Questions That I Doubt Will be Answered

[Geronimo Jackson]

feel free to add your own:
Lots of questions went unanswered with the death of Widmore and Richard:
Who was supplying all the Dharma food all these years?
What were in all those Dharma journals?
What was in the Black Rock journal that ended up in the Hanso family even though was the first mate's, journal Widmore wanted so bad and bought?
Didn't Richard ever figure out that Ben was talking to MIB   more than Richard was giving him directions from Jacob?
Didn't Richard figure anything out the 147 years he lived as Jacob's go between?
Why gas the Dharma people? and why did Richard go along with it?
Why not have Smokey kill all the Dharma people?
Who hired Kelvin many years alter to punch the buttons as a Dharma person?
How was Dr.Candle able to release new videos after the bomb went off, what happened to him in island time? 
These questions will never be answered

[MachThree]

feel free to add your own:
Lots of questions went unanswered with the death of Widmore and Richard:
Who was supplying all the Dharma food all these years?
Dharma I think - I think for some reason they didn't know Dharma had been wiped out.  But I agree, no likely answer to this one.
What were in all those Dharma journals?
People in the Pearl station were taking notes on people in the swan station, then they put them in the tube which dumped them in a field. Is that what you are referring to?
What was in the Black Rock journal that ended up in the Hanso family even though was the first mate's, journal Widmore wanted so bad and bought?
My guess is the journal had navigational details of the ship's journey, so Widmore wanted it for that information so that he'd be able to find the island again
Didn't Richard ever figure out that Ben was talking to MIB more than Richard was giving him directions from Jacob?
Not likely to be answered - at this point Richard doesn't seem to be too interested in that stuff - if he's even alive
Didn't Richard figure anything out the 147 years he lived as Jacob's go between?
Apparently not.  Then again, Jacob seems little more than the naive person forced to guard the island, IMHO
Why gas the Dharma people? and why did Richard go along with it?
The Others considered Dharma hostile.  Remember the truce?  It seemed shaky at best.  I don't think the Others were cool with Dharma being on the island.  I'd even go so far as to bet that "the light" was in the Others side of the island but Dharma violated the truce to drill the swan station there.  Also, Ben was pissed at his dad.
Why not have Smokey kill all the Dharma people?
The Dharma compound was protected by the anti-Smokey sonic fences
Who hired Kelvin many years alter to punch the buttons as a Dharma person?
I forgot details of Kelvin's story but Dharma was probably alive and well in Ann Arbor
How was Dr.Candle able to release new videos after the bomb went off, what happened to him in island time?
Presumably the Dharma folks returned to the island after "the incident" - as far as I can tell, there was no nuclear explosion in 1977 from their perspective.  So they evacuated but then returned after the island was found to be safe, after Candle lost his hand, and only to get gassed years later. 
These questions will never be answered

[lostlady]

Lots of questions went unanswered with the death of Widmore and Richard:
Who was supplying all the Dharma food all these years? That was probably something to do with the time flucuation
What were in all those Dharma journals? IDK but probably were shown to let us know they were doing lots of scientific work to figure out the island's properties
What was in the Black Rock journal that ended up in the Hanso family even though was the first mate's, journal Widmore wanted so bad and bought? It probably had notations in it on how to find the island. Isn't that how Hanso found it and then started Dharma?
Didn't Richard ever figure out that Ben was talking to MIB   ore than Richard was giving him directions from Jacob? He probably figured that out when Jacob was killed and everything went to hell.
Didn't Richard figure anything out the 147 years he lived as Jacob's go between? Apparently not--he was clueless
Why ad the Dharma people? and why did Richard go along with it? Perhaps when hanso's people (Dharma)came Jacob decided to study them.
Why not have Smokey kill all the Dharma people? Jacob wanted to learn from them--as long as they followed the rules. I suppose Smokey could have killed them at anytime Jacob wanted him too. Ben did finally purge them all...
Who hired kelvin many years alter to punch the buttons as a Dharma person? IDK
How was Dr.Candle able to release new videos after the bomb went off, what happened to him in island time? Remember the Dharma houses looked slightly different when SUn and Frank came over from Hydra island. Perhaps setting off the bomb altered the timeline so that those videos were not made.
These questions will never be anwsered

[Geronimo Jackson]

Lots of questions went unanswered with the death of Widmore and Richard:
Who was supplying all the Dharma food all these years? That was probably something to do with the time flucuation
What were in all those Dharma journals? IDK but probably were shown to let us know they were doing lots of scientific work to figure out the island's properties
What was in the Black Rock journal that ended up in the Hanso family even though was the first mate's, journal Widmore wanted so bad and bought? It probably had notations in it on how to find the island. Isn't that how Hanso found it and then started Dharma?
Didn't Richard ever figure out that Ben was talking to MIB   ore than Richard was giving him directions from Jacob? He probably figured that out when Jacob was killed and everything went to hell.
Didn't Richard figure anything out the 147 years he lived as Jacob's go between? Apparently not--he was clueless
Why ad the Dharma people? and why did Richard go along with it? Perhaps when hanso's people (Dharma)came Jacob decided to study them.
Why not have Smokey kill all the Dharma people? Jacob wanted to learn from them--as long as they followed the rules. I suppose Smokey could have killed them at anytime Jacob wanted him too. Ben did finally purge them all...
Who hired kelvin many years alter to punch the buttons as a Dharma person? IDK
How was Dr.Candle able to release new videos after the bomb went off, what happened to him in island time? Remember the Dharma houses looked slightly different when SUn and Frank came over from Hydra island. Perhaps setting off the bomb altered the timeline so that those videos were not made.
These questions will never be anwsered

I doubt very much the journal by the first mate found in Madagscar would have the longitude and latitude of the island as they were off course in the middle of a storm crashed into the statue, and in those days, would have to look at maps, use compasses, etc and how could he have done that  during all the chaos of the cash.
Rest of your answers are still speculative , nice try.
I think TPTB gave up, had great characters with Widmore and Richard but no way of explaining in detail what they both were doing so just killed them off.

[Beej]

Mine is not really a question you can answer but I was wondering how big is that Island ?

The start of episode we see Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley after the sub exploded. Jack said something like I have to find Desmond and it is at night. Then when Hurley saw young Jacob, it is the day and finally when they talk to Jacob it is the night again. We can actually say they've walked for almost 24 hours to find Desmond.

[Creflo]

I don't think that the Black Rock journal was key to finding The Island or solving mysteries or anything.  I think Widmore (who already knew how to find it and knew much more about it than some primitive sailor) wanted it for two reasons: as a relic, and to keep it out of the hands of outsiders.

DHARMA people were closer to MiB (meddlers with The Island's powers, technology, exploiters, Men Of Science) and The Other were closer to Jacob (primitive, low-impact living, taking indirect orders from Jacob, "Templers" (sic), believers, Men Of Faith).  Of course, each player had men in the others' camp, but in general, DHARMA was in bed with Smokey.  Doing away with all of these meddlers (once any potential candidates were given a chance for redemption) would serve Jacob's cause.

Kelvin (and other aspects of DHARMA) carried on after The Purge probably because they were hidden.  Other aspects (like The Flame) were co-opted by The Others.  If TPTB don't explain the pallet drop, for me it will be one of the biggest non-critical-to-the-show disappointments for unexplained events.

I feel pretty satisfied with what's been explained so far VS what I am able to piece together/speculate myself VS what is completely unexplained.

[*MaZ*]

Why was Walt special?
No need to bring Michael back to answer it, tho. Please.

[I_Am_Jacob]

feel free to add your own:
Lots of questions went unanswered with the death of Widmore and Richard:
Who was supplying all the Dharma food all these years?  Time Flux. Think along the lines of Daniel Farady's Rocket Experiment
What were in all those Dharma journals? Nonsense notes from watching the other stations. Not really important
What was in the Black Rock journal that ended up in the Hanso family even though was the first mate's, journal Widmore wanted so bad and bought? Could be coords, could be he didn't KNOW what was in it and thought there would be coords. In the end it doesn't really matter shat was in there as he found the Island after Jacob invited him back.
Didn't Richard ever figure out that Ben was talking to MIB   more than Richard was giving him directions from Jacob? May have, but I think Jacob was more than a little hands off even with Richard.
Didn't Richard figure anything out the 147 years he lived as Jacob's go between?  Not according to what he said before the Dynamite scene in the Black Rock. Made it seem like he was always just waiting for answers and they never came.
Why gas the Dharma people? and why did Richard go along with it?  The same reason Mother killed the village. Dharma was growing too big. They had found a method to go too and from the Island at will, thus negating the safety measure of keeping women from having children. They were on the verge of creating a sustainable society on the Island, and would eventually reach the Light and try to expoit it and result in it going out.
Why not have Smokey kill all the Dharma people?  Dharma was (unbeknownst to them) trying to accomplish the same means as MiB. Reach the Light (electromagnetism) and use it. MiB only allowed Ben to summon him because he would eventually be used by MiB to kill Jacob. It was his way of gaining Ben's loyalty in a way. Notice he kept Keamy alive so he could later use the Dead Man's Trigger to kill the Losties (Candidates) on the freighter
Who hired Kelvin many years alter to punch the buttons as a Dharma person? Grant in HR.
How was Dr.Candle able to release new videos after the bomb went off, what happened to him in island time?  Same thing that happened to Radzinsky. Either the Bomb went off and they died, or the bomb didn't go off and they are off living in Albequerque
These questions will never be answered

I can understand that we as an audience would like it if every question that ever came up on the show was answered beyond any doubt, but we aren't watching Boy Meets World here. (Great show before they made Sean all emo)This is a show that requires its audience to use critical thinking over the course of many Episodes across many seasons to deduce answers from what we have been shown. Also, there are some questions that have percolated over the years that are simply there as background noise between weeks. We made more of them than ever needed to be made, and now that those stories aren't being wrapped up some people are going to be let down. I am sorry, but I could care less what's going on with Kelvin. I am amazed there is a thread on here devoted to whether or not he is alive that is sitting at about 76 pages. Does anyone honestly think that Kelvin is going to have some vital part in our end scenario? He was in about 3 episodes if I am remembering correctly. Arzt had more screentime than him. Are we all hypothesizing who hired Dr. Arzt in the ALT? No. Why? It doesn't matter to the central theme of our story. These may be regarded as things that the writers "Gave up on", or maybe they were just things that never mattered. How much of a testament is it to their writing prowess that they can get us to devote 76 pages of forum thread to a 3 episode character who was never meant to matter? I'd say that is an accomplishment.

[NoraCharles]

The damn numbers.
Why six of them when there were more candidates than that on 815? (we've since learned Kate was crossed out when she took Aaron, so if she was on the list the whole time, why wasn't her number broadcast?) Why broadcast them? Why were they the numbers to enter for the hatch?

Honestly, this is the one "unanswered" area that is a bee in my bonnet more than anything. The producers shoved those numbers down our throats and IMHO haven't explained it to my satisfaction anyway.

[I_Am_Jacob]

The damn numbers.
Why six of them when there were more candidates than that on 815? (we've since learned Kate was crossed out when she took Aaron, so if she was on the list the whole time, why wasn't her number broadcast?) Why broadcast them? Why were they the numbers to enter for the hatch?

Honestly, this is the one "unanswered" area that is a bee in my bonnet more than anything. The producers shoved those numbers down our throats and IMHO haven't explained it to my satisfaction anyway.

The Numbers are the one thing I think the writers started out going for something else more important and then abandoned it when it wasn't coming through. In a six season show, I find it quite impressive that only one plot line falls short of what was most likely intended for it.

[CaseyMac]

The damn numbers.
Why six of them when there were more candidates than that on 815?

Who were the other candidates on 815 besides the ones with the numbers?

[WhatThe]

Who the hell was in the cabin when Locke heard "Jacob" say "Help me"? Because the screen cap of the figure in the chair definitely did NOT look like either Jacob or MiB...and the person who was supposed to be in the cabin apparently hated technology so much that Ben needed to use a lamp and Locke had to turn off his flashlight. Yet when Locke turned his flashlight back on, all hell broke loose inside the cabin. Neither Jacob or MiB have shown that the hate technology so much that they'd freak out the entire cabin over a flashlight lol...so who WAS in that cabin?

[WhatThe]

The damn numbers.
Why six of them when there were more candidates than that on 815?

Who were the other candidates on 815 besides the ones with the numbers?

Kate and "Littleton", for starters.

[I_Am_Jacob]

Who the hell was in the cabin when Locke heard "Jacob" say "Help me"? Because the screen cap of the figure in the chair definitely did NOT look like either Jacob or MiB...and the person who was supposed to be in the cabin apparently hated technology so much that Ben needed to use a lamp and Locke had to turn off his flashlight. Yet when Locke turned his flashlight back on, all hell broke loose inside the cabin. Neither Jacob or MiB have shown that the hate technology so much that they'd freak out the entire cabin over a flashlight lol...so who WAS in that cabin?

I think it was Jacob's Cabin first. He is a simple man, and doesn't really form to the modes of modern technology. Some time ago Jacob stopped using the Cabin. The ring of ash was kept in place as a shield to keep MiB from using it. Ben went to the cabin he thought would be empty, and MiB tried to manifest in front of John Locke regardless of there being ash encircling it. MiB was only able to manage a spark of an appearance before he was cast out. this forcible casting out caused the cabin to react violently.

[NoraCharles]

The damn numbers.
Why six of them when there were more candidates than that on 815?

Who were the other candidates on 815 besides the ones with the numbers?

Kate and "Littleton", for starters.

Possibly Michael Dawson (124) and Shannon Rutherford (32)

source:  http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lighthouse