Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Delmor Association of the Theoretical, Unexplaned and Metaphysical is the leader in exploring the strange happenings on the Islandinsula. We are dedicated to bringing the truth out in the face of these "scientific" journals and other news institutions who doubt our continuous claims that stuff here is messed up. As a learning institution, we invite you, the citizens, to submit your own theories as to why this place finds itself the center of weirdness on the East Coast. We will also use this forum to publish our own theories, as they develop.

We could blame natural selection, but it seems like a lot of the strange people here actually MOVE to this location. And recently.

Like a set of numbers whose sum is equal to the angle created by tracing a regular pentagram's points back to the center of the star? Oh wait, not Lost. Sorry.

Excerpt from a Letter Received by DATUM, March 3, Sending Organization's Name Withheld.

For the purpose of this paper, the author postulates that a "dimension" can be defined as "Any attribute of a physical object which, were the measure of this attribute to be zero, would not allow the object to exist in the physical universe." Allow me to demonstrate. Now, we all know the basic three dimensions; Length, Width, and Height. If an object has no length, it cannot exist, if it has no width, it cannot exist, and if it has no height, it cannot exist. For an object needs to have these three dimensions in order to exist outside of a conception. Granted there are things that have an incredibly small amount of one or all of these dimensions and may try to fool you into being two dimensional, but really, they're not.

Now then, beyond basics. It is commonly accepted that time could be considered a fourth dimension, and by the definition given here this checks out. For if an object does not exist for any amount of time, it does not exist. Without duration, there is nothing physical. Even things which decay at a rate faster than the human can conceptualize exist for a set amount of time. I add a fifth dimension. For simplicity I name it "meaning," and define it as "the attribute of having any effect on the universe." For it is fair to say that an object which does not, in any way, affect the universe cannot be said to exist, for clearly it's never interacted with anything, and cannot be observed.* It is interesting here to point out that things can have meaning without existing themselves, but that is not relevant to this argument. For further reading on this phenomenon of meaning without existence, the author recommends religious studies.

For a brief recap of spatial geometry terms which will come up in the context of this argument, an infinite stretch of one dimension is a line, an intersection of two or more lines is a point, an infinite stretch in two dimensions is a plane, the intersection of two planes is an edge, the intersection of three planes is a corner. Time, to the best of our knowledge, is a line. It is infinite, and objects move along it at a constant rate. It is the only dimension along whose line objects shift at a constant rate. The other four are highly sporadic in their movement. This applies particularly to meaning.

Things with the same measurement of meaning do not often coexist. This is unlike every other dimension, particularly if we accept temperature as a sixth dimension (for when things are clumped together, they often have very similar or the same temperature, due to the conductive properties of heat). So, while you might have known people the same height as you, or same width, it is a rare occurrence that objects with the same meaning exist at the same time.

When this intersection of time and meaning does happen, though, the reaction is what is commonly referred to as "coincidence." This is two or more objects existing at exactly the same points in time and meaning. By measuring these two dimensions properly, we can better explain and track events that we previously considered inexplicable, or worse, as "dumb luck."

Our attempts to better understand the properties of these dimensions have lead us here, to Delmor, where we believe there is a great intersection of time and meaning, in short an overwhelming abundance of coincidence. We have not yet found if this is the effect of a random crossing of dimensions, or whether it is of an artificial creation. We have found, though, using our measurement for meaning, which we call "BF," or "Butterfly," for the famous effect, that many of the citizens of this otherwise unremarkable seaside village have an equal measure of meaning. Not only that, but objects of the same meaning which do not yet reside in Delmor are being drawn there, by random, or by a force we cannot begin to comprehend.

Due to this, we would appreciate your cooperation in our studies as we move our organization to the island. We hope to work with you on studying this matter more, and hope that our findings combined will help forge a better understanding of this universe in which we live.
Thank you for your time,
Catherine Elizabeth Flavius.

*It could also be argued that temperature might be a sixth dimension, in terms of the definition given for a dimension, as physically a gas with a temperature of absolute zero will have no volume (length*width*height), but this is not yet proven, as science has not found a way to create a situation of zero degrees kelvin.