Backwards Backwards (theory)

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In "Live Together, Die Alone" Desmond says to Locke, "What if you've got it backwards, brother? What if the experiment is not the two men in here, but the two men in there?" Desmond claims that Locke had it backwards: that the two men in the Swan were not part of an experiment and that the button was real. The Backwards Backwards Theory claims that Desmond was wrong (the button is not real), and that he had it backwards. (Hence backwards backwards).

Theory

The button was not real.
The Electromagnetic effect wasn't going to get any more powerful than it got when Desmond turned the fail-safe key.
Turning the fail-safe key deactivates the electromagnet and the experiment ends.
The purpose of the Swan was not to see if the partners would type in the code for the next 30 years. It was to see if any of them would turn the key, which would take a lot more courage than simply pushing the button.
DHARMA Initiative expected the partners to let the timer run down to 000-00 within a couple of weeks or years. After ten years of nothing, they set up another station called the Pearl to see if this experiment would be any more effective. It was badly organised, however, and within weeks the partners cracked up and left, having no reason to stay (e.g. save the world). Focus turned once again to the partners in the Swan.
The Incident was not what Kelvin explained to Desmond.
Oceanic Flight 815 was not pulled down due to Desmond failing to enter the code on time. That was part of the plan to make it seem real.
Overall, the experiment was a disaster.
We know what happens when the hatch im/exploded
It is not likely that DHARMA Initiative wanted the experiment to go on for 30 years.

Pros

We don't know if the Electromagnetism would have gotten any stronger than it got when Desmond turned the fail-safe key.
Kelvin was a coward. He was afraid of giving men the wrong orders again so he left the army.
Might explain the reversed audio from the Room 23 video. "Only fools are enslaved by time and space" might reference the mind-game being played with the occupant of the Swan. Time (every 108 minutes) and space (the quarantined hatch) restrain the occupant of the Hatch. The act of turning the key allows someone to break free of the foolishness of pressing the button.

Cons

Doesn't explain the sky turning violet at the end of "Live Together, Die Alone".
There is evidence to suggest that the Pearl is not abandoned: there is a still-smouldering cigarette in the room when Locke and Eko discover it.
- The cigarette was left by Paulo.
Ms. Hawking in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" told Desmond that the most significant thing he would ever do would be pressing the button in the Hatch (but may have been lying).
The idea of the Pearl being wired into the Swan after the Swan was already up and running doesn't really make much practical sense. Anybody already living in the oppressive atmosphere of the Swan would get really antsy when techies came down and started putting in cameras.
It is much too complicated - even if the sky turning purple was to make it seem more real why bother? Then the experiment is over and there is no point to make it look real anymore.
The Pearl station was in use until the genocide of the DHARMA initive (Roger Linus mentioned running some supplies down to the Pearl station before having a beer with his son). So clearly the "observers" were still there.
The Pearl Station video never said that the experiment was fake either; in fact it never referred to the Swan station particularly. He only said that they believe that their task is of the up-most importance. More than likely they were just asked to observe the behaviour of people doing actual DHARMA experiments and the messed up Swan experiment just happened to be one of the stations being watched.--Domerin 10:40, 30 June 2008 (PDT)