[cassiel]

I really think the Losties were hand-picked to board the plane BECAUSE of their connections to certain people like Christian Shepard and Anthony Cooper. It's a more plausible explanation for the overlapping of their lives than mere coincidence. Imagine this: The selected Anthony Cooper for whatever reason, then proceed to sift through his life and find people connected to him like a man whose life he ruined with a vendetta against him and a son he wronged repeatedly. Christian Shepard: they went through his life and picked his estranged surgeon son and his illegitimate daughter. People with unresolved issues who were prime for whatever experiment they're conducting on the island.

Maybe Kate, Sayid, Nikki & Paolo, Eko, Ana Lucia, Rose & Bernard, and Charlie are innocent bystanders who happened to be on the same damn plane. Fate.

I think Jin & Sun were picked because of Sun's yakuza dad.

Michael was picked because of Walt's latent abilities.

Boone & Shannon may be linked - Christian Shepard's other bastard children? Their momma is a rich woman - maybe Cooper?

Hurley also picked because of latent abilities to mess with probability fields. Libby was his minder - she's an other too.