Wheeler's theory of a participatory universe leans heavily on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which contains the idea that the very act of observing impacts what is being observed. With this in mind, recall again that we now have two Dharma stations that were devoted to the act of surveillance: the Arrow, which was tasked with spying on the Island natives; and the Pearl, whose occupants monitored the action in Station 3, the Swan, and recorded every detail. If the observer can affect the observed via the act of observing, consider the implication for these stations: The people inside those hatches could have been manipulating the people and shaping the events they were watching. If this is accurate, we must wonder about the people who could have been in those hatches. If they end up being some or all of our time-traveling castaways, then you have an allegorical dramatization of Wheeler's ''participatory universe'' concept. The castaways would not only be contributing to the present and the future, but to the past as well. Fun fact: ''Pearl'' was the name of a character in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Starlight Express, a highly allegorical opus about an electric train set that comes to life. Each car of the train is personified by an actor. You know what part of the train Pearl is? Yep: the observation car.
But my favorite discovery about John Wheeler — the one that gave me chills — was the colorful, monstrous term he invented for Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Wheeler called it...''The Great Smokey Dragon.'' Wheeler came up with the phrase after the famous Copenhagen debate between Einstein and Bohr, in which the latter scientist argued that the uncertainty principle always allows for a glitch in a system, a fatal flaw in any well-ordered plan. You might say that The Great Smokey Dragon...changes the rules.
And...SWOOSH! We flashback to the Ben/Widmore ''He changed the rules'' episode ''The Shape of Things to Come,'' whose title now seems so many shades more ironic in retrospect:
Tonight, you will see a story that illustrates one of John Wheeler's concepts in a different way, one that I found both absorbing and emotional, and one that doesn't require any of this pocket protector hoo-ha to totally enjoy. But lest you wonder if I'm merely projecting Wheeler onto Lost, as opposed to identifying Wheeler within Lost, I offer this proof: John Wheeler's middle name.
It's Archibald.
Long for Archie, Jughead's best friend.
John Archibald Wheeler.
John. Archie. Bald. Wheeler.
Or in other words ...
John Locke.
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