Memory Loss

[yojayp]

Something I noticed:

When Desmond's consciousness first travels back from 1996 to 2004,he forgets everything about the present day. This much we can agree.

Does anyone else find it strange that Minkowski, who is experiencing similar (if not the same) effects, doesn't appear to have any memory loss at all??? We know Minkowski does not b/c he tells Desmond and Sayid that he is Minkowski, the communications officer and about Penny's calls, etc.

If Minkowski is experiencing similar time warping, why does he have full recollection of present-day events and Desmond does not???

Odd.

[bunnydixon]

there are a few things about it all that dont seem to add up!

[agmic]

lets say that George had a constant, Desmond gets one in the end of the show. Whos to say that he doesn't die also??? cause after he talked to Penny, all his memories came back.....

[ortrules]

lets say that George had a constant, Desmond gets one in the end of the show. Whos to say that he doesn't die also??? cause after he talked to Penny, all his memories came back.....
That's true, but I assumed the whole point of the show was to say that if Desmond found his constant - then everything would be ok and he wouldn't die. This was backed by how Minowski started getting a bloody nose before he died, and then Desmond got a bloody nose, but after he talked to Penny everything was ok.

I'd say the only logical explanation, based on what Lost has explained to us, is that Minowski is actually from the future and the Minowski on the freighter was in the past. This is solely based off Desmond's experience, but the Minowski of the past would remember everything while the future Minowski would have no memory.

[Rain13]

That's an interesting thought. I was really just thinking that they had to have him remember who he was or else we would have no way of knowing and he'd just be some confused guy who dies and means nothing to us lol.

This has made me think of another time travel question though, check the "Season 3" forum.

[Elmer]

Also Farraday said it was a side effect.. and side effects could easily vary based on other variables. Pre exposure to radiation or electromagnetism and in what doses could change what each person experiences.

[agmic]

That's true, but I assumed the whole point of the show was to say that if Desmond found his constant - then everything would be ok and he wouldn't die. This was backed by how Minowski started getting a bloody nose before he died, and then Desmond got a bloody nose, but after he talked to Penny everything was ok.

I'd say the only logical explanation, based on what Lost has explained to us, is that Minowski is actually from the future and the Minowski on the freighter was in the past. This is solely based off Desmond's experience, but the Minowski of the past would remember everything while the future Minowski would have no memory.

but if Minowski is in the past and dies. Then there wouldn't be a Minowski in the future....right ?????:confused:

[IrishDancinQueen]

Check out DarkUfo's snippets of an interview with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff:

''THE CONSTANT'' REVISITED!
With clarifications from special guest Damon Lindelof!

After last week's time-tripping Desmond episode, I promised you guys some more analysis of ''The Constant'' due to the fact that I watched it while suffering through a crunch of flu-induced fever. As it turns out, it's probably good we spend some more time with it, anyway, given the intensity of passion and interest that many fans continue to have in the episode, arguably the best single outing since season 1's ''Walkabout.'' And to help us understand the story's noodle-cooking intricacies, I have some crucial insight from exec producer and ''Constant'' co-writer Damon Lindelof that I think you'll wanna know. To wit:

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO DESMOND?
In ''The Constant,'' Desmond became ''unstuck in time'' after flying through a thundercloud crackling with strange electricity. He experienced something like time travel, though not bodily time travel; instead, his consciousness shuttled between two different time periods, Island present 2004 and Desmond's past 1996. But here's the tricky twist: Desmond's Island-present mind wasn't the one doing the time traveling. When Desmond got hit with Island magic, his consciousness got knocked off-line and was replaced by his 1996 self. It was this older Desmond consciousness that toggled between present and past throughout the episode. Once Desmond '96 completed the errand of getting Penny's phone number so he could call her on Christmas Eve 2004, Desmond's present-day mind came back online, but rebooted with the new memories created by his time-travel adventure. I know: tricky stuff. But I had the chance to run all this by Damon Lindelof — and he says this interpretation is correct.

THE MINKOWSKI EXCEPTION
Desmond had the time-warp blues, but freighter freak Minkowski had Marty McFly Mania: Due to his own exposure to electromagnetic magic, he began psychically commuting back to a pleasant day on a Ferris wheel. He died desperately trying to zip-line back to this happy day one more time. Coldly poignant, I thought. Notice: Unlike Desmond's time-travel story, Minkowski's present day consciousness was making the trip. Lindelof says this difference was designed to make a very important point: ''As Faraday explains in the episode, the effect is random. Sometimes a person can be displaced by minutes, other times, years. And the direction of the effect is equally unpredictable. Our way of demonstrating this was to give Minkowski a wildly different experience than Desmond was having.'' Lindelof says none of this is arbitrary; exposure to electromagnetism or radiation plays a role. But he adds: ''Looking for specific rules for how all this works will lead you down the path of insanity.''

PARADOX R/X, or ''HOW COURSE CORRECTION WORKS''
To be clear, Desmond's past was different before ''The Constant.'' Before his time-travel adventure, Desmond never met Faraday at Oxford, never got Penelope's digits. As a consequence of changing the past, Desmond's personal history has been ''course corrected'' by The Powers That Be, beginning from the moment he walked away from Penny's apartment. Lindelof says this interpretation is also correct. But here's a Big Question: since scoring Penelope's phone number, has Course-Corrected Desmond lived his life knowing that on Christmas Eve 2004, he MUST be on a freighter in the South Pacific in order to make a call to Penelope if he wants any chance of having a future with her? Lindelof says this is indeed a matter we should be mulling. Perhaps in the future, Lost will give us an episode that replays Desmond's backstory (getting the boat from Libby; killing Kelvin; meeting the castaways) from the point of view of this knowingness.

[agmic]

sorry, to much to read at once, couldn't you just give me a break down:o

[IrishDancinQueen]

I think my break down would have wound up being longer than the article :p

[IrishDancinQueen]

Basically (and I could be wrong) Desmond's past consciousness came forward (while his present consciousness went AWOL) and Minkowski's present self went backwards and wanted to try to keep getting back there and stay there which may have made his brain explode. Once Desmond's past consciousness did everything in the past that his present consciousness needed (in other words, course corrected) his present consciousness came back. I can't explain the paradox, as it is my brain is near exploding...

[Rain13]

Wow, that pretty much confirms what I've been thinking all along (almost). We now know that after this most recent bout of time traveling, Desmond's consciousness in 1996 was aware that it would be on a freighter in the future. This is the problem that I was trying to get at in my other thread: If Desmond has always known that he would end up on the freighter, why hasn't he said anything about it yet? It looks like the writers are taking the position that time travel can change the course of time staticly, that is to say that you can go back in time and change something in your life and it will instantly change who you are, rather than revealing that this change was always a part of your life that was contingent upon you going back in time. So, are we going to see Desmond start to act differently now that the path that led him to the island has clearly changed?