Destiny vs Freewill

The argument over fate is one of the more notable discussions on the show. Early on we saw the conflict between John and Jack in “Man of Science, Man of Faith.” Now that the Losties have taken their adventure back in time the question becomes more central to the plot and how it will unfold.

The two popular sides to this argument now are: a) you can’t change the past, whats done is done, and b) change the past to change the future.

Before his death, Faraday threw a monkey wrench into the debate by suggesting that the individuals are the variables that can change the equation. This suggests that freewill could trump destiny. For this to work you must first believe in freewill. The theory I subscribe to does not allow for a truly free will.

Let us imagine that people operate like highly complicated computers. If you give a computer an input of A you get an output B. Consequently, every time that you give it the input A with all the same conditions you

must

get an output of B. If we apply this model to human decision making we are left with two options. When making a choice every human runs a series of checks, some conscious, others unbeknownst to them. Given that the situation is EXACTLY the same, either, they will respond the same , or there is room for a different outcome. Personally, I believe that if you were able to recreate the circumstances completely, down to the molecular level, taking into account all the events that led up to that moment as a part of the moment themselves, the test subject would react in the same manner.

Now, it would be impossible to preform this experiment, unless of course we account for time travel. The Losties are in a perpetual loop, interacting with characters from the past who in turn interact with the Losties in the future before they are sent back in time only to replay the series of events again.

Faraday suggest that the DHARMA Initative is about to have an accident that will lead to flight 815 crashing on the island. When Jack learns about this he sets off on a mission to prevent the initial accident in an attempt change the future. So far we don’t know the outcome of their intervention in time, but my belief is that by attempting to change the future they have unwittingly created the very accident they were attempting to avoid, thus plunging themselves further down the rabbit hole.

There is no freewill, only the illusion of choice. In fact, the decision has been made before the characters act as determined by the events leading up to it. It is beyond their control, they only think they are making the choice themselves, when determinism tells us that they will always make the same choice in any given situation.

Several characters have given their 2cents on the metaphysics of time travel, but the one I agree with the most has to be Miles. He lays it down for Hurley as simply as he can, and in the season 5 finale he questions the other Losties as they are about to detonate the H-bomb. Whenever Miles appears as the voice of reason it seems to me as though the writers are trying to send a message to the viewers. When he questioned the Losties absurd theories it was almost as if J.J. Abrams reached through the TV and slapped the audience in the face followed by “You are over complicating everything. Stop thinking about it so hard, we already told you how it works. Just trust us.”