LOST Theory of Time

As of the third episode of season four, "The Economist", I believe the nature of the island has become more clear. My new theory explains the following along with other time distortions involving the island:

• Why Richard Albert seeming doesn't age
• Why Daniel Faraday's payload arrives over 30 minutes late
• Why Walt is disproportionately older then when he left
  

The short version of my theory is this: time moves more slowly on the island then it does off the island. A few characters (such as George Minkowski and Demond David Hume) are named after scientists who worked with time and Einstein's theory of relativity. One of the ideas in relativity is that time can move slower to someone traveling relative to someone staying still. For example, if I took a flight around the world I would be slightly younger relative to someone who didn't take the flight. The difference in the resulting age isn't measurable, but if I could travel longer at speeds approaching the speed of light, it would be. Some of the Others know about this to some degree, like Aldo who was reading A Brief History of Time. Faraday is starting to realize it, beginning with his observation that the light on the island "didn't scatter right," which it wouldn't if the island moves with the light.

When the payload arrives 30 minutes late, it doesn't mean the island is 30 minutes behind the rest of the world, it means the team that just arrived is 30 minutes behind the rest of the world. The Oceanic survivors are considerably further behind and Desmond and Rousseau are further still. So when the Oceanic Six leave the island, they may be returning to a world that is much further from the date of the crash then they expect and their flashforwards may be very forward. This also explains why Walt is older even though he hasn't been off the island that long. While he was off, much more time has passed for him. Albert barely ages because he rarely leaves the island, Ben has aged more because he must have left the island regularly through his life--as seen with all his passports and worldly currency from "The Economist."

A theory add-on is as follows. It is possible that from the island you can access different times depending on the direction you leave. Ben gave Michael special directions to leave the island with a certain baring, Faraday gave Lapidus similar directions. What if leaving with another baring took you to another time? That would explain why these different organizations (Hanso, Dharma, whoever the team works for) want control of the island. It also puts the Priest and the Ring lady that influnced Desmond's path to the island as Others, and can include Richard and/or Ben as possible time travelers. It also can help explain why the old polar bear skeleton is found, the strange history of the island with the Black Rock and the giant statue, and the Adam and Eve skeleton found on the island.

With this theory in mind, Ben and the others are the "good guys." They are doing whatever is necessary to keep the island from falling into the wrong hands. If the power of time was abused it would alter histories, cause paradoxes, and end the world. Sayid would help Ben if he finally understands this, and Jack would want to return to the island if he felt the world he returned to was altered for the worse.