What they do at Lumon, and why severance is a requirement

A little late, but I'll try to keep it quick:

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  • Lumon is trying to resurrect Kier Eagan.
    • Kier is currently just data. He may already be partial encoding, or they are trying to rebuild him.
  • Macrodata refinement is meant to refine the Kier A.I.
    • Kier believed all people to be derived from the Four Tempers. His data would therefore be derived of the Four Tempers.
    • Therefore, refiners must bin (separate) the numbers (code) underlying the Kier AI into the Four Tempers.
  • Employees are severed so they do not inject their own personalities / selves into Eagan.
    • Refiners must "feel" the emotion of the numbers
    • Innies have no past experiences / emotions to contaminate the code
  • Employees are surrounded by Kier artifacts and nothing else so the output it pure Kier Eagan. The innie is a blank canvas, with no personal experiences, so Lumon impresses Kier onto their minds in order to channel his spirit into the work
    • The only words are Kier's (Compliance Handbook)
    • The art offers visual depictions of his life (Kier Eagan is clearly a Christ-like figure in Kier Taming the Four Tempers, and Christ was resurrected)
    • The rewards are all simple things that Kier might have enjoyed as a child when he lived (1841-1939), such as erasers, finger traps, and caricatures.
    • The party food (and glassware) are outdated to the late 1800s / early 1900s (deviled eggs and melon balls).
    • The Waffle Party is Dylan literally becoming Kier, in his home.

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  • Related components to this theory
    • Other departments
      • Optics and Design seem to be recreating items from Kier's life
      • Goats were created for dramatic effect and not as part of the story, as revealed in an interview. I believe these will be written in as biological tissue to reform Kier.
    • The house is not there as part of a museum. It is for Kier to return to his home and a familiar environment. (it is also located in the perpetuity wing - his life is meant to become perpetual)
    • CEO =/= board. Jame Eagan is merely the CEO, the public face of the company. The board is never seen, there is only a whisper. The board may be the motherBOARD of Kier Eagan's AI.
      • This may be the "MIND" referred to on Petey's map
    • This is why "revolving" is an Eaganism for dying. Just as the innie (or outie) is returned to sudden life by the doors of the elevator, the Eagans expect to return through the doors of death.

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There were several lines in the show that really hinted towards this theory, around episodes 4 / 5. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to rewatch atm.

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EDIT: Lumon employees may be lured by personal loss, perhaps with the promise to resurrect their loved ones. Gemma, Dylan's wife, and Irving's former dance partner are all missing from their outies' lives, and of course Mrs. Cobel's daughter.