"man of science, man of faith."

what if we're not talking about locke and jack?

forgive me if someone's brought this up already and i missed it.

I think this title was a brilliant choice...in addition to the obvious references to Jack and Locke, it also applies to Desmond. Desmond can be considered a man of both science and faith - in the stadium he tells Jack he was 'almost a doctor' and yet he implies that he believes in miracles.

bingo. exactly what i was referring to.

that scene in the stadium, that's "man of science, man of faith" right there. it's too obvious to title the episode after the exact dialogue between locke and jack. it seems that it's a bit of misdirection, because obviously, you'd think it refers to them. i don't think so. i might even bet that in the next episodes, there may be a relationship between desmond and jack revealed -- one deeper than the stadium meeting that we saw.

also, shouldn't the title be "man of science/man of faith" if it referred to two people? the slash being the proper punctuation? doesn't "man of science, man of faith" mean one person with two qualities?

so, i guess i'm just full-on speculating, now. i'm hooked, what can i say? :)

I was thinking about this same thing today. It could also refer to Jack and his dad - Christian, when they were disputing about whether it was a good idea to tell patients the truth and Christian said to give patients hope.

also, shouldn't the title be "man of science/man of faith" if it referred to two people? the slash being the proper punctuation? doesn't "man of science, man of faith" mean one person with two qualities?

so, i guess i'm just full-on speculating, now. i'm hooked, what can i say? :)
Oh, they're playing with our heads, that's for sure!! (And I love them for it, I must admit). But I agree, the comma suggests only one person and I think it's Desmond. Maybe he will become the catalyst that causes Jack and Locke to embrace and integrate the opposite point of view in terms of science and faith.

I also agree that the Jack/Desmond relationship may be far more involved than we have seen so far. The time between the stadium and the hatch could be filled with encounters for all we know.

In Exodus 2, Locke says to Jack "You're a man of science, I'm a man of faith"

If I had to guess, I would say that the title refers to Jack. Firstly, it's a Jack-centric episode, so I would immediately think that the title refers to him. Secondly, we see an interesting transition in Jack during the episode: when he tells Sarah that she will never walk again he is a "man of science." When he sees the miracle that is her non-paralysis, he is a "man of faith."

Jack is man of science, Desmond is man of faith. "Lift it up" means lift it up to God, not Jack's ankle.

Oh, they're playing with our heads, that's for sure!! (And I love them for it, I must admit). But I agree, the comma suggests only one person and I think it's Desmond. Maybe he will become the catalyst that causes Jack and Locke to embrace and integrate the opposite point of view in terms of science and faith.

To keep the story interesting, I actually hope the conflict and mistrust between Jack and Locke continues and grows. :biggrin: I like Locke, but I can Imagine him turning into a Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando's character) from the movie Apocalypse Now.

I also agree that the Jack/Desmond relationship may be far more involved than we have seen so far. The time between the stadium and the hatch could be filled with encounters for all we know.

I also think that there is a lot more back-story to Jack and Desmond. Jack's reaction to Desmond was pretty intense.

Here's what I think:

I looked up what the name Desmond means. It means "man of the world".

I think Jack is the Man of Science, Locke is the Man of Faith, and Desmond is the Man of the World. Sort of a trinity brought together by fate.

In the scene where Jack realizes that Sarah is getting feeling and function back in her legs, the clock on the wall and the watch on Jack's wrist are both stopped at 2: 30: 50 which means the hands divide the clock face into 3 equal parts. It was as if at that moment science and faith in miracles could exist at the same time, or something. Not sure, but the clock face was equally divided into 3 portions that make up the whole face.

I'm guessing that Desmond will cause Jack and Locke to unite somehow, through understanding or uniting to fight Desmond, or some other way. Maybe all three end up friends. It just seems like "Man of Science, Man of Faith" would be completed by "Man of the World" phrasewise.

Wow laisla, that's interesting. Desmond said he was going to 'race around the world'. And his name means 'man of the world'. Coincidence?

Wow laisla, that's interesting. Desmond said he was going to 'race around the world'. And his name means 'man of the world'. Coincidence?

Exactly!
Exactly not a coincidence. Exactly the opposite of coincidence.

Also, he said he was "training for" a race around the world, which in another thread, there was speculation as to whether it was a race (competition) or a race (breed) of humans.

Hmmmmm. Ahhhhh.:smile:

If I had to guess, I would say that the title refers to Jack. Firstly, it's a Jack-centric episode, so I would immediately think that the title refers to him. Secondly, we see an interesting transition in Jack during the episode: when he tells Sarah that she will never walk again he is a "man of science." When he sees the miracle that is her non-paralysis, he is a "man of faith."

Excellent observation! If he did become a "man of faith" after Sarah was fixed, then how did he lose that faith and go back to just being a "man of science"? I think it has more to do than just his comment in the bar that he was not married anymore. Maybe her death or a reversal of her operation could be the root?