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Lost: Was It a False Leap of Faith?

October 6th, 2005 · 1 Comment

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There. This blog is now officially cursed.

(insert official SPOILER warning here)

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you’re not a fan of the show “Lost.” If you are, then you know that those were the numbers that Jack entered into the computer at the conclusion of last night’s episode. This was his giant “leap of faith.”

But was it?

Is it really a Leap of Faith if you do what you think you’re supposed to do?

Wouldn’t it be more of a Leap of Faith to not do it?

Dramatica sees the Leap of Faith as

“a conscious choice by the Main Character to either Change or remain Steadfast with no way of knowing for sure which will best lead him to his goal or resolve his peronal problem.” (full definition here)

This sounds like someone who is no longer justified. Someone who is “stepping into the unknown with blind faith.” Taking that leap without precondition.

But Jack has built up a justification concerning the station and those numbers. It they don’t enter those numbers before time runs out, all hell will break loose.

Doing what you think you should do is a justification.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong story wise with what happened last night. On the contrary, I think the authors were doing it on purpose - a bit of an ironic take on the leap of faith. So much was said in that episode about taking a risk based on belief that we assume that that is the reason behind Jack’s final decision to press the button.

But he doesn’t believe.

Don’t you think it would’ve been a true leap of faith if Jack had not pressed the button? What if he had just refused to go along with everyone and instead said, “Let’s see what happens…”

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    • 1 Andy Coughlan // Oct 11, 2005 at 3:25 pm

      Jim, I totally agree. I thought the same thing myself. In fact, just before I sat down to watch that episode I’d been thinking about an article in this week’s New Scientist about Religious Fundamentalism, and the fact that Fundamentalists are often the way they are because they are searching for a solid truth to cling to (the Bible, the Koran etc).

      Having studied Religion for my degree, the one thing I walked away with is that (for me at any rate) faith is about uncertainty, about ‘not really knowing’.

      And then this episode played out with those thoughts fresh in my mind… The whole episode just didn’t sit right with me and it’s because Jack shouldn’t have pressed the button. He should have kept the faith in his belief that nothing was going to happen. Instead he bottled it.

      [EXECUTE] *click*

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