So, how long has Desmond really been on the island? Wasn't it implied that there was a 25-1 time difference?

That is, that Desmond was in the future time frame for 75 minutes while the past time frame only advanced by 5 minutes...

And that Desmond had been gone for seemingly around 12 hours (or was it more?) on the island while approximately 30 minutes passed for the chopper?

So... if he thought he had been on the island for three years (was it three or four?), then those three years (~1095 days) would have really only equaled 43.8 days. In other words, 43.8 days before the Losties crashed would be the real date the Desmond crashed on the island.

So what does that say about the rest of the inhabitants of "craphole" island?

I understand what you're saying, but it only confuses me more. Penny did tell Desmond that she'd been looking for him for 3 years? That to me would imply that he'd left on his boat shortly before that.

Well, when he called Penny on Christmas eve 2004, she said she was looking for him for 3years....

Yeh, so that's where it gets confusing... was he really on the island for a much longer period of time? If it was a whole three years in the real world... or did the injections and the apparent "fake sun" down in the hatch keep him aligned to real world time so that he actually comprehended the passage of time as it was in the real world instead of on the island?!

the fb was in 1996. desmond said he'd call her in eight years (2004) desmond has been on the island, by both his account and penny's, for three years.

everything fits. 1996 + 8yrs = 2004
desmond disappeared 3 yrs ago during the sailing race=penny has been looking for him for 3 yrs

the fb was in 1996. desmond said he'd call her in eight years (2004) desmond has been on the island, by both his account and penny's, for three years.

everything fits. 1996 + 8yrs = 2004
desmond disappeared 3 yrs ago during the sailing race=penny has been looking for him for 3 yrs:thumbsup: Mystery solved. No time difference between on island & off island - only in travelling to & from there is a perception difference. Maybe when passing through the snowglobe everyone "mind jumps" for awhile or something...

So, how long has Desmond really been on the island? Wasn't it implied that there was a 25-1 time difference?

That is, that Desmond was in the future time frame for 75 minutes while the past time frame only advanced by 5 minutes...



Actually, I thought it was exactly the opposite - Faraday said he had been out for 75 minutes, but Des said he had only been in the future for about 5 minutes.

The part that confuses me is that there is any time difference at all for Des on the boat vs. Des in the past. The boat is not on the island or within whatever the field around the island is, so shouldn't time be passing at the same rate? :confused:

I understood him to say Desmond was in the past for 75 minutes, then back in the present for only 5. I definitely need a second viewing though.

Island time vs. boat time I think is a whole different animal than Desmond's reality shifting time, I think. Daniel mentioned that Desmond's time travel thing is a 'reality' time travel, not a body time travel. Only his reality is changing. Perhaps this is differnent somehow than the time differnence in the Island versus the real world??

I understood him to say Desmond was in the past for 75 minutes, then back in the present for only 5. I definitely need a second viewing though.

Yeah, Des was catatonic in 1996 for 75 minutes while he experienced 5 minutes of the future. Faraday said that would change, though, as the jumps became more frequent.

As far as island time vs. real time: it seems like there is some sort of distortion only for thing passing to and from the island. As Sayid mentions: "How is it we left the island at dusk, yet it is mid-day here?"

ginger, I agree with you. I think that the island/rest of world time thing and the time in regards to Desmond's time jumps are two different sets of rules. Minkowski said that sometimes he goes back just a couple of hours and sometimes back years or something to that effect. I sort of think of it as "dream time," if you know what I mean. You can take a nap for 10 minutes and have a dream that seems like it covered hours. It seems to be the other way around for the time traveller but the concept remains the same. It is just a distortion of concious time vs. the actual reality of time passing where his body is located.

"How is it we left the island at dusk, yet it is mid-day here?"

time zone change???

just kidding.

there is a time difference, just not a day/date difference. Same day, just different time maybe???

Time lost getting through the wormhole
100%
"How is it we left the island at dusk, yet it is mid-day here?"

time zone change???

just kidding.

there is a time difference, just not a day/date difference. Same day, just different time maybe???

Time lost/gained getting through the wormhole

This has been touched on in various threads but not fully answered (at least that I came across).
The entire supposed debunking of time moving differently on the island is completely based on two things:
1. The calender on the wall and
2. It being Christmas Eve in London. (Based on the appearance of the Christmas tree at Penny's).
That said, we have no real indication that
How long has Desmond been MIA, i.e. how long was he in the Hatch before 815 crashed?
Penny said that she had been looking for him for 3 years. Desmond didn't address it, maybe because he was disorientated, or maybe because it was, in fact, 2004. I don't have my Season 2 DVD handy, so I'm turning to you, fellow Fuselage-ers? Fuselagians? I digress.

Time on and off the island is in sync and anything you hear otherwise is just people who won't let go of their "slow time" theories that they have been preaching about for a year. Until Lost gives us more, it is safe to say the times are close enough (if not exact) to not be a huge deal. Also, don't buy into Lostpedia's recent addition to the timeline.
They are wrong and will correct it soon enough.

It's the barrier that causes all time changes. It's the perspective.