Magic Box!

I think Ben got it wrong! Ben thinks Locke brought his dad to the island, via the magic box, but I think it was Sawyer who brought Anthony Cooper (Tom Sawyer) to the island.

Yea that could be.. Who knows we don't even know what the box is yet!! YOU could be right though!

That is what I was thinking Queen. (:

It seemed like Sawyer needed to resolve something with Cooper more than Locke did.

I agree with all of you, but I think Cooper was telling the truth about how he got to the island. Ben's magic box is just Ben messing with Locke's mind. IMO

Doesn't everyone suspect that the smiling EMT Cooper was talking about was Richard Alpert - the guy has a penchant for the knock-out drugs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by queenbeesteph

Doesn't everyone suspect that the smiling EMT Cooper was talking about was Richard Alpert - the guy has a penchant for the knock-out drugs.

Wow!! I had not even thought of that, it makes perfect sense to me... Sounds like Richard too...

Great thread.
I've been thinking about Ben's metaphor of Magic Box, what the heck it might be and the link it has to dear Dr. Alpert , Ph.D in psychedelics. (remember the actual historical lineage of the name Richard Alpert and LSD researches of 70s). Meanwhile, what do you all think this Magic Box's about?

Something definitely about the faculty of will, both in the sense of free will and will power (which will only be the former's expression in the fashion of commitment, like Ben suggested) Kind of works with the suggestion that it's rather James that 'brought' A.Cooper-T. Sawyer Dad to the 'island'. James' whole journey to Sydney was fueled with his will to go after the man who destroyed his family. Remember, "nature's got a strange way of course-correcting"? Almost as if it has its own will (what we'd like to think as fate or destiny) Well, this time it seemed to have fused with that of James

.. BUT what's this Magic Box??

11:43 PM

I believe the "magic box" is actually going to be a reference to the mathematical "Golden Rectangle" (the idea of divide a square out of any rectangle and you end up with a rectangle of the same proportions again - infinity...) The Golden Rectangle was seen on the "fake" hatch door at the Pala Ferry site. I think that hatch is going to turn out to be a real hatch, an important-to-travel-to-the-island hatch ~ which might explain why people need to be drugged for that terrible last leg of the trip (if you traveled regular-style to the island, on a boat or sub, you would need to use the restroom, eat, and drink~ which you couldn't do if are knocked out cold). The trip has to be short, so I think something is going on inside that "fake" hatch.)
Flaneuse - you make a very salient point~ Locke was pursuing something, but it (finally) wasn't his father - he was going on the walkabout. James, on the other hand, was in Australia, still carrying a letter he wrote when he was 8 years old, still searching for a man, still calling himself that man's name. Ben thought he had a handle on the situation, and yet, unbeknownst to him, nature "course corrected" on behalf of James. Ben does believe that one proves their commitment through the demonstration of free will (choice), Ben needs people to chose to (fill in the blank - do whatever Ben wants). But Ben's idea of free will is false - it is not a "true" free will in that Ben alters the situation, tampers with the variables, manipulates the situation to guide a person to make the choice Ben wants. So in the Locke/James scenario I believe Ben will get a shock - the result (Cooper dead) might appear to be the what Ben wanted, but the method was not (Locke didn't do it), and Ben is unaware of that.

05:13 AM

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