It's not back to the future.

[Robo42]

I don't think we can look at the "time travel" theory in the same way as in "back to the future" as some have been looking at it. In BTF, they fully left the present to go back in time, ala Orwell's (?) "Time machine". Sort of pure time travel. In Lost, you are not leaving the present to go back into the past or future, but more that one's "soul" is existing in all time of one's existance
I'm starting to believe that Hanso etal, have created away to relive your life, by being able to subtely re-encarnate your present/future "soul" into your past, thereby giving one the ability to alter the suffering and pain one may have caused or had to deal with.
However, one's present island self must remain unaware of this, and one's past self cannot know what the future holds. The conscious mind can never know the soul or subconscious is existing in more than one time. Similar to the way the bunny could not see itself existing in two times. Therefore, when once on the island you can never leave.
In essence Hanso has created a way to alter your fate or destiny.
I think this ties into the religious themes of the show. Man should not play "God". I think Ben and the others realizes this through Jacob, but also must use this ability in order to stop it.
I Locke's case, it makes sense that his paralysis is cured. When 815 crashed, their souls were able to go back into the past. Locke was able to make different decisions that led him onto a path that didn't end up with his father throwing him out the window. In essence, Locke cured himself, by never putting himself in that position in the first place. Maybe Rose's soul nudges her to get an earlier mammogram and her Breast ca is then able to be treated earlier and cured.

[bunnydixon]

i like where you are going with this idea but am not sure why you would only be able to go onto the island to change your fate - or how they would select who should go etc...also, would they not remember it as desmond does and would we not see them in the catatonic states from time to time?

however, i do think you might be onto something with the whole soul thing and going back to make subtle changes.

and i cant help but reference BTF - its about all i got on time travel lol!

[agmic]

but in Desmond case for ex. you go or your spirt or soul goes back and forth. Then if that's me, and I go back and know or think about the future, then there is no was I'm going to leave where I'm at knowing that I'll get stuck on a little that no one know about......

[DanyelleInHawaii]

Okay, remember when they showed in a flashback Desmond's "almost" proposal to Penny? He went into the shop to buy the ring, and the woman behind the counter told him not to propose to her, but I don't remember exactly what her rationale for this was...something about people depending on him making the right choice to get off the island?
Anyhow...since he got to talk to Penny in yesterday's episode, who now knows he's alive and out there somewhere, what if she's the one who ends up making it possible to "save" them? If you think about it, if Desmond HAD proposed to Penny, it would have changed the course of a lot of things. Had they ended up together, he may not have ended up on the island.
Any thoughts?

[islander]

I don't think we can look at the "time travel" theory in the same way as in "back to the future" as some have been looking at it. In BTF, they fully left the present to go back in time, ala Orwell's (?) "Time machine". Sort of pure time travel. In Lost, you are not leaving the present to go back into the past or future, but more that one's "soul" is existing in all time of one's existance
I'm starting to believe that Hanso etal, have created away to relive your life, by being able to subtely re-encarnate your present/future "soul" into your past, thereby giving one the ability to alter the suffering and pain one may have caused or had to deal with.
However, one's present island self must remain unaware of this, and one's past self cannot know what the future holds. The conscious mind can never know the soul or subconscious is existing in more than one time. Similar to the way the bunny could not see itself existing in two times. Therefore, when once on the island you can never leave.
In essence Hanso has created a way to alter your fate or destiny.
I think this ties into the religious themes of the show. Man should not play "God". I think Ben and the others realizes this through Jacob, but also must use this ability in order to stop it.
I Locke's case, it makes sense that his paralysis is cured. When 815 crashed, their souls were able to go back into the past. Locke was able to make different decisions that led him onto a path that didn't end up with his father throwing him out the window. In essence, Locke cured himself, by never putting himself in that position in the first place. Maybe Rose's soul nudges her to get an earlier mammogram and her Breast ca is then able to be treated earlier and cured.

Hey Brian, I mean Robo, aren't you talking about changing the future? I thought one of the 'givens' by the writers was you can't change the future?

[Robo42]

I agree islander, but isn't the goal of dharma to change the results( ie the numbers) of the Valenzetti eq. as to alter the course of man, so we don't destroy ourselves? I think the electomagnetic fence keeps you conscious fom changing the future, but allows your soul to somehow subtely cause you to make diff. decisions in your past life that your past life's conscious is unaware of. In other words your soul/spirit/subconscious is able to exist in diff times, but the conscious is separated from existing in dual time by the island's electomagnetic force. This is why Des goes nuts when he leaves the electromagnetic force and the need for a constant. Des is doing exactly what the Hanso and Dharma group was trying to avoid, your dual time consciouses from hooking up which can now enable you to alter the future.