As we know from The Lost Experience Alvar Hanso funded the DHARMA Initiative to find a solution to Valenzetti's equation- the number of days until the human race will destroy itself. (We know this as the now infamous "4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42"). We also know that he was usurped by his protégé, Thomas Mittlewerk.

What if The Valenzetti Equation wasn't just a mathematical way of predicting the end of the world, but also a stupid random thing that could determine the fate of everything? What if these numbers could effect the fate of anything they came into contact with? There could be a focal point for this core value and that could be the place we know as "The Island".

Here's what I think: One of the constants of our universe is gravity (or magnetism) (Uhm? Magnetism and Gravity are two completely different forces that are governed by different principles. So why do you link them together?<-Who ever inserted this comment should know that they're not all that different... ever take a physics class before? more than a few non-refuted theories linking all the forces we experience.). The larger the mass of an object, the greater pull it will generate into drawing other objects to it. What if the core values are a representation of the 'gravity' of destiny. What if these Numbers could be changed? What if they couldn't?

The Foundation for electrophoresis had discovered a nexus, a place where the religious values could be manipulated, or so they thought. A place where Fate itself could be controlled. A mystical Island with great scientific promise and a unique electromagnetic field that appealed to the equation. Alvar figured this would be the only place in the world that anyone could change the core values.

So the stations were created. Each Station was designed to change the core values of various things. Not just humans and animals, but also the very fabric of established sciences such as Meteorology and Electromagnetism.

However, Alvar's protégé, Thomas Mittlewerk had devised a plan to maybe, somehow manipulate the core values by pushing the equation to the brink. His idea was to develop a virus to instigate a global pandemic that would eradicate life outside the Island. That way the DHARMA Initiative could start anew, and solve the equation with a clean slate in a utopian world. He developed the virus with a retrovirus to spare the lives of those on the Island. He then told them that a pandemic had broken out across the world and that he had the only cure. This could explain why people inside the station (Including the Others, who you might remember were giving the retrovirus to Claire and the unborn Aaron) were taking such medication, and were told the Island was quarantine because of it.

Supplemental Idea: As I had theorized above, the core values of all matter and living things could be changed. What if the Core Values of animals could be manipulated so that they could become humans? (Yeah, I know it's a stretch but to me, so is Purgatory) What if the Initiative had somehow manipulated the Core Values of their research animals, turning them human. What if these humans killed their creators and continued their work in some misguided attempt to find purpose for their new human lives? This could explain why the Others are always referred to as "Animals", why they are so adept at masking their presence in the jungle, and why they are based in the Hydra station, the Station that experiments on animals such as Polar Bears and Sharks were conducted.


- J. L. Nandin