Again, the necessity to come to conclusions by making logical connections between pieces of information doesn't mean the show isn't answering the questions - it means the show assumes its viewers are smart enough to figure things out without their hands being held! That, to me, is extremely refreshing. I'm very satisfied with the extent to which they are answering most of these questions.
Ehh, I disagree. This goes back to our discussion of subtext. Several logical conclusions can be made based on the information provided by the show. Those aren't answers; they're assumptions. For example, Tom Friendly never explicitly says he's gay, but there was enough evidence to come to that conclusion. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of the show or a anything because it doesn't. I'm just using it as an example where subtext is used correctly in helping the viewer come to a single conclusion.
I think it's clear that Jacob meant for 815 to crash, given that he visited a bunch of the passengers before the flight and that he had their names on a big list. Jacob has magical powers so it's extremely feasible that he could have influenced the events that caused Desmond to miss pushing the button. This is an ASSUMPTION I'm making, yes, but I think it's completely reasonable, and having enough information to make reasonable assumptions like that really should be enough!
But, see, I can make a completely different and still reasonable assumption with the same information. What exactly got answered? Nothing. Seems to me like the writers were trying to cover their tracks and did a bad job of it. The show explicitly states that Desmond caused the crash. Kelvin Inman was secretly fixing Libby's boat, The Elizabeth, and was planning on leaving Desmond on The Island to press the button. Desmond missed pressing the button because he was following Inman, eventually killing him accidentally. Nothing about that suggests Jacob had anything to do with it, especially since we know he's not responsible for the excessive amounts of electromagnetism on The Island. Saying "Uhh, Jacob has magical powers and somehow had something to do with the crash" is cheap and, frankly, just not good enough. That's like how Metal Gear Solid 4 explained almost EVERYTHING with
nanomachines. If we can just chalk every mystery up to being magic, why even bother watching the show? Some things are okay to be left up to interpretation simply. Some things are not.