For such a secretive system , the DHARMA Initiative has give lots of evidence of its bodily function . Not only has it populated an island with territorial polar bear and sharks , it has defended its dominion with a ominous behemoth that looks deceivingly like black smoking .

Details about the group are a little sketchy . But it ’s moderately clear that members of the DHARMA Initiative – or perhaps a group of its test subjects – have made a habit of snatch and murder . This radical , known as the Others , has threatened , intimidated and stamp out survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 , which hold up down en route to Los Angeles , California from Sydney , Australia . For whatever reason , no one thought to call for the Others who they are or what they want .

So , who are the Others , and what do they require ? How are they related to to the DHARMA Initiative ? What do they have to do with the black smoke , the polar bear and the bunkers dispel around the island ? In this clause , you ’ll instruct about the DHARMA Initiative , its account and what might be going on at its island research center of attention .

An eight diagram made in grass.

‘Lost’ DHARMA Initiative Project

The DHARMA Initiative set off as an ambitious science labor in the seventies . Its laminitis , Gerald and Karen DeGroot , shoot for to create a large island research compound . They plan the construction of six secret and submerged research stations .

The stipends of two PhD students , even if used wisely , could n’t maybe cover the cost of building and maintaining such a large adeptness . So the DeGroots turned to Alvar Hanso and the Hanso Foundation . Since the sixties , the Foundation " has offered grants to worthy experiment designed to further the phylogenesis of the human wash and provide technical solutions to the most urgent problem of our clock time . "

Hanso has funded inquiry on :

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Some of these experiments have been successful . In 2005 , the Foundation celebrated the 105th birthday of an orangutang called Joop . Joop had been the field of study of life - extension experiments . orangutan typically be to be only 60 age old , so the Foundation hold the experiment a success . It did not reveal whether the orangutan acquired other skills , such as the ability to read or run a library .

Not long after , though , the Global Health Organization ( GHO ) reported an outbreak of meningococcal disease in villages near the Foundation ’s Zanzibar enquiry center . agree to classified documents remember from the GHO , tests propose that the disease originated in monkeys . The GHO conjecture that it jumped the simian / human roadblock and ordered the Foundation to give notice its cognitive operation . Although the GHO later reversed its decision , the case made Joop ’s longevity controversial . The Foundation ’s sizeable part to the GHO ’s defence mechanism fund also may have affected this blow . It is still undecipherable whether Hanso Foundation experimentation create or led to the spread head of the disease .

Hanso ’s donation to the GHO and his research funding came from money from artillery sales . During World War II , he provided munitions to various European resistance groups . After the warfare , he provided in high spirits - tech equipping to NATO .

The DHARMA Initiative ’s distinctive name and logotype seem to be at betting odds with financial backing from an arms bargainer . We ’ll take care at how in the next subdivision .

Like many very old words , " dharma " has more than one definition . It ’s used in several easterly organized religion , admit Buddhism , Hinduism and Jainism . Its principal substance relates to a someone ’s duty or part in congress to the universe . It can also mean :

The DHARMA Initiative use the give-and-take as an acronym . Although the Initiative has not in public revealed what the letters stand for , the first two likely stand for the names DeGroot and Hanso . The Initiative ’s usance of the word indicate that its principles are ground on easterly spiritual practices . These practices generally promote passive resistance and ethical behaviour .

The logotype is abagua , an octagonal symbol that incorporates symbols from Taoism and Confucianism . In a bagua , the eighttrigramsof the " I Ching " surround ayin - yang . The yin - yang is a well - known Taoist symbol that represents modification and equaliser . trigram are simply three - line combinations of whole and impoverished rail line .

The " I Ching , " also called " The Book of Changes , " is an ancient Taiwanese text that interpretshexagrams , or pairs of trigrams . These rendition are used for spectral direction and fortune recounting , as well as in feng shui . There are eight possible trigram and sixty - four possible hexagram . you could read more about the " I Ching " and hexagram rendering by readingthis online versionof the schoolbook .

In addition , DHARMA Initiative communication theory often penny-pinching with " namaste , " a greeting used in Eastern polish . Like " dharma , " " namaste " can be hard to define precisely . It generally means " I wassail the God Almighty within you . " People say it , often making the accompanyingmudra , or bridge player gesture , to show respect for elders or in the setting of religious get together or yoga practices .

Eastern church property may have even made its room into the infamous series of numbers that appears in a range of context surrounding the Initiative . The numbers –4 , 8 , 15 , 16 , 23 and 42 - - add up to a total of 108 . Two of the central tenets of Buddhism are theFour baronial Truthsand theEightfold path . The " Dhammapada , " the collected writing of Buddha , has 423 poesy . There are also 108 beading in a Hindu or Buddhistmala , or rosary , and 108 name for Hindu graven image . Check out the sidebar on this Thomas Nelson Page for other interpretations of the numbers .

It seems well-defined that Eastern apparitional practices , which broadly advance nonviolent resistance , easiness and honorable behavior , are important to the DeGroots and the DHARMA Initiative . So why would such an organisation align itself with a well - known arms dealer ? There are two primary possibleness :

The DHARMA Initiative ’s motives for work up a inquiry center on an island are unclear , as are its current bodily process there . But they have left a few clues . We ’ll calculate at those next .

The Initiative and Eastern Spirituality

It did n’t take long for those number to depart give people the creeps . They ’ve driven some people disturbed , while cursing others . Along with multiple warning about open a loge , their presence on the Station 3 crosshatch has led some people to trust that the place is malefic .

The sequence4 , 8 , 15 , 16 , 23 and 42appears in full on the injectable content used in Station 3 and the medical bunker . number from it also appear often in the life sentence of the Flight 815 subsister before and after the crash . They have a mystical caliber that can not amply be explained , but they also have some interesting analogue :

While the DHARMA Initiative ’s motives for building a research centre on an island are unclear , as are its current activities there . But they have left a few clues . We ’ll look at those next .

DHARMA on the Island

The survivor of Oceanic Flight 815 bang very little about the DHARMA Initiative ’s bodily process on the island . They be intimate only that they must enter the succession 4 , 8 , 15 , 16 , 23 , 42 into a computer every 108 minutes , seemingly to forestall an unnamed catastrophe . A 540 - sidereal day spell of responsibility at the station would take pushing the push about 7,200 clock time .

This drill seem to be part of a B.F. Skinner - mode psychological experiment , originally observe from a fundamental DHARMA Initiative station known as " The Pearl . " However , it also appears that go wrong to infix the numerical successiveness can have disastrous effects .

The DHARMA Initiative is secretive about its activities , but a draft on the blast doors of Station 3 provide several clues about the facilities . you may see an annotated translation of this mapping and the graffiti around it atCubit.net .

We ’ll come to to the draft asthe function , and we ’ll refer to the creative person – the late residents of the crosshatch – as themapmakers . We ’ll also make on the laying claim that the mapmakers are at least mostly sane as well as reliable . In other run-in , we ’ll assume that the draft is n’t a faux or the quirky scribbling of a individual drive crazy by psychological experiment .

Unlike the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 , the mapmakers took an sake in the DHARMA Initiative ’s facilities and activities on the island . The mapmakers explored the island systematically , reach certain to go only as far as the 108 - moment demarcation line would permit . In this way , the mapmakers could explore the island while still pressing the button . The mapmakers then cook the station ’s wiring to set off the fire doorway , and they document their discoveries there .

The mapmakers identified four stations :

Two other bunkers , possibly situate underwater , may also exist , in addition to the cardinal place have it off as the Pearl . The Flight 815 survivors have seen a shark stigmatise with a DHARMA logotype and at least two diametrical bear on the island , make it likely that a full - scale creature research facility exist at some stop .

An intranet , calledDharmatel , connects the compounds , although the mapmakers ' notes particular system - wide outages on several dates . The notes also refer toCerberus , named for the three - headed , mythical beast that guard the entrance to Hades . Cerberus is probable the island ’s " inglorious Mary Jane monster . " Its purpose is indecipherable , although Danielle Rousseau has called it a surety system . However , no one knows exactly what it protects and from whom , or whether it existed on the island before researchers arrived . Some meditate that the survivors of the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815 had increase encounters with the Others because Cerberus was not present on their side of the island .

The map also specifies the striver ship " Black Rock " as the final resting spot of Magnus Hanso , probably either a relative of or a nickname for Alvar Hanso . Its notations suggest that the unspecified incident that contribute to the Station 3 button pushing took place in 1985 . This incident probably involve Alvar Hanso and one or more of the DeGroots .

Of course , all of the facility mark on the map may be part of a terrific façade , an endeavor to try out on the research worker themselves rather than on their subjects . We have a few theories about what ’s going on , which we ’ll look at in the next few section .

Grand Unified Theories

Plenty of armchair disturbed scientist have come up with theories about exactly what make the strange happening on the island and in the life story of the survivors before the crash . Whatever the whodunit turns out to be , it ’s likely that the DHARMA Initiative will be involve in studying or do the phenomenon . Here are some of our best-loved theory .

First Contact: A New Life Form

The blackened bullet monster seems to be sentient – it could be a previously undiscovered form of thinking life . It can record people ’s idea and display simulacrum from their past . It also behave differently based on how mass reply to it and whether they are a menace to the island . It seems to be intelligent or program to react in a specific style to sure stimuli . MaybeTelevision Without Pityrecapper Dan Qua is veracious – it ’s the Iron Giant , and he ’s decided that not being a gun is for muggins .

Using the Force: Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation ( EM ) powers everything from TVs to Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines . ( It also powers Magnetic Resonance Imagining , accord one survivor ’s flashback ) . Even seeable light is part of the EM spectrum . The DHARMA Initiative purportedly built Station 3 to study strange electromagnetic fluctuation coming from part of the island . Electricity , inactive magnetic field and various share of the EM spectrum might explain :

Beaming Up : Worm Holes and PortalsThe island may be one of several " portal " that allow multitude to travel from place to place . Theories allude to the island ’s location in comparison to the Bermuda Triangle and other paranormal phenomenon . This could explain :

Scientist Death Match : The Others vs. the DHARMA InitiativeThe Others appear to use and possibly live in DHARMA Initiative facility . Sometimes they look like MD , and sometimes they look like clay - streaked bushwhacker . Whether they ’re both or neither , they may be the subject of DHARMA Initiative experiments rather than researchers . Or , they may have been experimental subject who rebelled against the investigator .

Being the content of experiments could excuse the Others ' plain cunning and stealth . Whether or not they are part of the DHARMA Initiative , they probably have a reason for abduct mass from the island . It ’s possible that :

Read on for some of our other favorite theory .

More Theories

Entertainment Weekly author Doc Jensen speculate that a all in psychical hangout the island . Hanso Foundation scientists were definitely studying a psychic phenomenon known asremote viewing . Scientists may be observing the island from elsewhere or even affect events with their mind . What supports this theory ?

Blinding Us with Science

The events on the island might be pretty square . The DHARMA Initiative could be scientists who really study what they take to . Their experiment could include :

DHARMA and Jalad at TanagraNumerous books and record book appear among the self-control of the Flight 815 survivors and in Station 3 . Many citizenry speculate that these are clues about what is happening . They point out that " Watership Down " is about rabbit searching for a new habitation , and " A Wrinkle in Time " discusses time travel and traveling across property . However , both books have more black theme . " Watership Down " describes a warren where rabbits are being plump up to be kill . " A Wrinkle in Time " includes a struggle against evil and a being called IT that controls people ’s lives down to the smallest detail .

Other perchance important al-Qur’an include : " Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge , " " The Brothers Karamazov,““Green Lantern / Flash : Faster supporter Part 1 , " " Rainbow Six , " " The Turn of the Screw , " " The Third Policeman " and " Are You There , God ? It ’s Me , Margaret . "

Out of the Matrix: Mind Games

It ’s improbable that all of the events on the island are take place in one soul ’s mind . But the retention of the Flight 815 crash survivors may not be reliable . The frequent appearing in one another ’s computer storage may indicate tampering rather than co-occurrence or predestination . They may be artificial memories that have been uploaded into the survivors ' idea . After all , how likely is it , really , that Kate , Locke and Michael all had accidents involve the same Au railcar ?

In addition , many of the Flight 815 subsister have come across people and objects in the hobo camp that should not - – or could not - – be there . This may be the result of a collective hallucination , mind restraint or other monkey with survivors ' perception .

For lots more information about the DHARMA Initiative , " lose " and other related matter , check out the links on the next varlet .

Lots More Information

Sources