So the wife and I were watching the new episode of Lost last night. It's the only regular TV I really watch. It's a pretty interesting show.
Anyway, in this episode John Locke has that creepy Ben dude locked up in the basement of his own house. He is preparing a breakfast of eggs and melon for him, he grabs a book from a shelf to add to the tray. It was VALIS. And it seemed they made a point of having a close-up of the book.
Now, I've never read the book but I know that's where Dick's version of BIP comes from. So for those familiar with the book and the show, what do you think the relevance of this is? Or is it just JJ Abrams putting in a plug for Dick?
I mentioned this in The Open Bar.
Both Phillip K Dick and RAW touched upon a few similar themes. Sirius and scepticism about reality being the main two that come to mind. Locke is the one with the most mind-altering experiences in Lost, so far. He's spoken with dead people, taken hallucinogens and had a very wierd encounter with his father. Locke the philosopher was an arch-materialists, who helped in the formation of ideas related to psychology and biological behaviourism, so perhaps there is some tension between the two worldviews they are trying to highlight.
I think the point was the Zebra concept from VALIS: the vast alien entity which hides itself by pretending to be the world around it.
I think Jacob IS the island.