Talk: DHARMA Initiative/archive1

The Arrow[]

"In the feature, "Secrets of the Hatch" on the Lost: The Complete Second Season DVD it is said that the Arrow is the first Hatch. This may be mistaken info, but it should be noted."

I edited that into the article, and that's pretty much the whole story. I can't remember who said it, but I figured it's intresting information. It makes me think that either the castaways didn't discover the entire Station or that it was CONVERTED into storage. Either way, I figured I should give a heads up that I edited this.-Therum

I think there is something more to the Arrow. Roger's friend was a mathematician and he had an Arrow Station patch on. If it was just storage why would they need a mathematician? Only speculation now though but interesting to think about.Giddeanx 16:31, 13 January 2008 (PST)

Feng Shui Logo[]

Am I the only one that is totally befuddle by this logo interpretation? I do see the resemblance and want to know how to read this without having to buy a book. Can anyone explain this more clearly or in more depth. PLEASE!

CeltiC_RaGe75

The Logo is a Hexagram. It is read by combining the opposing sides "lines". Meaning top & bottom, top left & bottom right, right & left, top right & bottom left. It reads: ( top & bottom) Flame above/Water below-Transition, before completion. The time is not yet right to act, so be patient; the transition from chaos to order is not yet complete. You are following the right path, but avoid disputes, and success will come to you in time. (Top L & Bottom R) Lake above/Heaven below-Breakthrough, resoluteness. There is a danger which must be aknowledged, and actions taken in quiet ways with the support of others. Greater prosperity will follow if you act fairly and with honor, and are cautious in your actions. (R & L) Mountain Above/ Lake Below-Decrease. Avoid excesses, and preserve what you have. You may need to accept a loss, but do so easily: greater benefit will replace the loss. Be restrained but flexible, and act with sincerity. ( Top R & Bottom L) Modesty. Equal partnerships benefit. Act with humility to all people; restore balance between exccess and dearth in order to be successful.

By the way DEARTH means Lack of.

dnescio@yahoo.com

I rather think, that it has no such interpretation. My reason for this is, that each of the 8 avaiable symbols appears exactly once. This looks more like "the alphabet" of these symbols. A interpretation would be like interpreting ABCDEF as a word rather than part of the alphabet. --aurora glacialis 03:14, 7 March 2006 (PST)

These symbols are all from the "I Ching" ('the book of changes'), an ancient book of Chinese mysticism/fortune-telling. Each of the parts of the octogon were used in pairs to determine futures. These are simply each of the main parts, the 8 different sets that could be attained during any reading. I'm no expert on the process, though, as the order of the lines (broken or unbroken) also have some meaning. Early buddhists used this system and the theories that came from the readings had signifacnt impacts in early Asian development.

mzars@cox.net

SOS: Article in need of tidying![]

Anyone got suggestions on how to clean up this article? It's really a terrible mess... --Jambalaya 13:02, 3 March 2006 (PST)

The section on scam sites should be broken off into a separate article, with a wiki link from this one.
Jabberwock talk contribs email - 13:32, 3 March 2006 (PST)

The Logo interpretation should probably be moved to the Logos section, but a link should be kept here... --aurora glacialis 14:28, 3 March 2006 (PST)

After looking at this page and the comments here, I overhauled it. I moved the scam site links to their own page (Scams), moved the logo comparison to Feng Shui to The Logos page, and made several organizational changes. Let me know what you think.
Jabberwock talk contribs email - 14:17, 3 March 2006 (PST)

Much better :-). --aurora glacialis 14:28, 3 March 2006 (PST)

Multipurpose social science research facility[]

I find it interesting that Candle says that Alvar Hanso made the DeGroot's dream of a "multipurpose social science research facility" a reality.

"social science" does seem to suit the survivors (and possibly Desmond) being in some kind of test. Maybe a test that has gotten out of hand, even become a realtily rather than test. Maybe a second "Incident" has altered the rules. --user:MRNasher

My point for a while. Everything points towards the whole thing beeing some sort of experiment. I mean - it would be an interesting experiment to put some people on an island and see what happens. Guess why "Lord of the Flies" is still one of the most read books in school.Of course, that would probably too much of an easy explanation. Also, I don't think those Dharma people really would do an experiment that gets people killed. One can only phantasize right now, what the reality behind the whole thing is. A social experiment gone wrong or out of hands? A social experiment that is run by someone who also "invented" Dharma? Some sort of virtual reality or dreamstate (remember the mysterious appearance of people and animals on the island and the whispering voices seemingly seeping though the fabric of reality)? We'll have to wait and see... ;-) --aurora glacialis 06:33, 16 March 2006 (PST)

I think it's even a possiblity that nothing is as old as it seems... the films, the technology, the old wrecks, the amount of time the experiments have been going on. And I think that everyone else is in on it except the plane crash survivors. It's all staged. --GeorgePBurdell 07:46, 16 May 2006 (PDT)

On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hugh McIntyre of the Hanso Foundation claimed to have shut down the initiative in 1987. Is that statement true? Was that even Hugh McIntyre? Maybe, maybe not, but it probably worth mentioning. User:Sweetcynamon 01:26, 25 May 2006 (EST)

I personally think that the DHARMA initiative isnt even real. Its all just made up to mess with the people who crashed on the island's heads. I dont think anybody signed up for this. I think Kelvin and Radzinski both crashed/landed here somehow. the dharma initiative is fake every single thing is a test, no matter what marvin candle says.

New orientation video for station 5[]

maybe fake , i dont know

http://www.thetailsection.com/procedure.swf

if its real , it should be added.

--Cool Man 0912 14:08, 27 March 2006 (PST)

See Third Orientation Film. Jabberwock talk contribs email 14:10, 27 March 2006 (PST)

AFAIK there hasn't been a mention on the show if there even is a 'station 5', and the site mentioned is not part of the canon. So I would say the authencity is seriously questioned. --skks 14:37, 27 March 2006 (PST)

DHARMA as an acronym[]

"DeGroot Hanso" seems plausible for the starting letters. Maybe the whole acronym is a modified copy of DARPA, hence "DeGroot Hanso Advanced Research (something) Agency" ? Yes, it's an "initiative" rather than an agency, but that might be a lead (dharmatel and such) Xibe 08:30, 28 April 2006 (PDT)

I've been thinking about this as well... I'm going to the forums to get a possible list...

Development of Human Alternate Reality and Memory Alteration
Donum Homanus Agnosco Re vera Mentis Abutor (The Gift of Human Understanding: Fulfilling the Human Mind)

[Note that abutor (fufilling) acould also be translated as "abusing"]

SigmaEpsilon 17:36, 1 May 2006 (PDT)

i'd say by all means put those in the relevant 'theories' section of the article. that's what it's there for! --kaini 18:29, 1 May 2006 (PDT)

DeGroot & Hanso Adore Recursive Motherfuckin' Acronyms! --Joezoo 19:59, 1 May 2006 (PDT)
- lol even better; DHARMA Has A Recursive Motherfuckin' Acronym! i love it! --kaini 20:16, 1 May 2006 (PDT)
The Lost Experience Persephone hack confirmed DHARMA as an acronym for "Department of Heuristics and Research Material Applications." To learn about Heuristics, search it on wikipedia. --Greenie
- IIRC, The Lost Experience did indeed list the term "Department of Heuristics and Research Material Applications" but has it been confirmed (preferably by someone from the show)?
- It has been confirmed within The Lost Experience, via an orientation video. I believe that makes it canon. --Jajasoon 12:20, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
  - I agree, however, in the article it specifically says that it has been "SUGGESSTED THROUGH THE LOST EXPERIENCE" so whether or not you want to believe its canon, i think the wording makes it factual in this sense. -brianopp 12:23, 25 July 2006 (PDT)

Main page logo[]

Should we have that Sri Lanka one as the main logo? I would think the one outta Rachel Blake's early posts would be more appropriate really, it seemed much more universal than that bubble one. Its a fragmented video and we have no clue its the main one, its just another Orientation film logo like the psychology one I think. I vote the image on the main page should go back to the plain one --Nickb123 (Talk) 10:25, 30 July 2006 (PDT) I could not agree more. The problem with this is currently someone keeps changing another image to this one, so I just changed the link in hopes it would stop. Feel free to switch back. --Keri Can Fly 10:28, 30 July 2006 (PDT)

I agree as well, at the moment Rachel Blake's logo is the most likely candidate for being the a main logo. --Peephole 10:53, 30 July 2006 (PDT)
I'm convinced that the empty logo is the main logo, too. Just because it's empty and neutral, so it looks superior. The Sri Lanka-Logo doesn't look like a main logo. For me that are planets oder flares, besides it's another Orientation-Video. Why we should have a main Orientation-Film?--Barclay 11:01, 30 July 2006 (PDT)

I think the Sri Lanka Video Logo is the main Dharma logo. for the simple fact that it represents a neutral symbol (a zygote) and that it predates all other known logos. the 'main logo' from rachels' blog is not something that has ever appeared dirrectly from DHARMA, and that is emphasized by the producers by the center text being of a very different and almost comic-style font. The orietation film shown in the Sri Lanka video is also a DHARMA general orientation, which reason would indicate makes the DHARMA logo shown, a general DHARMA logo.--Incitatus4 08:34, 31 July 2006 (PDT)

Play well with others, kids![]

I've noticed some of you are fighting over edits, and my position is not to ban anyone, but let you sleep on this. No flamewars, keep having fun, this page will be unprotected tomorrow. --GodEmperorOfHell 15:58, 30 July 2006 (PDT)

Agreed. I'm sure we can all get along, provided certain people stop deleting information from the article. Disputes over material added, should be discussed here, especially when the material being added is no longer interferring with other material on the page.--Incitatus4 08:39, 31 July 2006 (PDT)

Nothing has been deleted, all the information has just been moved around. --Peephole 08:41, 31 July 2006 (PDT)

If anything needs to be deleted or changed its this

"The Swan station remained under the control of the DHARMA Initiative until 2004."

That is not fact in the least!!! Bukanin speaks of replying to an ad of the same nature as Kelvin, but TPTB have said that "Everything Mikhail said was true EXCEPT for the idea he was working for the DI", which you would figure means that they were both recruited by the same people, which if not the DI in Bukanins case, then why would it be in Kelvins? Please dont put personal speculation on the site, unless in theories. Until this is verified I would like it changed, but will wait to see if someone does it first, otherwise I will make it into less of a fact. I'm not even sure if thats general consensus from all the posts I've read in the forum.--mac_ad 13:37, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

Well, Kelvin is an odd one. He's not an Other, because they didn't know about the Swan, and he's not the the normal Dharma at least, because he didn't know anything about the other Dharma stations. So yeah, we can't really make any solid statements. --Sauron18 13:58, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

True, he doesnt 'seem' to be an other, but we really have no clue.. he may be an other trying to coax Desmond into believing his story to take on the task of the button so he can try and sail back home.. otherwise he would just wait to be brought back home.. not try and escape. TPTB have lied in the past, and recently its been brought up that"if they gave all the answers the big reveals wouldnt be as big". That being said we still dont know its 'fact' and thats sort of what I'm saying. Its ok for it to be there, but not worded the way it is. Also, its fairly obvious that Ben DID know about the swan because of his fathers beer run route, and he knew about the Pearl(with cameras to the swan), so whos to say he didnt know about the swan? Once Kelvin was placed there, like Mikhail was placed in the flame, Ben may have had no reason to observe the Swan. There are too many open possibilities for it to be placed as 'fact'. Again, they both(K and M)answered ads that said "Do you want to save the world?" at about the same time in history, which leads me to believe they were answering them to the same organization, and if Mikhail 'isnt' Dharma, then we cant assume Kelvin 'is', even if he may have believed he was. see what I'm saying?:D--mac_ad 14:32, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

Well, TPTB confirmed that the Others don't know about the Swan, had never been there before nor knew what it was about. They knew it existed, they could see it, but nothing more. Roger and Ben don't seem to have ventured into the Swan as far as we know, since it was a more isolated station after the button-policy was in place. After all, they couldn't have people from the Pearl and the Swan intereacting.....--Sauron18 14:36, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

If thats the case, why is the map Hurley found in Rogers van of the Swan Hatch, and not the Pearl? Again, I call TPTB BS on that one. Ben knew what he was doing when him and Juliet went to the Pearl to observe.--mac_ad 14:40, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

It was an old road map meant to show the audience that there was once a road. I presume that after the incident, which for some reason made the Swan more important (button thing), that they may have pulled a "Looking Glass" on it and told everyone else that it was abandoned.....--Sauron18 15:01, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

I think that actually proves my point. Theres the Swan symbol on it, and the schematics to the swan. Therefore Roger knew about the Swan. He and Ben were workmen, remember thats a glorified 'janitor', if you ask anyone in a position like that, they will tell you that they know literally every nook and cranny in their worplace.. Roger/Bens workplace IS the island. They KNEW ABOUT THE SWAN. Ps.. "There use to be a road? No, there 'was' a road because Roger was killed on that road, and even if they are only the building schematics, it proves that workmen knew about the Swan. also if they knew about the Pearl, they knew about the work the Pearl did.. again.. they knew about the Swan. It should be obvious in 'Expose' that Ben knows about the Swan, and bare in mind, that was early season 2 technically, and TPTB 'confirmed' he didnt know about it in season 3.. dont you think that perhaps they are lying to save their own story from being spoiled(ie Expose)? All I'm saying here is.. even if Kelvin is Dharma, there is no proof, physical literal proof, and that statement on the wiki was pure speculation, this is a site for facts, theories have their own tab.--mac_ad 17:37, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

Apollo Theme of the station names[]

All the DHARMA station names with the exception of the pearl seem to have some association with the greek god Apollo.

The Staff - Apollo was the god of medical healing. According to many stories, Apollo traded the Caduceus staff to Hermes for a Lyre.
The Arrow - Apollo's most common attribute is the bow and arrow
The Hydra - There is a story of Apollo and his Raven that involves the Hydra
The Flame - Apollo is the sun god
The Swan - Swans are sacred to Apollo. They figure into stories about him including his birth.
The Pearl - This is the only one that doesn't perfectly fit, but there are possibilities
- The Pearl symbol represents the sun (Apollo as sun god)
- The Pearl symbol represents the moon (Artemis is moon goddess and twin sister of Apollo)

There is also the association of Apollo with the candy bars.

I'm looking for opinions on including the information on apollo and the station names in the articles on DHARMA and the stations. Does the observation hold up well enough that it should go into the articles? Dharmatel4 11:04, 3 April 2007 (PDT)

I think you're on the right track. Certainly the use of hieroglyphs in The Swan is consistent with a mythological theme. But I think it unlikely that the pearl symbol is meant to represent the moon. The moon is usually represented as a crescent. More likely it just stands for "pearl" and that's it.

Of course now you have the problem that this is the only station name that has no connection with Apollo. Perhaps this station is different from the others.

OK, here's some off-the wall brainstorming: You mention that Apollo was the god of healing. That's actually what most books on mythology say, but this is actually a simplification imposed on Greek polytheism after it ceased being a living religion and became a just a collection of stories. When the Greeks actually worshiped these gods, their cults weren't neatly delineated, and often were in competition.

Now, there were two competing "medical" cults: that of Apollo (actually, of his son Aesculapius) and that of Hermes. The story about Apollo trading the caduceus to Hermes probably has something to do with this competition. It probably also has something to do with the fact that Hermes's staff, which was originally quite different from the caduceus (it didn't originally have snakes, for example) gradually came to resemble it.

Interesting tidbit: there is a small atoll in northwest Hawaii called "The Pearl and Hermes". Wonder if it's near the place where they film Lost?

Here's one more detail: Aesculapius was mortal on his mother's side. He was a famous healer, but was finally killed by Zeus for overstepping the bounds of a mortal physician: he figured out how to bring the dead back to life. Mikhail, is that you?

-- Zicsoft 14:55, 1 May 2007 (PDT)

I agree the moon isn't ideal for the pearl. The other alternative is the circle as Apollo's sun symbol. The reason I went with Artimis is the mural in the Swan. The figures were somewhat suggestive of Apollo and Artimis. Especially Apollo's arm bringing disease. I'm trying to stay with the popular interpretations of the Greek stories and not get too deep into the more complicate details.

I've got one for you. If your not familiar with it, you might want to read about the circumstances of Apollo's birth. The place and the problems sound somewhat familiar :) Dharmatel4 18:17, 1 May 2007 (PDT)

Your approach to the Greek myths is the correct one. I was just brainstorming. My references to their religious origins are too obscure to have played a role in a TV show. I'm still intrigued by the Pearl and Hermes atoll though. And if we're keeping things simple, we should assume the pearl in the icon is just a pearl.

Yeah, Apollo was born on a hidden island. Unfortunately, this is all part of the Leto/Apollo/Artemis mythology, which has many contradictory versions. No answers there. — Zicsoft 19:24, 1 May 2007 (PDT)

Given Up?[]

I believe that before the Dharma Initiative were destroyed, or became the Others, or whatever happened to them happened, they had decided that it was impossible to change the variables of the Valenzetti equation after all, and that humanity was doomed. so instead they dedicated their efforts to turning the islnd into a place where they would be safe from the end of the world, and where they could start again afterwards. I think the purpose of the security system is to get rid of bad people, so that only good people are left to rebuild society. The Others now know about all this, and are trying to continue the work, which is why they so badly want people to be able to conceive on the island. Otherwise, the human race will die out. Less probably, but a nice theory, is that there is some kind of barrier around the island, and when it is crossed, the person who crosses it is split into good and bad twins, so that the security system can then destroy all that is bad about a person. It would explain why the Others are brought to the island unconscious - so that the bad half can be disposed of. When the Losties crossed the barrier they were split, and one part of each of them crashed on the island, but the other part crashed at sea and died. That is why the Losties are a mix of good and bad. It may be that the island only heals people that are good, which is why Ben was able to get cancer - he was born on the island and so is neither good nor bad. Any thoughts? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Javallance (talk • contribs) .

orrientation film - barracks[]

should there not be an article about the barracks orientation film? --KevGGrif 12:28, 10 May 2007 (PDT)

Was there any new information made available through the Barracks film? (I honestly cannot recall.) Or do you mean we should at least make mention that there was one? --ConspiracyofDetails 11:09, 11 May 2007 (PDT)

Do They Know?[]

It's obvious that DHARMA is still packaging and shipping their supplies - a big pallet of food landed on our castaways, after all. But the Purge happened years upon years ago. This begs the question: does DHARMA know that their personnel are all dead? Or do they think it's business as usual on the Island, their people are still crunching numbers and splitting DNA, Horace is still grinning at everybody, and people are pushing the button? Something does not add up. --ConspiracyofDetails 11:07, 11 May 2007 (PDT)

It may be that the Hanso Foundation supported both DHARMA amd the Hostiles - all as part of the "big experiment". While the experiment failed whent the Hostiles wiped out the DHARMA people, the Hostiles are still fully funded by Hanso. --Doc 11:18, 11 May 2007 (PDT)

In the Sri Lanka video, Alvar Hanso says that the supply drops will be made in perpetuity. It may be the case that someone on the outside has been contracted to do the resupply, but that entity was never controlled by DHARMA. The Flame aside, the video also seemed to suggest that the radio tower sending out the numbers was supposed to be only communication from the island to the outside world.

There is also a whole lot we still don't know. It seems now that the Arrow likely had a different original purpose than supply and restock (why have a mathamatician at a supply base?) And the Quarrintine stuff has not been explained either. For all the information they provided, the episode seemed delberately not to give the time when those things happened.

We dont know when the gassing happened. We don't know what the cerebrus system was or what the AH/MDG incident was. All the flashback of Dharma were from the perspective of workmen who didn't know anything and didn't seem to be told anything either. Even knowing when Ben arrived would have told us alot because the fence was already in place. Dharmatel4 11:47, 11 May 2007 (PDT)

Modern DHARMA[]

So we now know that Ben helped the natives overrun the main stronghold of DHARMA on the island (and presumably the other outlaying stations as was necessary) yet the name of DHARMA is used for their off-island activities too. Also they have on going supplies of branded goods, washing machines and palate drops which would indicate that the project is on going.

If they have use of a submarine, vehicles, food, books and all the infrastructure that has been built on the island.. are the backers:

Not interested in any return for their money (written it off)
Dead
Blackmailed to keep bankrolling the operation
or are they being given results?

So it begs the questions:

1. Is the current situation (on and off the island) actually part of the project/research?
2. Do the backers of the project know that it has taken this new direction and leadership?
3. Do the backers in fact exist and are the branded goods paid for and brought in from outside?

Someone also points out here that D is for Department.. which does suggest that the Initiative is a branch of something else (presumably bigger).. which could be bankrolling the

Just some thoughts i had about DHARMA and where its at today.. rather than what it was created for.. as i think thats a ways off being revealed yet. --Nasher 07:17, 15 May 2007 (PDT)

Station names[]

Before "Greatest Hits", the stations generally seemed to have a "Apollo" theme. The Pearl was the only exception. Now the Looking Glass is the second exception. However, there is a new pattern. The stations that don't fit the Apollo theme seem to have inverted Logos.

It seems as if the regular group of stations following one naming scheme and the inverted stations get their names from something else. Can anyone think of any links between "pearl" and Alice in Wonderland/similiar themed works? Dharmatel4 22:21, 16 May 2007 (PDT)

Roundabout, perhaps, but here's my pearl/carroll connection: Carroll's poem Atalanta in Camden-Town is the main Pearl connection I've found (http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/poetry/PhantasmagoriaandOtherPoems/chap20.html). It mentions "With my pearl of a Peri".

Peri being "descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent. They are exquisite, winged, fairy-like creature ranking between angels and evil spirits. They sometimes visit the realm of mortals". Which fits the limbo/redemtion arcs well.

Atalanta in this case being a reference to the Greek mythological character who would not be wooed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atalanta).

barring this explaination, there's always the oysters from The Walrus and The Carpenter. Tigerlilylynn 21:30, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Numbering of the hatches[]

In response to "n the feature, "Secrets of the Hatch" on the Lost: the Complete Second Season DVD it is said that the Arrow is the first Hatch. This may be mistaken information, because the Swan was referred to as being the second, but it should be noted.": The DHARMA Initiative possibly didn't build the stations all at once, but in stages, and after all were constructed, the numbers were reordered. Thus, the Swan was constructed second, but numbered as third. Why? Maybe due to the sectors they are loocated in? Mikael Grizzly 01:41, 25 May 2007 (PDT)

Box is screwy[]

I came to this page and noticed the text below the DHARMA logo box is screwed up. I tried to fix it but it didn't work, so I reverted my changes. Can someone else give it a shot?--Jeff 00:19, 31 May 2007 (PDT)

Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow[]

I was having a bit of a think, and realised some similarities between DHARMA and EPCOT. Yes, it is a Walt Disney theme park, but I'm thinking more along the earlier concept of a constructed utopian society. Both Alvar Hanso and Walt Disney are seen as visionaries... rich visionaries with ideas of change, and have the money to do something like this. Just like the DHARMA initiative was set up as "a large-scale communal research compound where scientists and free-thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, etc", the EPCOT concept was for a "community of the future" that was designed to stimulate American corporations to come up with new ideas for urban living, as well as the hope that "everyone living in EPCOT will have the responsibility to maintain this living blueprint of the future" (as shown in the 1966 EPCOT protoype film, bearing similarities to the Sri Lanka Video).

Both systems are set out in a radial plan, both fully self-sufficient working environments, and although the whole plan didn't go exactly to plan (seeing as Disney died of lung cancer a few years after the EPCOT video), the redesigned theme park for technology was divided into six areas covering different aspects of life (energy, oceans, communication, and so forth) around a central hub, each with it's own logo... http://i10.tinypic.com/4utu0jo.png Maybe it's just me seeing the similarities. Or maybe all mid-20th Century ideals for utopian working societies were kinda alone the same lines, eheh. Philcsf 14:48, 9 June 2007 (PDT)

You may have something there. Are there any other "Disnyesque" links? The submarine ride, maybe? Then again, I believe a lot of the urban utopia designs were set up with radial symmetry and organized in sections with distinct purposes. Humans seem to like this kind of symmetry and have an innate desire to group similar things together. This is actually one of the things that set Paolo Soleri's urban designs apart - he things cities should be integrated with their surroundings and should be more mixed up (this is of course a gross generalization, please don't flame me for over simplifying). --Doc 08:51, 29 October 2007 (PDT)

DHARMA -> Dharma.[]

This is one of those huge acronyms which was created by first finding a neat word (Dharma) and finding words to plug in. Kinda like how the USA PATRIOT ACT = Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. I think DHARMA looks kinda silly all over this article. The title is fine, but DHARMA over and over is silly. :) -Sloths 01:01, 28 October 2007 (PDT)

DHARMA Initiative Stations[]

Is this section of the page redundant. I'd think a short paragraph and the link to the DI Stations article would be enough to have here, and the page getting pretty long. Also, would it be worth having a separate article for DI Personnel (and thus making this page a but shorter and more concise)? --Doc 08:55, 29 October 2007 (PDT)

Personally I agree --Lewis -Talk-Contribs 09:14, 29 October 2007 (PDT)

The Orchid[]

Should The Orchid station be added to the list? Giddeanx 16:31, 13 January 2008 (PST)

Once it's shown in an episode, I think it should be, but not before then.--Kgs 13:22, 28 February 2008 (PST)

DHARMA Initiative members[]

Shouldn't this section (the one recently restored by MrLeaf) be deleted? It's redundant with the Portal:DHARMA Initiative members. At the very least they should be merged. --Doc 11:34, 21 January 2008 (PST)

The portals do not replace the individual lists within articles. The portals are also invariably locked.Dharmatel4 12:01, 21 January 2008 (PST)

Why is Annie listed as a prominent member? We only saw her as a child and she didn't seem to have any sort of importance to the Inititive then.--Kgs 13:19, 28 February 2008 (PST)

The Temple[]

Should the Temple now be added to this article since we've seen it has a DHARMA logo? -- LOSTonthis darnisland 00:17, 1 April 2008 (PDT)

I think its better to wait until its actually seen. Dharmatel4 04:26, 1 April 2008 (PDT)

Okay by me -- LOSTonthis darnisland 20:52, 1 April 2008 (PDT)

Status of DHARMA in regards to Octagon[]

So, since Octagon Global Recruting is sponsored by the DHARMA Initiative, would it be safe to assume that DHARMA is still up and running? And if so, should the status reflect that?--JoeyBags1138 11:09, 31 May 2008 (PDT)

The way that I regard the ARGs (and I believe that Damon and Carlton have said something similar) is that the information revealed through them is canon, although the actual storylines of the games themselves are not. We don't really know enough about the new ARG (assuming it even is one) to say whether the fact that Dharma appears to be up and running is canon or not, although I would guess that it isn't, unless it is explicetly stated on the show or by Damon and Carlton.--Bohrok Awakener 02:43, 1 June 2008 (PDT)

Status of DHARMA employees on the island[]

Shouldn't we put all of their status's as presumed deceased unless otherwise noted?--Jinx 12:00, 16 July 2008 (PDT)
- Personally, I hate the status column. But if it is to be kept, I agree with you. --Blueeagle islander 17:48, 16 July 2008 (PDT)
- Well...I believe it is nessecary for people to be able to tell at a glance if a person is dead, alive, etc. I think we should wait for some more people to contribute their thoughts before going through and changing it.--Jinx 14:16, 17 July 2008 (PDT)
  - I'm going to go ahead and change the status of all DHARMA employees' on the island as presumed dead unless we know for a fact otherwise.--Jinx 16:56, 25 July 2008 (PDT)
  - Scratch that, I think I'm going to leave them all at unknown, considering a lot could happen in 8 years or so since Ben arrived and the purge happened so I think it would be best to leave it at unknown.

Template[]

...of the stations is poor as its too long, I'm rewriting the whole article and I propose it is redesigned, not listed in a number order we're guessing at, and should include the name references section within the template. Thoughts or volunteers? :-) --Nickb123 (Talk) 11:18, 17 July 2008 (PDT)

Right I've finished my rewrite and the only bits that still suck are the template and the "names of stations" bit. I will try and create a template that works but I know others are much better at coding than me. --Nickb123 (Talk) 12:00, 17 July 2008 (PDT)

K, User:Nickb123/sandbox2 - needs a little aesthetic tweaking, but its good to go. It is longer than a horizontal table, yes, but if you notice it also includes the name section from the main article within it, meaning it is actually the same length as now technically! --Nickb123 (Talk) 12:39, 17 July 2008 (PDT)

I've added it in after a quick "before or after" poll on IRC with a number of regulars. I would normally wait but it looked dreadful before IMO and needed sorting. Its bad when WP has a better Lost-related article than us, so I wanted to rewrite the whole page to make it awesomer and now with that template, the rewrite is complete. --Nickb123 (Talk) 12:53, 17 July 2008 (PDT)

I was looking at the new station template and I like it, except for the possible connection part of it. I think that we should focus more on the facts we know instead of heading into a more...theorish kind of area. Unless we can say for sure that all of these stations are connected to apollo then we should not put it in the template. Above or below the template however, we can say something to the effect, that it has been theorized that apollo may connect to some of or all of the stations, and provide a link. Other than that I think that you did a good rewrite, I fixed a small error in the second paragraph, but it was a pretty good rewrite.--Jinx 14:37, 17 July 2008 (PDT)

Proposal: 2 articles[]

What would you think of keeping information about the original DHARMA Initiative at this article and putting information about the reconstituted project (part of the new ARG and presumably Season 5) at Dharma Initiative? (A disambig hatnote at each article would direct the reader to the appropriate place.) Robert K S (talk) 07:42, 31 July 2008 (PDT)