51. "It seems pretty clear only certain people affect the flow of time" In response to In response to 7
One is Desmond, the other is the Others leader guy (I forgot his name). When people are travelling through time, they only seem to be visiting, but what they do doesn't really happen. The only people they can interact with and make a difference are Desmond and that Others leader (ie. telling Desmond to go to Oxford; and telling that guy to go visit Locke as a baby). So in the actual flow of time Jin never did meet Rousseau, so she wouldn't recognise him. And if Sawyer had gone and talked to Kate, nothing would've happened either.
I think this is right anyway. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if this hypothesis falls apart pretty quickly, knowing the LOST writers as I do.