YOUR THEORIES ARE ALL WRONG...heres why...

[straighttovideo]

ever seen sphere? well i did, michele crition...the monster in that manifested their fears and did pretty much everything you guys are currently talking about as the most popular theory. also see (actually dont, its crap made by the single worst A list director in hollywood Paul w.s. Anderson) EVENT HORIZON.

coincidentally sam neil starred in Jarassic park...based on another crition book...heh, six degrees of seperation

[chaos28]

Michael Crichton is the name.

And there was no "real" monster in Sphere.

[straighttovideo]

i half watched it when i was like 12, and thanks for the correction. all the same, hes overrated. 3/4 a great book each time, then stupid implausible coincidences save the day. look at JP. wtf was us with the T-rex showing up for no reason at the end killing the raptors.

though, the books final sucker punch with the quarantine and the mainland was really cool...to bad the follow ups didnt pass muster.

[chaos28]

Uhm... you haven't read the books of any of these, have you? The T-Rex didn't "save the day" in the book. They handled the raptors themselves. In fact, it was quite a cool scene, and much longer than the movie's; with more death, too!

[azteclady]

straittovideo,

Welcome

Care to read the other threads? - the ones that look for scientific explanations instead of miracles / resurrection / etc?

You may find some of those more to your liking... and perhaps you'll be less inclined to make such sweeping statements?


Beto

PS The movie version of most books leaves quite a bit to be desired by comparison.

[draub]

Another thing about Crichton is that he definately does a lot of research for his books. If you look in the back of many of his books, there are usually pointers to non-fiction reference that he throws in to show that he's not just pulling the facts out of his arse. I remember that in the back of Congo, for example, there was the reference information for his mention of the Chinese secret service being in the Congo...something that to my recollection didn't play any major role in the story (I think they got a sentence or a paragraph mention), yet something he took the time to research nonetheless.

Crichton is also an expert of the medical industry....he's written a few non-fiction books on the medical industry and plays a key role in the series E/R.

[bigmouth]

Why can't resurrection and fear manifestation have "scientific explanations?" And Draub is right, Crichton goes out of his way to cloak his books in pseudo-science.

The original post was wrong to dismiss competing theories. But truthfully, azteclady, I think you make some pretty sweeping statements yourself.

[maxpublic]

Why can't resurrection and fear manifestation have "scientific explanations?"

Possibly because there are no scientific explanations for either? And there don't need to be, since to the best of our knowledge no human has ever been resurrected, and no one's fears have ever manifested in the real world.

Max

[bigmouth]

As opposed to the bermuda triangle? (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Seriously, though, I think jacksgirl had it right: people are reading way, way, way too much into the writers' statements that the explanations will be pseudo-scientific. That can cover a lot of things, including what happened in Sphere, as well as some kind of resurrection/cloning scenario. I really think the writers mean to use that term loosely--the paradigm being Michael Crichton's work.

PS: People who were clinically dead have been brought back to life. Hell, Ted Williams's head sits frozen in a jar in hopes it can be reattached in the future. Obviously this isn't total science fiction...

[Aries7]

Hey Awesecond,

It it wasn't for a miracle last night in Yankmee Stadium, i would hope to see a cloned Ted Williams give batting practice to Hurley so he can beat the !@#$ out of Sawyer...Knowing Ted Williams, he could take a whole season giving the finer points of hitting....Remember, Williams was a pilot in WWII, perhaps he was the guy who fell out of the cockpit???

[bigmouth]

Hey Aries7,

Do you believe in miracles...? Yes!

Actually, my bet is that ted's the monster. We will learn in subsequent episodes that he is trailed by a dominican midget who is his daddy.

[Aries7]

You never know, the Boston Diehards might actually tune in to that over the Red Sox Series...Oh the Glory Days...

[straighttovideo]

i have read jp and lost world...i just dont like his books because its infuriating how good he is...and how all his endings fall back on to coincidence.

now coincidence is great if youre, kurt vonnegut (i know i misspelled that...wheres my copy of breakfast of champions when i need it) or douglas adams or swift or palahniuk (read all of his stuff...painfully good)

but not when the rest of the book is so meticulious...it's insulting to ones inteligents.

i write and make films too by the way, to see my latest version (though a bastardized cut by the idiot in my group who is convinced he has talent even though he has NO CLUE how to edit, or cut sound together) go to applegoddess.org/franklinstale.mov (http://applegoddess.org/franklinstale.mov) and for one of my short stories email me and ill send it.

the point of that is, im not just blowing smoke, im not some armchair quarterback talking crap about great writers.

and, as someone who writes scripts and stories and directs, i usually know the end before it comes...hell i figured out 6th sense when osment said "i see dead people...they dont know they're dead" and it zoomed in on willis. but that one was easy, i also got the usual suspects by 10 minutes in, and the life of david gale and secret window just from the previews.

summary, im good at this shizzy, though, my beloved push nevada did consistently surprise me.

as per my genralized title, i was sorta just going for a grabber headline...to get people to read my post.

[straighttovideo]

ps.

sorry if i offended any fans...

and i did read the scientific theorys...i love the unified field bit, that stuffs totally my bag.

but for a major tv show? i donno...i wish it were true, but synthisizing that into somthing people can digest and buy easily?

it aint gonna happen.

but then what do i know, i loved Eyes Wide Shut and find it incredibly deep...

[Sleeestack]

summary, im good at this shizzy,

Oh yeah? Well, if you're so money on this stuff Mr. Shedizzle B. Pimphouse Rock, tell me, how in jehovah's hallowed name is "Desperate Housewives" gonna end?

STV .... dude, you have been served.8)

Sincerely,

Sleeestack Z. Tarantino-Spielberg

[maxpublic]

As opposed to the bermuda triangle?

No, the Bermuda Triangle theory is nonsense as well. Fantasy, not even pseudo-science. But scifi fans all over the world somehow think it's possible to travel to alternate Earths, even though the science says "no way". So this might qualify as pseudo-science in Abrams head, if he thinks such a thing is possible assuming the 'right' technology were discovered.

That can cover a lot of things, including what happened in Sphere

What, all you have to do is dress up magic as an alien device and suddenly it becomes pseudo-science? Enough cool CGI or flashy effects do the trick? If that's all it takes then pretty much any bit of magic can become 'sorta scientific', if you make it look techno enough.

I really think the writers mean to use that term loosely

If this board is at all representative of the viewers of the show, they'll lose a big chunk of their audience if "Lost" goes the way of "Twin Peaks".

Don't get me wrong, "Twin Peaks" was a great show. But I rather doubt most of us reality-fiends want to see "Lost" turn into a "Twin Peaks" ripoff any more than we want to see it become the new "X-Files".

People who were clinically dead have been brought back to life.

Which has nothing to do with resurrection, and a great deal to do with science. Resurrection is nothing more than the idea that magic can raise the dead; and there is no magic! Only science can raise the dead, and only under very specific and limited circumstances.

Hell, Ted Williams's head sits frozen in a jar in hopes it can be reattached in the future.

Ted Williams is an idiot. Freezing his head crystalized the water in every neuron in his brain. Crystalized water forms hard chains which *burst cell walls*. Even if you could regrow ol' Ted a body and in some miraculous fashion re-attach his head, his brain is nothing more than grey-colored paste now.

Even if you could take all of those exploded cells and somehow repair them, you'd end up with a vegetable because all of our personality, memories, fears, wants, and desires are primarily encoded as chemical 'writing' along the cell walls. Blowing the cells up erases the writing on the cell walls, and even where it doesn't erase the writing it destroys the file index used to interpret the writing. What you're left with *might* breathe and have a heartbeat, if you could repair the autonomic nervous system, but it would never speak, never think, never want, never desire, and never, ever be Ted in any way, shape, or form.

So you're right: the idea that a person can be reconstructed from a head full of jelly isn't science fiction. It's *science fantasy*. You're more likely to suddenly start hearing voices telling you to "use the Force" - and have them be right!

Max

[LostinTrinity]

Not to mention Max, I heard they dropped Ted Williams frozen head a couple times and it now has a couple big cracks in it. Kinda like his theory, huh? LOL

[Black Dahlia]

Michael Crichton is not only an actual M.D., he also holds a Ph.D. He is also one of my favorite authors. "Sphere" is certainly not one of his better books; in my opinion only "Congo" and "Airframe" compete with it for his worst, with "Timeline" really doing its best to inch in to the competition. The rest are more or less excellent, especially his early non-fiction works.

In any case, I agree that the theory you refer to is quite wrong, for a number of reasons including the fact that one of the more recent incarnations of this theme was in "Sphere." Lost's creators are definitely not going to give us a trite explanation for what's been going on.

By my measure, the two most popular theories (on the internet, not necessarily here)of the secret behind Lost's island are the They-are-all-dead-and-in-purgatory theory (#1, and my initial thoguht before ever seeing the show and before realizing that not only is this an overused twist, but prime-time series in which every single character is a ghost simply would never get the green light due to the amount of potential viewers it would alienate) and the The-island-manifests-everyone's-fears/hopes theory (#2, and something which seemed so obvious to me that it simply couldn't be the explanation, given all the clues). Even if we ignore the creativity and skill of the show's creators, I can guarantee you that no matter WHAT the two leading theories on the intenet are, neither one will ultimately be true.

Here's why:

1) The creators of Lost have a definite outline of where they want the series to go but fill in the details at various intervals. Nothing is set in stone, and there are numerous factual examples of how this manifested itself in the creative process.

2) The creators of Lost are very aware that their show has created an almost-unprecedented internet buzz, and it stands to reason that they would keep up with some of these discussions to some extent.

3) In my opinion, taking 1) and 2) into consideration, the creators will not want to give the same explanation at the end of Season 1 or 5 that most people have already guessed, and they probably won't allow the #2 theory to be right either - although they may pay homage to it in some form (i.e., well of course the island manifests the people fears/hopes, albeit only in their own minds.) They will even change any explanation they have aleady conceived JUST to keep things fresh. If you don't believe they read some of these forums, you must be deluded that they are George Lucas or someone.

All in all, I expect the resolution of all the islands mysteries to draw from a multitude of sources while including a couple very new and unique ideas, combining to be one of the most profoundscenarios in television and even all fictional media ever.

[straighttovideo]

lol

funny. saddly ive never had a chance to see desperate housewives. which sucks because the concept and title are really intriguing to me...

[drabauer]

I really don't understand why the purgatory theory is making the rounds when there are several internet interviews w/the producers stating clearly that they are not dead, and that there is no mystical/supernatural element. I believe them when they say "science or pseudo-science"; three seasons of Alias has yet to resort to anything beyond sci-fi (even the ideas of regeneration or prediction are predicated on genetic or other scientific manipulation). That said, I can hardly see how the "manifesting fears" angle would not look like a parody of the Star Trek classic episode, or the X-Files X-Cops episode (which was already a parody) or, for that matter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban.

That said, I'm not shutting the door on that idea, but I think there's something slightly different going on, and we'll have to wait until sweeps to get more clues.

[straighttovideo]

also, i think everybodies over thinking it...

[bigmouth]

Drabauer: Not quite a parody, which is meant to mock. More an ironic nod or wink, one which takes sci-fi staples (e.g., fear manifestation) and transfers them to a fresh survivor/castaway context. For me, the creative combination these very different genres would be an original and worthwhile endeavor.

That said, I do agree with you that something different is probably going on here. Resurrection or more likely cloning for some grand (possibly ET) experiment is the explanation I favor.