The Dead Don't Age ...Alpert?

[D-Roc]

My quest to uncover the nature of the island's visions and manifestations led me to the conclusion that they're in fact the subconscious memories or souls of the dead..those who have died on or off the island, refashioned into 'being' by the island's link to the conscious of the currently living.

However another issue struck me - why don't the dead (the visions/manifestations etc) age?

Take a look at these screencaps which show that even the likes of Emily, who died 11 years before she visited Ben, has not aged a day:
Ben's birth

11 Years later


We can also see that the visions/manifestations of Yemi and Boone have not aged since their respective deaths:
Living Yemi (pre-island) (island/dream Yemi)

Manifestation Boone:

This in itself is fairly interesting and I do not believe that it is merely an oversight or plot hole on the part of the creators. I can only assume that this points to further evidence that the visions/dreams and manifestations of the dead is deeply connected to the subconscious memories of the living - that is, the living see them as they remember them. This is duly noted with Locke's vision of Boone..he see's him both intact and then towards the end of his dream, he's sees a bloody and deathly image of Boone..just as he last saw him before he died.

We can also assume that the subconscious is connected to 'guilt' - each of the people who have seen visions feel guilty over the people who have died.

This brings me to the actual point of this thread - Alpert.

20+ years ago: 2004 (current island day) Alpert:

We can assume that he hasn't physically aged a day since he found young Ben wondering in the forest. What I'm wondering is this: In the light of the above observations concerning the dead not aging..what on earth does this say about Alpert? I'm not about to suggest that in actual fact Alpert is the living dead..but surely there is a connection there?

Thoughts?

PS. Regaridng Locke's vision of Walt..well i'm still in two minds over that one..one suggestion I would like to make is that Walt is dead - which would fit the pattern of the other island manifestations. The other suggestion is that it's actually Walt astral projecting or something like that. One thing we do know is that Walt has bloody aged, unlike the other manifestations..although let's be fair on MDK, he's at that age..

[keeno_82uk]

interesting.

regarding ben's mum. The directors probably thought that she wasnt a big enough character to spend the extra money on make up to make her look older.

the visions show the deceased as the character rememebrs them. Thats why tehy don't age.

and alpert...hmmm. Maybe its prolonged exposure to electro magnetic fields or the healing effect the island has that has kept him the same age. Or maybe he has found the fountain of youth

[-x-madegurl-x-]

i agree with keeno how the characters would visualise them how they remember them.. they're not gonna be psychic and know how they look now.

i don't agree with the statement about Ben's mother though.

i do however believed that Aplert has a very mysterious way about him. he just seems to me like he has a huge story that's just waiting to unravel.

[keeno_82uk]

is he perhaps the puppetmaster behind ben, using pursuasion to bend ben's will and make him do what he wants?

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted by keeno_82uk

interesting.

regarding ben's mum. The directors probably thought that she wasnt a big enough character to spend the extra money on make up to make her look older.

Hmm, not sure..I mean make-up doesn't cost much for a show such as Lost.

the visions show the deceased as the character rememebrs them. Thats why tehy don't age.

Yeah, that's what I mean in the bolded part.
I think that this is the mostly likely case, and it's interesting in that is shows that the island relies 'heavily' on the people it is tapping into. Knowing this would possibly help people like Locke if ever they needed to break free from the island's persuations..

[qoute]and alpert...hmmm. Maybe its prolonged exposure to electro magnetic fields or the healing effect the island has that has kept him the same age. Or maybe he has found the fountain of youth[/quote]
Yes, all three are quite possible - although it makes me ask this question:

Why him? ..and is it only him?

It would be interesting to know whether Alpert is happy with his current predicament, or whether he desperatly seeks "help", like his boss.

Originally Posted by madegurl

i do however believed that Aplert has a very mysterious way about him. he just seems to me like he has a huge story that's just waiting to unravel.

Indeed. I Look forward to seeing his story unravel over the course of the season.

Originally Posted by keeno_82uk

is he perhaps the puppetmaster behind ben, using pursuasion to bend ben's will and make him do what he wants?

He certainly seems to exert some control/authority, although I think his role is only advisory - Ben sent him to the temple despite his angst. I think Alpert wants to have control (or wants to chase different goals) but is unable to attain it. Perhaps this is why he seems to favour Locke?

[keeno_82uk]

he seems to calm and gentle to have any evil goals, unless he is a psycho.

As for not aging, i put it down to prolonged exposure to the island....ooooor (a thought just occurred to me), could be one of Dharma's guinea pigs that escaped. The experiment being the well know anti aging experiments.

Originally Posted by lost wiki

The Life-Extension Project worked on initiatives such as the life-extension of an orangutan named "Joop" celebrating its 105th birthday. It also provided financial backing for the Dharma Initiative on islands in the South Pacific.

not saying he is "joop" but maybe the result of expermenting on humans

[D-Roc]

Originally Posted by keeno_82uk

he seems to calm and gentle to have any evil goals, unless he is a psycho.

Not evil goals necessarily..but goals which are advantageous to his own personal motivations. The world has ticked along just fine under Ben's reign as island guardian..what would be the knock on effect if Alpert's aims were put into action..how would the "bigger picture" change..and would it be for better, or for worse?

As for not aging, i put it down to prolonged exposure to the island....ooooor (a thought just occurred to me), could be one of Dharma's guinea pigs that escaped. The experiment being the well know anti aging experiments.

Certainly, exposure..exposure to the islands special properties. However we have to consider that the island is conscious - it is able to pick and choose who and what to effect. It chose to give Locke the ability to walk and seemingly chose to heal Rose (unless the individuals healed themselves via sheer will and the islands "magic box", of course)..it seems possible that the island chose to place Alpert in this never ageing state. For some everlasting life would be a gift..for others..it is a curse. It would be revealing to see whether Alpert enjoys his enternal status...

Indeed, he could have been a Dharma experiment..a guinee pig, as you say. This is highly likely and could, perhaps, go someway to revealing just what Dharma were really up to on this amazing island. What kind of experiment could cause such a preservation of life? One would guess time travel or time-haulting was attempted..if his condition is related to Dharma's meddling, that is.

Another possibility is that Jacob placed Alpert in this state..to act as his eternal slave..his go to man before the more powerful Ben came along - hence Alpert's desire to recruit, perhaps? To free himself from Jacob's arts..

not saying he is "joop" but maybe the result of expermenting on humans

Whilst I do think that Alpert was from the Black Rock, he may have been a victim/willing participant of Dharma's meddling.

The question i'm asking myself is: What would someone want to achieve through anti-aging..what would be the motivation behind it, the world is already over-populated and underfed..what is the point of life extension.

Of course industries and private companies, aswell as governments would kill to get their hands on such a break through..does this all come down to money, industry and enterprise? Or had the end of the world been telescoped (time-travel?) and ascertained that the only way to survive the plague or whatever fate awaits us, is to preserve life..to meddle in God's work...

[D-Roc]

Cabin Fever gave us more to chew on.

• Locke's dream of Horace who had been dead for 12 years according to the man himself. Interestingly Locke had never met/seen Horace before (well, he might have if Alpert's test did indeed allude to the notion of reincarnation or time-loops), yet he was able to see him as he was..and he hadn't aged a day since the purge. Interesting how island dreams preserve the 'age' of the deceased in visions and manifestations/dreams.
• We also had Alpert popping up at Locke's birth - again, hadn't aged a day since the last time that he hadn't aged a day. I bring Alpert back into this because there are 3 intriguing possibilities imo:

1. Alpert's ageing is preserved by the islands special properties
2. Alpert is constantly time-travelling and has thus discovered a way to cheat ageing
3. Alpert is already dead and thus doesn't age, since the spirits/manifestations of the dead also do not age - as mentioned above with Horace, for example.

I think all three are very likely, although I would be most fanboyish over the idea that he is already dead - it would just fit so well..especially with the current theories that Claire died in the explosion/her sleep, hence he shaking up with Christian.