At the same time, I love it how the show plays with the dilemma about free will and 'nature's course-correcting' or just the idea of plain necessity: I mean, Ben's whole game of "I want you to want to do this and that for me and think it's your decision" shows free will is an illusion that's desirable only because it can be manipulated. For the very same reason it's an illusion much dear and real than anything else. I see this Magic Box as a metaphor around this dilemma.
But if there's no free will, how can there be anything called will? How is will to get to work and lead to action if it can't be freely charged? How to reconcile the 'meant-to-be' factor with free will? (and obviously there's a meant-to-be thing going on with the Losties, if their hard-to-miss connections prior to the crash are not be explained by 6 degrees of seperation etc)
How to reconcile the 'meant-to-be' factor with free will? By affirmation. Affirmation of what? Of all that came to pass and will come to pass. What could affirming mean in that sense, simple submission or lethargic acceptance? No, rather an open encounter with what's been ignored, denied, neglected or not issued properly. With that realization, will becomes 'free', via coming to terms with what needs to be done- that's what frees and enables will. And necessarily, will strives towards its freedom, to realize itself- it's a
necessity for will itself. Now If Locke does not recognize that, Nature does- or makes James recognize
