Find 815… get out your calendar and start looking.

Originally posted February 8, 2008 under the username SchroedingersPolarBear

The producers have been pretty open with this… It’s not where is the island, but when. When is the island? Going back to last season, I liked the theory that the Swan station was the engine by which the island was kept… at a different time. Seemed pretty plausible. Suddenly the hatch goes kablooey, there’s a blip on the polar radar, quick call to Penny. It all seemed to add up.
But then there was ComicCon… welcome to the Orchid. Mister Hallowax shed some light — Candle? middleWICK? halloWAX? A pattern? Anyway — Hallowax gives us a bit a useful information about the Orchid Station, and more proof that at least part of the Dharma Initiative’s “work” has to do with time. What was it she said, “Negative 20… 9 minutes”? And the ominous countdown… to paradox maybe?

Most importantly, he makes mention of the Casimir effect; more theoretical physics, but the important thing to note is that the Casimir Effect is believed to expalin the possibility of stabilizing a wormhole. This stable wormhole would seem to be the primary entrance / egress from our island outside time.

Oh yes, back to time. So, if the Orchid is the wormhole, then the Swan is the Faraday Cage… thank you MollyCocktail. If you want to know more about this one, see Event Horizon, and pretend they say Wormhole instead of Black Hole. Anyway, all this goes to show that the Swan is not the engine holding the island back in time. in fact, I don’t think its a question of “back in time”. It’s a question of outside of time.

So “when is the island”? Depends on who you are. If you’re John Locke or Rose, the island is some time before they were hurt. If you’re Richard Alpert… maybe 200 years in the future. If the island can be “entered” from various points in time, if now on the island does not match the then from which the person came, then when can only be answered from the perspective of any given inhabitant. So, let’s look at an inhabitant we know… Benjamin Linus.

Ben was born some time around, or after 1969 (he gets picked up by a couple in a 1969 VW Karmann Ghia). He’s 10 when he first reaches the island: 1979. He lives with the Dharma folk until he’s at least 20… 1989. The Purge happens, 16 years ago, right? Still with me. 2005… at least… assuming the car was even brand new. Coulda been used. Coulda been 1972 when he was born, or he could have been 23 at the purge, we don’t know. But any of those things would make it 2008 by his reckonning… 2008, when a plane from 2004 lands in 2 pieces on his beach.

OK, even if you don’t like my Ben math, look at the Black Rock, 200 year old dynamite? Richard Alpert looks damn good for 232. The point… you can’t look at island time as parallel to “real time”. All we can say to “when is the island” is that it isn’t.

i think that i sort of understand what you are getting at,

black pearl?

nino_1 wrote:black pearl?

Shoot... I'll go edit that now. AC made the exact comment on the other site. I meant Black Rock.

It'll will be Black Rock by the next time you read this.

ha black pearl i did not even notice that

So the island is in different times for different people. Maybe thats why its so hard to get to it.

This theory was written after Season 3. I think Faraday's experiments in Season 4 kinda shot some holes in this one. At least as far as how to quantify the time varience. That's why as a responce to the new information presented in Season 4, I wrote Sines, Sines, everywhere Sines, not that I know that one is any better.

But, you are correct, HSM, as to what I meant at the time I wrote it.

Wow! I like this!

Caged_Faraday wrote:Originally posted February 8, 2008 under the username SchroedingersPolarBear

The point… you can’t look at island time as parallel to “real time”. All we can say to “when is the island” is that is isn’t.

I wonder if you could elaborate a little more on "is, isn't"
I am trying to grasp that concept. I like what you are saying, I just don't quite understand it. Does that make any sense?

katesawjack wrote:

Caged_Faraday wrote:Originally posted February 8, 2008 under the username SchroedingersPolarBear

The point… you can’t look at island time as parallel to “real time”. All we can say to “when is the island” is that it isn’t.

I wonder if you could elaborate a little more on "is, isn't"
I am trying to grasp that concept. I like what you are saying, I just don't quite understand it. Does that make any sense?

OK, I forgot to re-read this, and apparently, it's rife with typos. As now corrected, that line should have read "All we can say to “when is the island?” is that it isn’t."

The idea is that by reference to linear time as we know it in the real world, the Island exists beyond that. It's chronologically isolated. I know longer subscrive to that theory, as Faraday quantified the time displacement in "The Economist". Although the other concepts of this theory still hold water for me.

Hope I cleared that up.