# Lost 4.03: "The Economist" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556 "2008-02-14T04:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/81 "2008-02-15T16:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=wasson] It’s a cityscape. [/QUOTE] Wait, what? Link to this thing, please! -FrL- eta: [Found a small one](http://www.techboutique.co.uk/images/160x120_lost_logo01_1.jpg). Was I whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/82 "2008-02-15T16:45:28Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Wait, what? Link to this thing, please! -FrL- eta: [Found a small one](http://www.techboutique.co.uk/images/160x120_lost_logo01_1.jpg). Was I whooshed? [/QUOTE] > **[Sign in - Google Accounts](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fdrosing%2Ftrailerend-city.jpg&dsh=S2099303564%3A1781641364003220&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fdrosing%2Ftrailerend-city.jpg&osid=1&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&ifkv=AcDsRvwbTd_DbT2D-7-b4TecBWS4XOTnX0tT2E9PQyYP8UMWIUD7UyhlJ5QASQMV1jPHgjb1iBGD)** ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/83 "2008-02-15T16:46:43Z")
[QUOTE=wasson] > **[Sign in - Google Accounts](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fdrosing%2Ftrailerend-city.jpg&dsh=S572091539%3A1781641363810246&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fdrosing%2Ftrailerend-city.jpg&osid=1&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&ifkv=AcDsRvzlnC3ZRiNLNf4ap3eUf-nkoLbgEFhfDfD-tbZrfkEMhfI7BVmRTS7qY9KxyzJ17sfrbjqSKg)** [/QUOTE] :eek: What does this _mean_? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/84 "2008-02-15T16:51:13Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] :eek: What does this _mean_? -FrL- [/QUOTE] Is it Seattle? Can’t really tell anything. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/85 "2008-02-15T16:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I thought of that, but I’m not so sure that explanation works. (It may nevertheless be what the writers have in mind.) I’ll mull it over some more. But if time dilation due to acceleration is supposed to explain it, then that’s some _crazy ass_ acceleration the projectile had to have undergone somewhere on the trip to lose a whole 31 seconds, since the losties are apparently close enough to the boat that there is no noticeable delay between their speaking on the phone and the reciever hearing it on the other end. I don’t know the math in any detail, but it seems like the acceleration required for that amount of dilation over that small of a distance would be enough to rip the projectile apart. But I may just have the physics wrong, not to speak of the math. -FrL- [/QUOTE] I don’t expect the writers to get all the physics correct, and I think if you just do some hand waving and say “relativistic effect”, that would be enough to explain things. BTW, was it 31 seconds or 31 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/86 "2008-02-15T16:58:41Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] Is it Seattle? Can’t really tell anything. [/QUOTE] I turned it upside down with an image editor and it no longer looks _so_ much like a city. It’s something though. And it may be a city. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/87 "2008-02-15T16:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I don’t expect the writers to get all the physics correct, and I think if you just do some hand waving and say “relativistic effect”, that would be enough to explain things. BTW, was it 31 seconds or 31 minutes? [/QUOTE] Sorry I meant 31 minutes. A _lot_ of time dilation. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/88 "2008-02-15T17:02:09Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] A bullet is also just a piece of metal and this particular piece was traveling about 5 km per second. [/QUOTE] Or about mach 15. Which means they wouldn’t have heard it coming. Sometimes this show aggravates the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/89 "2008-02-15T17:04:16Z")
If they can make a paralyzed man walk and a cancer victim go into remission (among other things), playing fast and lose with physics is a misdemeanor in my book. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/90 "2008-02-15T17:05:56Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] The speed of light is constant, no matter what the reference frame. [/QUOTE] Yet light can be slowed down if it travels through a different medium. Most likely, the island is surrounded by some sort of electromagnetic field that dampens kinetic energy. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/91 "2008-02-15T17:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I turned it upside down with an image editor and it no longer looks _so_ much like a city. It’s something though. And it may be a city. -FrL- [/QUOTE] Here’s another. > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Host your images online with an easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. It seems pretty undeniable that its a city. I don’t think it has any deep meaning other than the Losties will end up back in civilization (which we already know, obviously). ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/92 "2008-02-15T17:21:20Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Desmond was definitely on the helicopter. 1. Pilot 2. Desmond 3. Sayid 4. Naomi [/QUOTE] Thanks everyone. I am easily confused. 🙂 Although this means that Desmond and Sayid both go on the chopper but only Sayid is (so far) considered one of the “Oceanic Six”. Of course Desmond wasn’t on the plane, but I wonder if he will make it back to the real world. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/93 "2008-02-15T17:33:43Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Interesting that time is slower on the island than out in the world. I wonder if that means when they’re rescued, they jump from 4 months to close to our current time without having to have the 3 or so years pass by. [/QUOTE] It seems that could also play into why Walt’s still growing. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/94 "2008-02-15T17:42:32Z")
[QUOTE=UncleRojelio] Or about mach 15. Which means they wouldn’t have heard it coming. Sometimes this show aggravates the crap out of me. [/QUOTE] It was moving that fast when it first launched and SHOULD have reached them. Still, I assume that the weird time effect or some deliberate deceleration (turning the motor off?) was supposed to get it there at under Mach 15. Unless that thing looked well-packed enough for the payload to survive a crash at that speed? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/95 "2008-02-15T17:49:10Z")
Any speculation about why Faraday insisted that the pilot fly on the exact same course he used when he came in? I wonder if it has anything do with the time shifting. Maybe if they don’t fly through the worm hole (or whatever) then the freighter will no longer be there. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/96 "2008-02-15T17:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Any speculation about why Faraday insisted that the pilot fly on the exact same course he used when he came in? I wonder if it has anything do with the time shifting. Maybe if they don’t fly through the worm hole (or whatever) then the freighter will no longer be there. [/QUOTE] Or they end up in the wrong dimension. Or they get wrecked by a storm. Remember, Michael was supposed to do that as well. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/97 "2008-02-15T17:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I turned it upside down with an image editor and it no longer looks _so_ much like a city. It’s something though. And it may be a city. -FrL- [/QUOTE] I did the same sort of [thing](http://goodcomics.com/sdmb/trailerend-city_ps.jpg) in PhotoShop, and tried to correct it’s skew and did some sharpening and other crap. Your right, it does look city-scape like, but it looks like something happened to it. Something bad. But then again, it could be because of the imposition on top of the murky, foreboding waters. But if those are buildings, they still look weird… especially the one on the far right. What a weird shape for a building. But who knows how much distortion they put on the image in photoshop to make it look wavy. After all, I think we’re making shapes outta clouds here… nothing to see… move on… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/98 "2008-02-15T17:57:21Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Or they end up in the wrong dimension. Or they get wrecked by a storm. Remember, Michael was supposed to do that as well. -Joe [/QUOTE] I wonder if the “rescue” that Michael was supposed to find was the freighter. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/99 "2008-02-15T18:02:38Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I wonder if the “rescue” that Michael was supposed to find was the freighter. [/QUOTE] Oh, if Ben is the manipulator everyone thinks he is, yeah, probably. Thing is, that means that the freighter has set out there for 50ish days with Michael aboard. And they would have started jetting out toward the island the moment the EMP happened, since Michael left right at the same time it happened. That assumes that the EMP was how they managed to find the island. The big question I’m wondering about, if Ben DOES have a spy on the boat (Michael or not), how is this spy communicating huge amounts of information to Ben? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556/100 "2008-02-15T18:07:33Z")
Perhaps whatever “time bubble” that surrounds them has a “time thickness” to it. That is, there’s no discernible thickness to it in space, but if you travel past it, there’s some huge time difference. Maybe the further you go off of _the_ bearing, the deeper you travel in time? Or something. No real world physics applies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-03-the-economist/437556.md?page=6)