Also, if you buy the whole magnetic field thing that the island has going on, then the plane's instruments and trackers would be interfered with making it even harder for the FAA and other agencies to find them.   See 4 other replies

Okay, think about it. What do you think people put in their carry on luggage? Personal items such as toothpaste and tooth brushes, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, etc. Things that they want with them to get at quickly when they need it. Also, they got a lot of other luggage from the luggage compartments so there were probably soaps and shampoos and more personal items. You see Jack shave at least once, I think at the caves. John shaves at the beach. Both had mirrors, whether it was the same mirror or a shared one, I don't know. Apparently they found no hair brushes, according to Claire early on. Then you have to think about it that they really haven't been on the island all that long. It seems longer than it really has been. People can make things last when they want to if they ration it well. They probably got a lot more things from the luggage than they had people who survived. Then they found more luggage when they went into the jungle and got to the caves. Can't answer about the tarps. Have no clue how many tarps would be on a plane or in the luggage compartments. Someone in another discussion talked about them burying the dead in their clothes rather than keeping the clothes. But they used tarps to wrap the bodies in, also. Once they got into the hatch, I noticed they buried Shannon wrapped in one of the hatch blankets. A little wasteful in my mind. They do seem to have a lot of tarps and such. Now that they got another shipment of food...LOL...guess what??? Parachute material and heavy plastic.   See 15 other replies

Existentialism covers this pretty well. What is the true nature of reality? It could all be the daydream of yourself, or some omnipotent being, or even a fictional character on a TV show. Every person faced with these questions eventually reaches a conclusion that they use as a ground for their sanity; science, religion, and other philosophies are systems to establish these conclusions. When faced with certain stressors (an island filled with magic/B-movie science/hallucinations), suspension of disbelief is strained, possibly broken. One must reestablish one's conclusions about the universe and its workings in this time.
Anyway, haven't you tried a "What if...?" before?   See 2 other replies