How to Become an Other

The last few episodes of season five have thrown a log or two on the Jack loves Kate fire. Only it's been Kate doing most of the lovin'. First she told him, "I've always been with you, Jack," which gave me serious goosebumps, then she broke into his house and threw herself at him -- with a much better response than I've ever gotten from that move. For the most part, Jaters should be smiling like they've got a hanger stuck in their mouth.

So what's got me down? Well, I'm stuck on what separates an Other from anyone else, i.e. Dharma Initiative Workman, plane crash victim, etc. Approaching this problem from the stance of "what separates an American from everyone else?" I arrived at a few possibilities:

1) You are born unto one or more real Others. They train you in Other ways of non-caring about the wellbeing of those who are not Others (Ben's "who cares" on the return trip killed me!). They teach you to speak Latin and you get an elective of Korean, Portugese or French.

2) You are brought into the fold by Others because you have something they need. The transformation process from human to Other is lengthy. First, Smokey pays you a visit and decides if you are good or bad. If bad, he rips off your arm or kills all of you. If good, proceed to step two. Second, you are housed in a confined area (bear cage or barracks) and set up with an impossible number of appointments with a psychiatrist. The shrink answers all your questions with a question until you stop questioning and become an Other. If that doesn't work, then step three: You alternately take tests/solve puzzles (in a bear cage or fishing hut) and are forced to watch disturbing videos.

Some folks who fell into category two:
* Oceanic flight attendant (they did a number on her! She couldn't even remember she wasn't always an Other)
* Carl (who may be category one, but required reprogramming)
* Walt
* Jack, Kate, Sawyer
* Juliet

Here's what I'm wondering -- are Ben's Others different from Richard Alpert's "proto"- Others? Alpert didn't have access to the audio-video equipment necessary for brainwashing new recruits. It's possible all Others were born until Ben created the baby-birthing problems I'm guessing in the 90s. Then Ben had to scramble to figure out how to expand their ranks. He asked Jacob and Jacob started to give him lists. Then Ben developed the naturalization program and Latin curriculum. The rest is history.