Pierre Chang mentions that reconstituting the Dharma Iniative could help save him and his colleagues from The Purge. This statement, in conjunction with the flashbacks on the show point to the Island's ability to influence past events, not the future. Each character's flashback directly relates to the character's on-Island actions of that episode (ex. The Long Con, Walkabout, The 23rd Psalm, etc). This is a way of showing a character can correct mistakes or actions made in the past. In turn, the changing of past events could possibly change the Valenzetti Equation. Everything that has happened on the Island so far has happened because of past events, not to create future events. The best way to describe this is with Locke. Locke's whole life has been about coming to the Island. He was unsu