EYE M SICK: They *Hate* Paradox?!
In recent podcasts, Damon and Carlton have gone out of their way to badmouth the notion of chronological paradox. Yet I counted at least three such paradoxes in The Constant. There were two predestination paradoxes -- i.e., Eloise the rat knowing her way around the maze before being taught the correct route, and Penny keeping her same phone number for eight years. hrmm?
There also was an ontological paradox -- i.e., the correct settings for Daniel's time machine having no discernible origin. right ok. circular. he knows what #S to tell Desmond to tell hiself bcs Desmond has already told him.
I try to do away w this by supposing th Daniel did determine the #s without Desmond, but this just saves him some time*. but then once Desmond has visited, Daniel will not determine them on his own -- & of course in 2004 Desmond has always already visited. hmm. comments I read seem to want to treat this as if there are two pasts - the one before, up until Desmond in 2004 goes back to visit, and the one after, now different. this is logically offensive to me. not able to articulate why? it supposes layers of time, sort of treats it as if there is one real timeline (that we watch in the show, that Desmond experiences) where Desmond goes back to visit Daniel and only after that, in 2004, has the past changed. but then it is not really the past that changed, bcs if it had then there could not be a 2004 in which Desmond has not yet visited Daniel in 1996. you can't pick one timeline & privilege it as the real one and then go tinker with the past & say it does not proceed from there into the 'real' timeline.
well something like that.
this is why I tend to dislike time travel stories. always seem to ignore time AS time.
with one exception: Charlotte Sometimes. wh obeyed this rule: two girls can change places *only* bcs neither already is alive in the time she is travelling to. you can't be you twice over. no no no.
Anyone curious to read more about the distinction might want to check out my post on the subject.
ok check that out, seems to be speaking on the level ~
It seems to me that Damon and Carlton are using "paradox" to mean "changing the future." As the foregoing suggests, however, there are many chronological paradoxes that *don't* involve such changes. right. Sometimes, the paradox simply entails effects preceding their causes in time due to time travel, which seems to be the case on Lost. Could someone (you) please ask Damon and Carlton to stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater? I fear they're unintentionally leading viewers astray with their repeated rejection of all paradox, without exception...

ps is it possible (or does show make clear otherwise) that Daniel had already found the correct #s before Desmond got there? he gets excited about Eloise, so it seems that's the first time he had run that experiement, but maybe he already had the #s?

oh and the line I really like is Oxford Daniel all dismissive of Desmond at first:
"why didn't I just help you there, in the future? why put you through the, um, the headache of time travel? you know? just seems a little unnecessary?"
esp I like 'unnecessary' - his inflection, love Daniel's inflections - a physicist takes necessity seriously: what is and is not. there are reasons for things.

also v much like Desmond looking around, as Daniel explains he wears his protective labcoat to shield from radiation: "Do I get one?"
(mom: the dialogue is so good. said this each time we saw this, first to me, then to dad)