Monkeys, so that he is both the a cause and a solution to the events Mrs. Hawking suggests alter and destroy the universe as we know it.

I mean to suggest that Desmond’s ability to “experience” time simultaneously and non-linearly does not allow him to change events because his struggle is a literary one, not one of free will, but of destiny. I believe that the producers still refer to this as time travel because there is no better term for his unique flashback/flashforward experiences.

The one major paradox, as ravenontheleft pointed out, seems to be the appearance of the quote “If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.” in Daniel’s notebook. He seems surprised and/or relieved that he’s found this in his notebook. However, that doesn’t mean that the quote didn’t exist in his book prior to his discovering it. It’s just as plausible that he didn’t remember writing it, just as he didn’t remember meeting Desmond.

This implies that Desmond is affecting time, to which I argue semantics. I’m suggesting that these events were always meant to occur and Desmond has changed nothing because he always did the things he did. Why would he not know who Daniel was in the present? I don’t know. I’m sure his sense of time and memories is very confusing to him and Daniel did have a considerably different appearance in 1996 compared to that of the present.

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Why I Stopped Worrying About Time Travel and Learned to Love Course Correction

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Subtle, and not so subtle, hints have been inferred from the use of names and formulas associated with scientists involved in the study of theoretic physics, such as Faraday, Kerr, Minkowski and others. However, there are just as many implications to the opposite and spiritual/philosphical explanation as shown by the use of character names and books, such as Locke, Rosseau and Hume. Not to mention the biblical/theology references that are equally mentioned on the show, such as names like Ben, Jacob, Christian and Shephard which suggest some greater power at work.

The title of the original article was intended to point out how I don’t think time travel is something to worry about, whether it appears in LOST or not. More important than the time travel element is the actual “course correction” element, which implies some sort of predestination for our islanders, and particularly for Desmond. I have faith that the writers, should a more traditional form of time travel appear in the show, use it to further the drama, suspense and mystery we’ve all come to love.

It is on a strictly emotional level that I oppose any form of physical time travel that might alter the course of events we’ve come to accept in almost 4 seasons. In fact, it would be a tremendous disappointment to me to know that I watched 6 seasons of a show that really didn’t happen the way I viewed them because some event in history was changed.

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The Orchid “Orientation” Film

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The one blatant exception to some form of “physical time travel” has been the Orchid Orientation Film. In the Orchid Orientation film, the Casimir Effect is mentioned, further fueling time travel theories via the use of wormholes, which are theoretically possible and even plausible in the show considering the “unique” electromagnetic properties of the island. To oversimplify things, wormholes can be visualized as tunnel between two universes or even between two times in the same universe. This suggests that the duplicate rabbit shown in the Orchid Film was somehow transported as a past, future or alternate timeline version of the same rabbit already present in our universe. The “complete” video can be found here:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Orchid

Unfortunately, the Orchid film has never been shown, in part or in whole, on the television show LOST. There has also been no mention of an actual Orchid Station in the show. It has been stated by producers that the film was “spliced” together from pieces found in Norway which is obviously a fictional account of non-existant events and may imply it’s presentation is incomplete.

I cannot refute the events of the Orchid Film, however I do not believe we are to take them as literal events that occured. Equally believable is that it appears to be more of a parody of an actual orientation film presented to fans of the show at ComicCon and is not to be considered canon. While the film may hold some truth as to what the Dharma Initiative was up to, it may simply be a ruse, as it has not appeared on network television or on ABC’s website. It was only distributed via youtube and other viral sites.

However, it’s just as plausible that the Orchid Film, should it be considered canon, was staged by Dharma to frighten the occupants of the Orchid Station into performing some sort of task. Equally plausible, and supportive of wormhole theorists, is that Dharma was able to create a wormhole, based on the Casimir Effect, to transport chosen people to and from the island, not through time, per say, but most definitely through space. This would explain the Polar bear in Africa, the airplane from Nigeria and other seemingly impossible events.

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Preface Summary

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I am not opposed to theories of astral projection, teleportation or paranormal activity that explain long distant, instantaneous physical travel from one location to another. Some of these theories also explain the whispers, smoke monster and other mysteries. And while science does not necessarly make a distinction between space and time, suggesting they are irrevocably linked together by their nature, I do make that distinction. I distinguish the travel across space and the travel through time as two differnt things, even if they are based on the same principles. But, of course, I’m no scientist, nor do I claim to have an even minimal understanding of the theories of Einstein, Ker, Hawking or others.

I hope this helps better organize my thoughts and continue to promote the ideas of wormholes, vile vorteces or time travel that isn’t counterproductive to the story so far.

Here is some additional reading that may be relavent:

Vile Vortices - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vile_Vortices

Time travel for beginners - http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/John_Gribbin/timetrav.htm

Thanks to ravenontheleft for his intelligent debate and criticism:

http://www.lost-theories.com/theories/2008/apr/05/rumor-mill-and-why-time-travel/

Thanks segwaypirate for his highly rated thoughts on Noviki’s theory:

http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/apr/01/novikov-self-consistency-princ/

And

Veefre - I’m not being sarcastic here even though I have been in the past, thanks for being skeptical of attempts to explain fantasy with science. I don’t believe we will ever have conclusive answers to all the mysteries of LOST, but I hope the science-inspired plot devices are still plausible in the writers’ fantasy world. Regardless, it’s fun to think about and postulate ideas that might explain some or all of the mysteries.

Continue reading if you want, but it’s unecessary at this point. Only time will tell what the writers of LOST are up to and my attempts to explain events before they are revealed is an act of futility.

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original post

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Here is the original post with some minor edits that occured prior to writing the “Preface” section.

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Credits

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None of these ideas are particularly mine. While I was writing this document over the course of a couple of days, someone else brought up Novikov’s theory here and I wanted to make sure it was properly credited as well as some other posts that I unintentionally “borrowed”:

http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/apr/01/novikov-self-consistency-princ/

http://www.lost-theories.com/theories/2007/oct/21/time-travelparadox-not-really-/

http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/mar/26/when-des-met-jack/

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Introduction

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First off, let me apologize for the extraordinary length of this post. And let me say that little of what I write here comes from my mind. It’s a compilation of information and facts, discovered and theorized by others, and presented in what I hope is a coherent and organized fashion so that I may make a point. Most of the information is taken from:

http://www.lostpedia.com - Unofficial LOST encyclopedia

http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing - the actual episodes

http://wikipedia.org/ - non-fiction source

Second off, this is not a theory, per say. In a way, it’s an effort to debunk other theories and inspire more creative theories which don’t rely so heavily on science-fiction because

A) I think that LOST as a show must appeal to a mass audience and its explanations cannot be overly complicated or scientific or they’ll run the risk of disappointing millions of viewers week to week.

And

B) I don’t presume to be intelligent enough to understand the theories of Einstein, Minkowski, Hawking or even Faraday anymore than the average television viewer.

If further clarification of anything I regard as common knowledge is required, or you simply don’t believe me, I’ll be happy to try to find the source. Lastly, there are several spoilers in this writing that reveal key plot points of several non-LOST films. If you should not like to know this information, I suggest you stop reading.

And so I begin…

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Time Travel in LOST and the problem of paradoxes

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Many fans of LOST like to speculate about time travel. Many fans of LOST are also fans of Back to the Future, The Terminator, Donnie Darko and other films involving time travel. But the numbers of theories out there that use time travel to explain the mysteries of the LOST is shocking. They all seem to be forgetting one thing… There is no conventional time travel in the LOST universe.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Debunkedtheories*TimeTravel

Theory: One or more of the characters traveled in a time machine or went through something that involved time travel (as conventionally related in the science fiction genre).

“There isn’t any time travel.” However, the events of “Flashes Before Your Eyes” appear to contradict that

Though the writers have said “no time travel” specifically, Damon Lindelof also drops the hint that time may move differently on the island.

So, let’s be specific. There is no physical time travel on LOST. This would be the act of a person and their body leaving one time and visiting another time, usually via a technology. This presents one enormous problem that would become an obstacle or, even worse, a crutch, for the writers - the paradox. One example is the grandfather paradox which states that if a time traveler went back in time and killed his grandfather before his father was born, then he would never be born and could not have traveled back in time to kill his grandfather.

To be less specific this implies that a time traveler cannot change the past without changing both the present and the future and the changes he makes may put his future self and events at risk. This also leads to more detailed paradoxes, such as the Butterfly Effect, as shown in the movie The Butterfly Effect and the Sound of Thunder where even the slightest, smallest change in the past can result in ripple of cause and effect events which would create catastrophic and enormous changes in the present and future.

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Alternate Dimensions and Parallel Universes

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One easy way out of this conundrum is to create an alternate dimension or parallel universe. In Back to the Future, we’re told, in no simple terms, that Marty McFly has endangered his future self by affecting events which lead to his parents’ marriage and his conception. But Marty McFly’s existence would therefore be immediately and irreparably destroyed. Instead, he course corrects the timeline and encourage a relationship between his parents. However, when he returns to the present, he finds that everything has changed slightly. This results in a story which relies on both a parallel universe AND the Butterfly Effect. It introduces a paradox, but then allows the paradox to continue by implying (through Doc Brown’s chart) that the universe is a different universe than the one Marty McFly left. Furthermore, even if Marty was able to correct the events he had changed, he would not be able to return to his own universe, but would return to the present of his recently created parallel universe. I know, it’s all a bit confusing considering how fun and entertaining the trilogy was. Fortunately, none of it matters:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/OfficialLostAudioPodcasttranscript/February28%2C2008

Damon Lindelof: Just a quick sort of side note in terms of the way that we deal with time travel on the show - we are very paradox averse; that is to say, when our characters are time traveling, nothing that they do can change the present or the future that you have seen. Which is different than you know, the conventional Back to the Future time travel story telling.

Carlton Cuse: The hard thing about this episode was actually structuring the time travel elements - or consciousness traveling elements - and avoiding paradox. But that again is something that I think a lot of people have speculated about - “are there parallel futures, are there sort of multiple universes and worlds that exist in the future depending on how events in the past play out?” and that is not our intention.

DL: Yeah, and Ms. Hawking basically explained those rules in the first episode, “Flashes Before Your Eyes” where she basically said that the universe has a way of course correcting, so even if you did something in the past that you didn’t do before, somehow the sort of fabric of time like swoops in around you and fixes everything so things don’t go off the rails.

Fans have tried to avoid the time travel paradox with theories of wormholes, gravitational event horizons and other science inspired explanations. So… if we are to take the producers and writers at their word (and why shouldn’t we, they haven’t lied to us yet), then we MUST rule out physical time travel, parallel universes, alternate timelines and any other form of time travel that may create a major paradox.

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Novikov’s Self Consistency Principle

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Before I define the principle, let me illustrate with two examples. There is one fictional world that has handled time travel in an interesting but flawed way. In the Terminator franchise paradoxes occur, but have no effect on the overall timeline of the events in the present or future. Two major paradoxes, among some minor others, occur in the first two films. The first is that John Connor sends a man back to the present that impregnates Sarah Connor. Her child turns out to be the John Connor. Obviously, the events of the present rely on the events of the future to occur, but the events of the future cannot occur if the events of the present to not exist. The paradox. The second is that the terminator is sent back in time by Skynet to kill John Connor, but after his defeat his arm is later found by a scientist who goes on to create the Skynet that sends the terminator back in time creating a dependent loop which is impossible in a single timeline.

As the Terminator franchise evolved into Terminator 3, we learned that despite John Connor’s efforts as a young man, the apocalypse still occurs. The Terminator television show expands on the events between Terminator 2 and Terminator 3 with further attempts to change the future. However, unless the franchise chooses to ignore Terminator 3, the results will be the same. Skynet will destroy civilization and rule the world with artificially intelligent robot technology. Bummer.

Still, there is one particular movie that employs Novikov’s theory in a reasonable and poetic way - 12 Monkeys. James Cole is sent back in time to find out the source of a virus which eventually destroys civilization as we know it. However, he is sent back to the incorrect year. Cole arrives in the past naked and confused. Throughout the movie he is haunted by memories from his childhood in which he witnesses a man being shot at the airport. Each time he remembers this, the events of the memory change slightly, as if he is still piecing it together in his mind or something he changes alters his memory. When he is returned to the present, it seems that none of the things he did in the past changed the reality of the present and he informs the scientists that he was sent to the wrong time.

He’s sent back again, this time to the correct time – a few days before the virus is discovered - and eventually he comes to find out that the people suspected of creating the virus were inspired to reek havoc by his first visit into the past. By the end of the film he not only finds out that the people suspected of creating the virus had little to do with it, but he also inadvertently helps find the real source of the virus so it can be reverse engineered in the present. And in a tragic series of events, unstoppable by Cole, he finds out that the man he witnessed being shot as a child was his present self in the past, revealing that his memories were accurate all along. None of the things he changed affected the present, but in fact were always meant to play out that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel

12 Moneys is a loose example of “Novikov’s self-consistency principle” as described in wikipedia’s article on time travel. Persons “traveling through a wormhole”, like the one created by the scientists in 12 Monkeys, “could never engender paradoxes” because “there are no initial conditions that lead to paradox once time travel is introduced.” This suggests that a time traveler could never endanger events in the past which might prevent his traveling back from the future. Another use of this principle states that “if his results can be generalised, they would suggest, curiously, that none of the supposed paradoxes formulated in time travel stories can actually be formulated at a precise physical level: that is, that any situation you can set up in a time travel story turns out to permit many consistent solutions. The circumstances might, however, turn out to be almost unbelievably strange.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novikovself-consistencyprinciple

Basically, and I’m simplifying things dramatically, this theory allows for the ignoring the Butterfly Effect and assuming that major events in a timeline will occur regardless of how many minor events in that timeline are changed. This theory also allows that space/time is flexible and able to tolerate infinite minor changes so long as major events still take place. Still, Novikov’s theory doesn’t actually disprove the paradox exists. It does, however, attempt to justify them by implying that whatever happens will always happen. It truly is a synergetic theory which combines free will and destiny.

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Free Will vs. Destiny

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A common theme in LOST has been that of free will vs. destiny. John Locke seems to believe that the island, on some level, has chosen everyone for a reason while Jack Shephard has insisted that free will governs all. These two characters have been at odds since the debut of the show. We’ve come to accept that because there are so many connections between the survivors of flight 815 that there must be a greater force at work – one which decides the fate of our survivors. But Six Degrees of Separation clearly shows that none of us, including our beloved survivors, are all that far apart from one another on a world wide scale. Only 71 of 324 passengers, excluding Vincent the dog, survived the crash. Of those, only a couple of dozen are featured in important roles with concise back stories. And even those people did not know each other personally. They are connected via coincidences which are not all that unreasonable because of the events that led them to Australia and eventually onto flight 815.

That’s not to say these coincidences don’t have some deeper meaning in the mythology of LOST. It only implies that “coincidence should not be mistaken for fate.” On the other hand, it does appear that at least some of the connections between characters have been manipulated by outside forces. Desmond, however, seems to walk a line. He seems to be the center of the story in terms of our survivors. Sure, the island has been around for ages. Sure, the Hanso and Dharma had been using the island for experiments. Sure, Ben and the Others have some connection to the island which existed long before Desmond’s arrival. But it is Desmond’s role in LOST which represents a battle with the cosmos. He is not battling another person over a belief system… he is at war with the universe.

What may be inferred by Desmond’s story, as opposed to John’s and Jack’s stories, is that there doesn’t have to be a difference between free will and destiny. This is a common debate by theologians. God gave man free will, yet he has a plan for the universe. Everyday people claim that if something is God’s will it will happen – “The Lord works in mysterious ways” - implying that He has some playbook that determines what we do. So is it man’s will or God’s will that governs our decision making process? A more plausible answer is that it’s both. The choices you make day to day are irrelevant compared to the events that govern the space/time continuum. One does not have to be independent of the other.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Official_LostPodcasttranscript/February20%2C2007

DL: Uh, for the first time in the history of the show we actually allowed a character to have an opportunity to make a different choice than they make before and, uh, Desmond doesn’t. He is, he’s, he, he is, he is course corrected by, by a certain mysterious, uh, older lady in a ring shop.

CC: Yes, exactly. More on destiny later in the series.

DL: Exactly. It is our destiny to talk more about destiny.

CC: Yes, because that’s a factor

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Linear Time

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The events of LOST are linear from point A to point Z. Events that occur in flash backs or flash forwards are still linear; they are just presented to the viewer in a non-linear fashion. In other words, just because we see event T come before event M, doesn’t mean those events actually occurred in that order. It simply means that for the purposes of drama, story telling and plot secrecy, that the events are intentionally revealed out of order. But while the events on the island are also linear, that is to say they occur from point A to point Z; they also seem to occur at a different pace, either slower or faster, than that of the outside world.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Debunkedtheories*TimeTravel

“Damon Lindelof also drops the hint that time may move differently on the island; for example, at Comic Con ‘06, where he responded to one fan’s question with: “It’s interesting that you should ask about time because… you know… you’re making a basic assumption that they’ve been there, y’know, as long as they think they’ve been there.”

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/The_Constant

“According to the calendar on the wall, as well as Desmond, the real-time events of this episode take place on Day 94 (Christmas Eve) when Sayid, Desmond and Frank left the Island. This seems to mean that while it is Day 94 on the freighter, it is actually Day 96 on the Island.”

But let’s backtrack…

There is no time travel in LOST.

This means many theories about LOST involving physical time travel can immediately be refuted by the producer’s / writer’s statements. Things like “Jack and Kate went back in time and started Dharma”, or “Jack and Juliet will travel through time and stop purge so Dharma can continue.” So far nothing in the show has proven that anyone is time traveling. The very term is being misused. Desmond is doing something much different.

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Inherent Omnipresent Awareness of the Space/Time Continuum, or: The Watchmen

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http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Watchmen

Damon Lindelof called Watchmen “the greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced”. Source: Entertainment Weekly

Also, writer Brian K. Vaughan, who is best known for his works in the field of comics, cited Watchmen as “definitely” the inspiration for his start as a writer.

There are many locations and events in the story that bear similarity to locations and events on the island, just as many other literary tales have crept into the show or inspired its mythology. To be specific, though, one of the main characters in The Watchmen is Dr. Manhattan. Due to a tragic accident, a character named Jon becomes a god-like figure with superhuman powers, including the ability to experience time – past, present and future - simultaneously. He later goes by the name Dr. Manhattan, presumably named after the Manhattan Project. Despite this ability to see all time simultaneously, he still exists in the present and is unable, or possibly unwilling, to change the past in order to effect the present or future. This relates directly to Desmond. Only his mind is traveling into the past/future, retaining the knowledge he has of the present.

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Changing the Past

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Now, the events of “Flashes Before Your Eyes” at the time they aired suggested that Desmond’s recollection of the past was an alternate timeline. In other words, Desmond was remembering his past differently than it actually occurred and was able to distinguish those differences because he retained some knowledge of his original timeline.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Official_LostPodcasttranscript/February20%2C2007

”Damon Lindelof: Absolutely, but I think what’s interesting is there are, there are certain things that happen the way that they used to happen, that he changed as a result of being in the past, that might sort of resonate over time, you know. Like getting hit in the face, instead of the bartender, or the fact that the photograph of he and Penny got take uh - got, got taken the day that he broke up with her. Maybe, maybe in a, in another incarnation there were two photographs, you know. Maybe they, maybe they’ve, maybe there was a two for.”

But again, the producers / writers have suggested that there is only one timeline in the show. Desmond is simply observing “Novikov’s self-consistency principle” and anything he did to lead to the events as we know them in the present will still occur in his past even if he attempts to change them – a.k.a. course correction.

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Changing the Future

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The events that occur between “Flashes Before Your Eyes” and “The Constant” all have to do with Desmond’s ability to see future events and his inability to prevent, or encourage, their long term outcome. Five specific premonitions occur, although more may have been unseen by the audience. The first was his prediction of John’s speech about rescuing Jack, Kate and Sawyer. The second predicted Charlie dying in a lighting strike. The third predicted Charlie drowning while trying to rescue Claire. The fourth predicted Charlie drowning while trying to capture a pigeon for Claire. And the fifth was seeing Charlie drown in the Looking Glass Station.

That has encouraged people to think that he, or other characters, could somehow effect the present and/or future by changing the past and inspired all sorts of speculative time travel based theories. But this is where the paradox comes into play. Should he, for example, decide to go ahead with is marriage to Penny (I think we can all agree that that would be a major change in the LOST timeline since Mrs. Hawking shows up at this time), he would never go to the island, he would never cause flight 815’s crash, and the events of the LOST as we know it would simply not exist. We would experience lost time because 6 seasons would have a crappy ending. That would suck.

Thankfully, the writers have been faithful to their word though. Nothing Desmond has done in the past has effected the present. Intentionally or unintentionally, the writers have adhered to “Novikov’s self-consistency principle”. That said Desmond can affect the future because the future has not happened yet. The flashes he has of the future are possible outcomes that fan off from a point in the present at which he has his flash. They are not alternate or parallel universes. They are simply pieces of a puzzle that imply one possible outcome of cause and effect. Desmond is able to temporarily change the effect from happening because he prevents the cause. But despite Desmond’s efforts, “Novikov’s self-consistency principle” takes hold and the universe course corrects to make certain that major events will still occur.

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Understanding the Present

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What was unique about “The Constant” was that instead of revisiting the past with knowledge of the future, Desmond was visiting the present with the limited knowledge of his past self. In other words, in both the present time and flash back scenes, we are witnessing the consciousness of past Desmond. The knowledgeable and wise Desmond of the present seems to have been lost in time. In a sense, the present becomes a flash forward, but only for Desmond.

While it seems that Desmond is doing something different in the past in “The Constant”, none of the changed past events in any episode have affected any past or present events of any other episodes. Several episodes are important to understanding this. A general timeline of Desmond’s life can be seen at

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Desmond

For example, Desmond still leaves Penny. He still joins the military. He still goes to prison. He still gets dishonorably discharged. He still gets out of prison. He still gets Libby’s boat. Desmond still meets Penny and Jack at the stadium. He still goes on the sailing race. He still crashes on the island. He still pushes the button. He still causes the crash of flight 815… and on and on and on.

In fact, the recent “changes” to past events of “The Constant” only further reinforce the past events of previous episodes. The reason he leaves Penny is because Mrs. Hawking explains the consequences if he does not. The reason he goes to prison is likely that he went AWOL after he visited Penny to get a “constant” phone number. The reason he joins the sailing race is because he knows he must get to the island. While the cause of the events may be altered, their effect is the same.

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Additional Notes: Free Will vs. Destiny

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As it turns out, Charlie was most likely the only survivor who could have entered the code which turns off the jamming device because the code was musical by nature, proving that Desmond could not have taken his place and his attempts to change what was no longer the future but the present, could not be carried out. The universe had spoken and there would be no more delays Charlie’s death was to be so.

But this also raises another question. If the islanders are supposed to leave then Charlie was never really in any danger until the events of the Looking Glass. Therefore Desmond’s rescues were based on flashes that were inaccurate, or possibly misunderstood.

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Summary

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Let’s review. There is no time travel. There are no alternate or parallel dimensions. There are no alternate timelines. Time on the island is altered from time in the real world, but it is not a separate timeline. The story is linear from beginning to middle to end, but the events that make up that story are told in non-linear fashion. Desmond has gained the ability to “see” the past and future, but his attempts to use this information in the past or present have the same results.

Let’s use an elementary example.

Example 1: Two men in Los Angeles have an appointment to meet in New York. The first man travels by car. The second man travels by train. Both men arrive at the appointment on time.

Example 2: Let’s flash back. The first man who traveled by car, now decides he wants to take a bus. The second man does not change his plans and still takes the train.

Both men arrive at their appointment on time, yet the first man experiences drastically different events during the trip. There are an infinite amount of changes that have occurred, from the people he meets. But had he not ridden the bus, the bus would still have carried all of its other passengers to New York without issue. The major event is completed in both examples, but in different ways.

I hope the above information has convinced someone, somewhere not to post another “So and so is went into the past…” or “So and so will go into the future” theories.

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The Rationality Theorem: or Mrs. Hawking the Timelord

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edited: This section was intended to mention a suspicion I had had when rewatching the Desmond related scenes. It was not intended to be the focus of this article, but because of it’s length, it may be perceived that way. So, to further explain this theory I have edited this section, and this section only, to better present my ideas as ACTUAL theory.

I am not convinced that Desmond hasn’t always had the ability to see events in a non-linear fashion or that the flashbacks we’ve seen have not included a form of a more present time Desmond that has retained some knowledge of the future and applied it to the major events which determine his path in life. It’s possible that he was already capable of such visions and it’s not until he turns the failsafe key and the hatch implodes that he can process these flashes as visions of a possible future. Previously, he may have shrugged off such visions as déjà vu or daydreams. Or it’s possible that now that he has the ability, he is still learning to control it. In the meantime, he regularly revisits memories with some knowledge of the present.

It is the events of “The Constant” which suggest that Desmond has always had the ability to see outside of the present or has traveled to what we have previously considered simple flashbacks with his present knowledge. As the flashbacks appear in Catch-22 regarding Charlie’s death, are presumably identical in nature to the flashes past Desmond has after returning from the freighter in “The Constant”. To the past Desmond, his trips to the freighter would seem like glimpses of the future presented in pieces, which is how he explains the flashes in “Catch-22”. Additionally, despite his numerous changes to the timeline in both “Flashes Before Your Eyes” and “The Constant”, none of his supposed changes have affected the timeline and events continue to occur as they always have.

Aside from the dialogue and events themselves, there is no concrete evidence of this theory being fact. However, some things can be presumed. Assuming Mrs. Hawking is a human being and not some sort of supernatural apparition, we can presume that she has consciously traveled back in time along side Desmond in “Flashes Before Your Eyes”. In order for her to know that Desmond attempts to marry Penny, she must sense a ripple in the space/time continuum. She seeks to intercept his decision by replacing her past self’s consciousness with her present self’s consciousness and prevent Desmond from further altering the timeline. Or, more accurately, she is aware of the timeline - past, present and future - simultaneously and has always known that Desmond doesn’t marry Penny. You could probably explain it other ways as well. One thing’s for certain, Mrs. Hawking is Obi Wan Kenobi to Desmond’s Luke Skywalker… The Oracle to Neo. She is the wise sage of every mythological story, who explains our heroes powers, abilities and destiny.

Further evidence in “The Constant” explains some other issues. Present Desmond goes to the past where he meets Charlie in the street. But when Present Desmond is restored to his present self and Past Desmond is restored to his past self, there is a problem. Past Desmond would not have experienced meeting Charlie on the street, only Present Desmond would.

What this means is that he could only remember Charlie AFTER he traveled into the past. Curiously, Desmond’s entirely life would be filled with seemingly missing memories of the past which would flood back to his present self in the form of “flashbacks” and his past self would always be haunted by nightmares and daydreams of the future which he might pass off as confusion or deja vu. It’s only when he finds a constant that his consciousness can begin piecing together his dreams, memories and visions as a single simultaneously occuring timeline. Once this happens he will have a greater understanding of his life, purpose and influence on the mythology of LOST. He will become a skilled consciousness traveler like that of Mrs. Hawking.

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The Proof Is In The Pudding

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edited: This section has been slightly modified and now has a title in an effort to seperate it from the actual theory. The following is a detailed list of Desmond appearances with short notes of relevance regarding his possible out of body/time travel experiences.

Watching the episodes which feature Desmond often reveals a new perspective when you’ve considered this theory. Seemingly irrelevant dialogue takes on new meaning. I encourage everyone to watch the following episodes, either on DVD or on ABC’s home page, with the presumption that Desmond already is, or will eventually become, skilled enough in his “consciousness traveling” to appear in flashbacks as his present self. I’ll be as brief as possible as I point out some of the key moments in episodes:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Man_ofScience%2CManofFaith

At 30:25 pay attention to Desmond conversation with Jack in the stadium. He has an interesting conversation with Jack in which he states that he was almost a doctor once. He reveals that he’s training for a race around the world and inquires about Jack’s patient Sarah. Jack says he couldn’t fix Sarah, but Desmond asks, “What if you did fix her…” When Jack implies that her circumstances are unusual, Desmond mentions miracles. He calmly gives Jack the advice, “You have to lift it up.” But it sounds like “You have to lift her up.” When Jack questions Desmond’s meaning, Desmond changes to a more joking tone and tells Jack, “You have to lift it up, your leg.” This time he clearly says “it”, not “her”. They part ways and Desmond says, “See you in another life, yeah?”

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Adrift

16:16 – Desmond finds out that flight 815 crashed 44 days earlier and visibly confused by this

25:34 –Jack recognizes Desmond

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Orientation

5:43 – Desmond exclaims that everyone will die, paralleling Mrs. Hawking’s statement that everyone will die if Desmond does not push the button

7:39 – Desmond recognizes Jack

35:04 – Desmond has another conversation with Jack who says, “Why are you running? You don’t even know what you’re running from!” This causes Desmond to recall their meeting in the stadium. Jack is reminded of Sarah informs Desmond that he married Sarah. Desmond acts as though he should have known this, saying “Right… And you’re not married to her anymore then.” Desmond realizes that the miracle he spoke of with Jack came true and calmly says “See you in another life, yeah?” before heading off into the jungle

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Three_Minutes

The survivors mourn the loss of Libby and Ana Lucia when Sun notices Desmond’s boat floating just off the beach camp’s shore.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Man_ofScience%2CManofFaith

2:01- Desmond recognizes Jack.

3:40 – Desmond compares his existence to that of being inside a snow globe.

5:14 – Desmond explains that he hasn’t read “Our Mutual Friend” yet because he’s saving it as the last book he reads, presuming he knows when he will die, and later has a conversation with Charles Widmore.

13:35 – Desmond and Libby discuss the sailing race.

21:21 – Desmond declares the vaccine is a hoax.

22:06 – Desmond speaks with Penny prior to meeting Jack in the stadium.

Desmond says farewell to John, “See you in another life” and turns the failsafe key.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Further_Instructions

31:47 – Desmond and Hurley discuss his being naked, the failsafe key, the kidnapping of Jack, Kate and Sawyer, and John’s speech about their rescue… Desmond’s first premonition.

Also, during John’s hallucination in the sweat lodge, John points out Desmond but Boone says, “He’s helping himself.”

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Every_ManforHimself

Desmond prevents Charlie from being struck by lightning

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Flashes_BeforeYourEyes

Desmond prevents Charlie from drowning by rescuing Claire himself. Charlie and Hurley plan to get Desmond drunk in an effort to learn more about his visions.

Desmond has a “consciousness travel” within a flashback. First he flashes back to the events immediately prior to turning the failsafe key. Then, while in his flashback he flashes back further to events with Penny that led him to the island. Desmond in his flashback actually has the consciousness of his present self, but dismisses it as confusion or déjà vu. Many things remind him of his present self, such as the microwave beeping, the delivery man at Widmore’s building saying 815, and the model sail boat in Widmore’s office. He also runs into Charlie. Coincidently, Charlie is singing “Wonderwall” by Oasis, and we specifically hear the words, “And maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me. He remembers Charlie from his present but Charlie does not remember Desmond because he has yet to meet him.

He finds his friend Donovan and the two discuss the ideas of time travel. He eventually meets Mrs. Hawking who reveals that he’s not supposed to marry Penny. She knows his name and that he ends up on the island, entering numbers and ultimately turning the failsafe key. She claims that if he doesn’t do these things, everyone will die. This implies that if Desmond doesn’t follow the normal course of events in his life, a catastrophe will occur. When he debates with Mrs. Hawking she explains in greater detail his role in the universe and how his changes will be course corrected, possibly at greater risk then if he’d not changed things. After breaking up with Penny and returning to the bar, he is knocked on the head and returned to the events immediately after the turning of the failsafe key. Shortly thereafter he returns to the present and is still arguing with Charlie. He eventually calms down and tells Charlie of his premonitions and how Charlie is supposed to die.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Par_Avion

Desmond prevents Charlie’s death while trying to capture a pigeon for Claire.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Catch-22

Desmond’s premonitions are becoming more clear and accurate, though they are still fragmented because they are a possible outcome and not exactly predetermined. He sees Charlie’s death, Hurley finding the cable to the Looking Glass, and the arrival of an off-islander, whom he believes is Penny. There are lots of little clues about how Desmond’s flashes work, how they are becoming more and more understandable to Desmond, and why Charlie must eventually be allowed to die. He says the flashes change as he attempts to influence the events that occur in them.

During his flashbacks Desmond and Brother Campbell have some interesting conversations. Brother Campbell, who is seen to have a picture of him with Mrs. Hawking, says, “God tests our faith in many ways.” “Personally, Desmond, I never thought you’d last. So now I stand corrected… for whatever reason your path has led you here. Now you’re one of us.” And later when discussing the name of the wine Brother Campbell says, “Perhaps you underestimate the value of sacrifice.”

When he visits Ruth, his former fiancée, he says, “I had a calling… I raised my eyes and I asked, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’” “I knew I was supposed to go with him. I was supposed to leave everything that mattered behind. Sacrifice all of it for a greater calling.”

Later he’s confronted by Brother Campbell who says, “I’m afraid you’re beyond penance, Desmond.” “God has bigger plans for you than being a monk…” When Desmond asks, “What am I supposed to do now?” Brother Campbell responds, “Whatever comes next.”

Desmond prepares to leave the monastery and speaks to Brother Campbell. Desmond doubts that the abbey was just a step on his path and feels unsure about his future. Desmond meets Penny. They flirt and establish the beginnings of what will likely be the most important relationship in the mythology of LOST.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/D.O.C.

Desmond, Charlie, Hurley and Jin meet Mikhail and work together to save Naomi’s life, who delivers the shocking news that the wreckage of flight 815 was found and there were no survivors.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Greatest_Hits

Desmond has a premonition of Charlie’s death once again, but with the knowledge that Claire and Aaron will be “rescued” by helicopter. This sets in motion a chain of events that continues into “Through the Looking Glass” and forces, not Desmond, but Charlie to decide what amount of sacrifice is necessary to save his true love.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Through_theLookingGlass

Desmond makes one last attempt to convince Charlie not to dive to the Looking Glass station, volunteering to take Charlie’s place. But Charlie is destined to die. Under no circumstances can Charlie live. Even as the fateful moment approached, Desmond tried to talk Charlie out of diving to the station because he realized how much Charlie loved Claire. But Charlie has accepted his fate and knocks Desmond unconscious. Desmond also dove down, arguably to avoid Mikhail’s gunfire, to make sure Charlie was okay and try to save him again. This explains how Desmond was able to see details of the Looking Glass station in his premonitions

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/The_Constant

The events of this episode are much different than the events of “Flashes Before Your Eyes.” In that episode, Desmond’s present self revisited his past while his past self seemed in some sort of limbo. But in this episode it is Desmond’s past self which is seen bouncing back and forth between the past and the present. There are lots of other clues in this episode regarding the mythology of LOST, as can be seen in the enhanced version. But I’ll try to focus on Desmond.

The events of the past revolve around his time in basic training at the Royal Regiment in 1996, sometime after he left Penny but before he decided to join the sailing race. He relives his past with minor knowledge of the present which appear as nightmares and daydreams to him. He attempts to call Penny in order to gain some perspective on his situation, but she brushes him off as confused.

In present time Daniel Faraday speaks to the past Desmond via the satellite phone. He asks Desmond to find him in the past so that he can deliver a message regarding Daniels time travel device. When we next see Desmond in the past, he has retained some knowledge of the present, including the freighter and the island. He finds Daniel and delivers the message, but he doesn’t comprehend everything he’s seen in the present, just as he doesn’t comprehend everything he sees in the future. We can presume that while this occurs, the present Desmond is returned to the present or drifts off into unconsciousness.

Desmond mentions that Daniel ends up on an island, which he finds somewhat unbelievable. Daniel questions why he doesn’t remember Desmond in the present. Daniel presumably doesn’t remember Desmond because he’s suffered memory loss from prolonged exposure to the radiation from his own device. He also states that you can’t change the future. This has two meanings. The first of which is simple. You can’t change something that hasn’t happened yet. To Daniel, the future hasn’t occurred, but to Desmond, the future is already happening simultaneously with the past. The second is more complex, but simply relies on the Novikov theory that coincides with fate. Nothing Desmond does will alter the course of events destined to take place.

Eventually he explains the concept of a constant, used in equations as a known value, and says he must find a constant that he’s aware of in both his present and past consciousness. If he can’t do this his bouncing back and forth will continue with exponential frequency until his consciousness simply cannot cope anymore and he will die.

There is still one loose end at this point. Daniel’s rat, Eloise, was yet to be trained to run the maze. Yet when Daniel had supposedly sent her consciousness forward in time, she learned to run the maze because he had intended to teach her in about an hour’s time. It’s possible to explain this. Desmond passed out for roughly 75 minutes, during which time Daniel and Eloise are unseen, but Eloise eventually dies. It’s highly probable that Daniel had Eloise running the maze several times during those 75 minutes before she finally past on. While it is a paradox, it’s not entirely unexplained by Novikov’s theory. Had Desmond not shown up to tell Daniel the setting for his machine, Daniel most likely would have discovered the settings some other way. The universe would have course corrected.

Desmond rushes out of Daniel’s office on his way to find Penny. He faints, and we can now be certain that present Desmond is in some sort of time limbo. It is past Desmond that is bouncing from past to present and back. While in one time, his body in the other time is rendered unconscious. Desmond wakes in the past where he passed out and seeks out Charles Widmore hoping to find Penny’s whereabouts. Desmond gets Penny’s address from Charles.

Desmond visits Penny, saying, “I made a huge mistake. I should never have broken up with you. I know that now… It’s too late to change things.” “I know I’ve ruined things. I know you think things are over between us, but they’re not. If there’s any part of you that still believes in us… just…” “I won’t call for eight years. December the 24th, 2004… Christmas Eve.” Penny gives him a number.

Desmond returns to the present and gives Sayid the number which he enters into the phone. After many rings Penny does answer. “Desmond?!?” “I’ve been looking for you for the past three years. I know about the island. I’ll find you, Dez… no matter what.”

Key characters

Short Name	Full Name	Episodes	Theories
Desmond	Desmond David Hume	2.23, 3.17, 4.5	899
Mrs. Hawking	Mrs. Hawking		51

Key episodes

#	Title	Aired	Central character	Theories
3.21	Greatest Hits	5-16-2007	Charlie	174
3.17	Catch 22	4-18-2007	Desmond	126
3.8	Flashes Before Your Eyes	2-14-2007	Penny	243
2.23	Live Together, Die Alone	5-24-2006	Desmond	344
2.1	Man of Science, Man of Faith	9-21-2005	Shannon	207

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