Distractions: Ignorance

From the moment Charlie asked, "Hey guys, where are we?" the questions never stopped. Like some absurd nesting doll, every foray into the wilds of the island revealed more questions and more absurdity and more absurd people. Every question answered was really just answering a question with a question. As the survivors' journeys progressed and all of the mystery grew exponentially it seemed less and less likely that there was any bottom to it. As the story twined around itself there remained an implacable feeling of plummeting into a bottomless abyss*.


No one shot in the show gives this feeling better than the image of Jack and Locke's faces receeding as the camera slips down the pitch black shaft beyond the hatch.
Both Jack and Locke have endeavored throughout the show's run to understand what exactly was going on. Jack's action-man method resulted in nearly everyone getting killed. Locke took the spiritual route, and though he was privvy to many things that the audience still doesn't know (the beautiful heart of the island for instance), in the end his quest for meaning bore no fruit.  As the Monster spoke in Locke's voice, "I don't understand." Locke's dying thought is a morbid piece of audience proxy-- of course no one understands. The Others don't understand, having themselves gone from mysterious and menacing to a blank-faced flock, and Richard, their ageless advisor, is similarly ignorant.
In "The Substitute", two distinct choices are made in terms of understanding the situation on the island. Richard is given the choice first. The Monster, ironically saying, "I wouldn't keep you in the dark, I would respect you" after having throat-punched him into submission and strung him up into a tarp for a few hours, offers Richard the opportunity to learn what he's been doing with his indefinite time. "You mean, Jacob's never told you what you're doing?" But Richard won't be goaded, and refuses. He would rather be ignorant than go along with anything the Monster says. The Monster has little time to answer to his refusal, as he is distracted by a spectre (Spectres seeing spectres, oh my!).
Sawyer, on the other hand, accepts the offer. Sawyer has reverted to his first season tendency towards self destruction-- and so is not swayed when Richard appears from the woodwork offering refuge in the Temple and further permutations of the classic Other warning ("he'll kill you and everyone you care about!"). The Monster's initial claim is that Sawyer will learn why he's on the island, but both Sawyer and the Monster know that he couldn't care less why he was here. So the Monster gives the answers to deaf ears in the guise of the man who wanted to know so much.

Hurley in his own, weird way has known more than anyone about the island since probably Locke. Ben followed him to Jacob's cabin ("Do you even know where you're going?" "I'm following Hurley." "Dude, I'm not even in front!"). Hurley's singular ability to chat amiably with the dead has made him the mouthpiece of dead Jacob. Hurley doesn't really question this relationship-- he'll do whatever Jacob tells him, which is mostly "hike through the jungle, not really understanding what we're doing". Hurley trusts Jacob the same way he trusts most of the dead people who appear to him-- that ultimately they tell the truth. Hurley doesn't seek to understand anything, knowing (probably rightly) that it's all too much to fully grasp. Jacob's modus operandi works well with Hurley's sensibility. He gives only the information needed and nothing more.
It remains to be seen if ignorance or understanding is better, or if it matters not at all.

*maybe something more sticky-- like a treacle well