{"id":421,"date":"2011-01-22T16:40:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-22T16:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/01\/fringe-variables-and-constants\/"},"modified":"2011-01-22T16:40:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-22T16:40:00","slug":"fringe-variables-and-constants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/01\/fringe-variables-and-constants.html","title":{"rendered":"Fringe, Variables and Constants"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seriable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/22100072.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/seriable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/22100072.jpg\" width=\"320\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Last night\u2019s episode of Fringe provided more evidence that Fringe is exploring some of the same themes as LOST. Whether it will do so in more satisfying ways remains to be seen. In this episode, <a href=\"http:\/\/io9.com\/5740420\/fringe-recap\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cThe Firefly,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the observers are back and playing a prominent role, apparently working on \u201ccourse correcting\u201d a universe tottering out of alignment. If that is what they are really up to, then I expect to be disappointed by how this plays out. Why, after saying in this episode that there are multiple possible futures and it isn\u2019t yet certain which one will actually transpire, would the course of events require correction? Perhaps it is like the explanation in Doctor Who, where some major milestones in history have to transpire a certain way, while minor players and events can be changed. But that isn\u2019t really satisfactory. If there is genuinely free will, then why and in what sense should history <i>have to<\/i>\u00a0play out a certain way? And if there isn\u2019t, then how can it <i>not<\/i>?<\/p>\n<p>Be that as it may, the show\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/seriable.com\/fringe-10-first-people-facts-exploring-the-vacuum-mythology\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">mythology<\/a> is fascinating even if not always logically satisfying. After all, what mythology is? That is not myth\u2019s role.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7622297540113836091-9200923829934147885?l=exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night\u2019s episode of Fringe provided more evidence that Fringe is exploring some of the same themes as LOST. Whether it will do so in more satisfying ways remains to be seen. In this episode, \u201cThe Firefly,\u201d\u00a0the observers are back and playing a prominent role, apparently working on \u201ccourse correcting\u201d a universe tottering out of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fringe, Variables and Constants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last night&#039;s episode of Fringe provided more evidence that Fringe is exploring some of the same themes as LOST. Whether it will do so in more satisfying\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/01\/fringe-variables-and-constants.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fringe, Variables and Constants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last night&#039;s episode of Fringe provided more evidence that Fringe is exploring some of the same themes as LOST. Whether it will do so in more satisfying\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/01\/fringe-variables-and-constants.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-22T16:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/seriable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/22100072.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. 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