LOST on Earth's Mirror Matter Moon
This theory proposes that Lost is, on several levels, about yin-yang-style duality. That is, it's about opposites exist for the sake of each other.
This theory proposes that Lost is, on several levels, about yin-yang-style duality. That is, it's about opposites exist for the sake of each other.
| Light | Dark |
| Yang | Yin |
| Jacob | "Esau" |
| Faith | Science |
| Others | DHARMA |
| Free will | Determinism |
| Earth | Island |
| Left-handed matter | Right-handed matter |
| Ji Yeon | Aaron |
| Hawking/Widmore | Alvar Hanso |
| Land of the Living | Land of the Dead |
| Life | Death |
There is a hypothetical form of dark matter, called mirror matter (also Alice and shadow matter), that is very similar to the matter we're familiar with on Earth, but its particles exhibit right-handed interactions instead of left-handed interactions. Because of this subtle but fundamental difference, both types of matter are invisible to each other, and they have trouble sticking to each other. The beauty of dark mirror matter is that it's the mirror twin of our matter. It's the dark yin to our visible matter's yang.
The idea is that Earth has been struck by several mirror matter asteroids. Most have been small and end up embedded in the surface of the Earth. But a very large one landed in the ocean and, because of that trouble sticking to our matter, began drifting about in the water. On the surface of that drifting rock developed an environment that mimicked those of nearby islands on Earth. And that's the island.
The one missing ingredient is a means of getting on or off the island. If wormholes might flip the charge of particles that pass through them, why not their handedness? The island carries its own wormhole support kit in the form of those powerful pockets of negatively-charged exotic matter. So to get to the mirror matter side (the island) or back to Earth you must pass through a handedness-flipping wormhole, which might shift you a bit in time in the process.
Duality in terms of Light/Life versus Dark/Death
On top of that physical duality, sits another that is abstract in nature: light/life versus dark/death.
What is the message behind the whispers, the parting thoughts that Miles can detect, the ghosts that only Hurley can see, an Egyptian chamber reflecting post-death judgment, a jumping cabin for which a dying Horace had the blueprints, and a being that seems capable of mimicking only the dead? It might be an argument for a land of the dead that co-exists beside our own. Because the island is a nexus between our side and the dark mirror matter side of the universe, it might also symbolically serve as a hub between the land of the living and the land of the dead, and the battleground between light and dark.
To use Damon Lindelof's term, Jacob and his nemesis "personify" the white and black sides that Locke alluded to in the first episode with those backgammon pieces. Jacob lives beneath the protector of childbirth, revives with a touch, and seems to favor hope and choice, whereas the Man-in-Black is bent on killing Jacob, fulfills the roles of Egyptian gods of the afterlife, and seems to favor pessimism and threats. As only a visitor to the land of the living, the Man-in-Black can only manifest people and things from the land of the dead (bodies of the dead, the cabin); when he's not borrowing a form, he appears as pure darkness (smoke). The conflict between the two is by definition eternal, and so truly killing Jacob, and what he represents, is probably a futile cause.
With an island that drifts around the Earth, over time, many groups have run across it, whether intentionally or not. When those earliest visitors eventually left, they took with them impressions of these opposing forces. Perhaps it was early enough to seed many belief systems and mythologies with common notions, like light and dark, yin and yang, magical serpents, an afterlife, judgment, and miraculous healing.
Duality in terms of Opposing Factions
So who is doing all of this fighting that was mentioned on the beach? The Others seem quite disciplined internally and secure in their faith in Jacob, but they keep butting heads with outside groups that generally seem to want to exploit the island. More specifically, the outside groups are always doing science: the military testing the bomb, Rousseau with her science team, DHARMA's nerds harnessing and exploiting the exotic matter. This probably endless conflict of ideologies seems to be between those of science and those of faith.
Although Jacob and his nemesis might not make peace, perhaps symbolic peace between yin and yang can be found between human factions with different ideologies. And because those factions comprise the main characters of the show, why not conclude with some conciliation there? While the Man-in-Black was busy hatching his assassination plot, Jacob was working toward harmony between the factions' future leaders. They were left behind in LA.
That's it. I'm trying to follow the "keep it simple, stupid" mantra with this version. For more details, speculation, evidence, and comments, see the previous incarnation of this theory. Many thanks to all who have contributed over the years. If you like mirror matter, note that I wasn't the first to discover it in terms of Lost; check out Big Mouth's excellent theory.
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