I agree.
Time is a part of the mythology of LOsT.
1. Adam and Eve in the caves
2. The four toed statue
3. Richard Alpert appears not to have aged in at least the last 30 years.
4. Quote from Damon: "It’s interesting that you should ask about time because… you know… you’re making a basic assumption that they’ve been there, y’know, as long as they think they’ve been there."
5. Mittelos is an anagram for "lost time".
6. Pushing the Swan station button every 108 minutes.
7. Desmond appears to have traveled back in time.
And on and on and on......
You know there is something about "time" on the island. It has been a part of the show from the beginning. It is difficult to say what is happening, but its somewhat easier to say what is not happening. And one thing we have been told is not happening is parallel universes.
The creators of LOsT have told us over and over again that they go to great lengths to show actual events in the characters lives. In other words, whenever we as viewers see Jack, whether it is on the island, in a flashback, or in a flash forward, its the same Jack. And the same goes for all the other characters. Parallel universes requires parallel characters.
We as viewers have invested our time in watching a show and over the course of 3 seasons the writers have been telling us about some really interesting characters. Through flashbacks they have shown us who these people were before crashing on the island. On the island they have shown how these characters fight with each other, work together to survive, and struggle individually and as a group to understand what the heck is happening on this strange island. Now with the season 3 finale they are beginning to show us who these people will become after the island.
Parallel universes destroys all this hard work in my opinion is it allows the writers an easy way out. If there were parallel universes then a flashback or an entire series of flashbacks could be thrown out with the excuse: oh that was Jack "B" in universe "B" thats not the real Jack.
I was happy to hear D&C confirm that parallel universes and alternate futures are not a part of LOsT. Time, the rate it which time advances both on and off the island, the ability to travel through time, and the ability to see future events are all a part of the show. But sooner or later you are going to have to agree that parallel universes are not a part of the show. And if you wait until the series finale before you realize this, then get ready to be disappointed.

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Doctor playing golf. Woo, boy howdy, now I've heard everything. What's next, cop eating a donut?

Well said folie, and I see now how dissapointing a parallel dimension story would be in the seasons ahead. total easy way out. With all these concepts of space and time being on the show, well it's kind of a distraction isn't it. a distraction that will blind you until the real picture really starts to come together. I'm very interested to see if there is anything to this orphan idea, or if it's just a coincidence.

Time Traveling theories...eek!

Thanks.
yeah this orphan idea is just another way of looking at the mommy/daddy issues that most all the characters have had to deal with. And again I have to say that an orphan is a child that has lost both his/her parents to death. So the only orphans I know of are Eko, Yemi, and Sawyer.

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Doctor playing golf. Woo, boy howdy, now I've heard everything. What's next, cop eating a donut?

Don't we all have some kind of mommy/daddy issues? I would say it's pretty normal, because usually parents are the ones that influence us most of all the people we ever have to deal with.

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