Hoopes just emailed this to me, and i thought i would share... its long, but a good one. i dont know where he got it, so i cant give the credit where it is due... but its a very interesting theory... read at own risk of it being true, and spoiling.... enjoy...
This is going to be long, so I apologize ahead of time; but this will be worth reading. I have migrated away from my previous 'bio-dome' theory, over to a new one that I'm developing. I think that what we will eventually find this all to be will be very much like the Matrix. I know this theory has been bounded about previously, but I want to get away from people thinking that it's exactly like the Matrix, and know that what I'm saying is just that it's similar. Hear me out. Back when Rose and Bernard went to the faith healer in an attempt to heal her cancer, he told them about certain places on Earth with unimaginable healing power, but that his little area was just not strong enough to heal her. I think we were being misdirected by the writers, to subscribe to the whole 'bio-dome' idea, where the Hanso foundation may have found the be-all-end-all place on Earth with a wealth of this mysterious, electromagnetic healing power; and for the sake of "saving humanity" they set up the Dharma Initiative on this island for research and development. They also misdirected us to believe that it may be somewhere near the North / South Pole, or underwater even, with an elaborate entry and exit process, somehow protected from its original surrounding elements and tempered for human existence. But now, I am almost certain that the island is not a physical place, but a virtual reality "program" developed by the Dharma Initiative, and that the island's inhabitants are actually "jacked in", if you will. The Juliette back-story, where we learn about her submarine trip to the island... I believe that trip to have been completely staged. And equally suspicious, was Desmond's arrival, where he simply started gaining consciousness on the beach without any recollection of how he got there. I would bet anything that we find out that those facades, and Lock blowing up the sub, have absolutely nothing to do with getting to and leaving the "island" except for the fact that that is what Ben and the others (I'll get back to them in a minute) want Juliette and the 815'ers to believe. It has become increasingly clear that the Hanso/Dharma mission statement of "saving humanity" is meant to be taken in more of a spiritual and emotional way, rather than in a physical way like healing diseases, yadda, yadda. I think this "program" was specifically designed to do just that - help to heal people in a spiritual and emotional way, and if you think about it, it is doing exactly that. Then, much like the purgatory theories, once you resolve your issues, you "die" - but all you're really doing is exiting the program - and I am certain that Boone, Shanon, Ecko, Anna Lucia, etc. are still alive in the "real world". This also explains how Mikhail was able to "die" and get jacked back in and how, now that Charlie has conquered his demons, the "program" is trying to "kill" him. I think that the whole "Catch-22" reference is pointing out the fact that, once you're in the program, you have to "die" to "live" (or more to the point, get back to the real world). I think that Penny's dad, having Hanso affiliations, knew about the program, and what it was intended to be able to do, and saw the perfect opportunity to have the love of his daughter's life loaded in, and made into a better person, more suited for his daughter. Now back to the others. I think that a select few of them are in on the fact that it's a program and not reality, allowing them strength and abilities at the maximum of their human capacity (much like the agents in the Matrix); their purpose being to manage the test subjects, and the program itself, from within. Our beloved 815'ers were methodically selected and subliminally herded, if you will, on to flight 815 for the sole reason of being able to stage the crash so no one would question their disappearances, and allow Hanso/Dharma the spiritually deficient test subjects they needed for their program; which is why parachute-girl heard on the news in the real world that the wreckage of 815 was found and that there was no survivors. This all also lends credence to the fact that Aaron was the first baby ever born (in reality) while the mother's consciousness was inside "the program", and he was subsequently able to be jacked in and exist in the program with her. On the other hand, when the conception occurs in the "program", the baby can't ever be born, because there is no tangible "real life" being created that can then get jacked in and continue on in the program; so the mother "dies" to enable her exit from the program. I have so many other supporting facts, but I'm tired of typing. Peace.
crazy... eh?
js
