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"Numbers" redirects here. For the episode, see Numbers (episode).

The Numbers: 4 8 15 16 23 42 are a major recurring theme in Lost. They appear in the Valenzetti Equation and in the lives of several characters. The Numbers, as revealed in The Substitute are related to individual people. Written inside the Cliffside cave, many names appear with numbers beside them. They all are crossed out except for the six Candidates, with 4-John Locke, 8-Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, 15-James "Sawyer" Ford, 16- Sayid Jarrah, 23-Jack Shephard, and 42-Kwon, revealing that the numbers represented the candidates the entire time.

In addition to being a large part of various storylines, they are often found (together or individually) as part of the everyday ambiance of a scene.

Contents

History

The Numbers were first featured prominently in the Season 1 episode "Numbers" as the winning lottery numbers that made Hurley a multi-millionaire. He first heard them from Leonard at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute, who originally heard them with Sam Toomey on a radio transmission when they were stationed at a listening post in the Pacific with the Navy. Because of his perceived bad luck after winning the lottery, Hurley believes the numbers are cursed. After seeing the Numbers in Danielle's notes, Hurley seeks her out; she explains that her science expedition was drawn to the Island when they heard the transmission of the Numbers, and she believes him about the curse.

Hieroglyphs in the countdown timer in the Swan.

In the first season finale "Exodus, Part 2" Hurley finds the Numbers engraved on the hatch of the Swan. In the second season episode "Adrift" it was revealed that the Numbers are the code that must be entered into the computer in the Swan every 108 minutes (4+8+15+16+23+42=108). Entering the Numbers resets the countdown timer to 108 minutes. If the operator fails to push the button in time, the counter flips to a series of hieroglyphs; during this time it is still possible to finish typing in the Numbers, press execute, and return the counter to 108 minutes. The crew in the Swan was supposed to be replaced every 540 days (108 x 5), which means that each crew would enter the Numbers at least 7200 times. In the fourth season episode "Confirmed Dead", a television news anchor reports that although the remains of Oceanic Flight 815 had been found, all 324 passengers and crew had been confirmed dead (108 x 3=324).

A worker constructing the Swan station in "Some Like It Hoth" referred to the numbers as a "serial number" for the hatch lid. The other worker had some slight difficulty in determining the final number as the number was smudged on his paperwork.

In The Lost Experience it was revealed that these six numbers are the core values of the Valenzetti Equation, a mathematical formula designed to predict the end of humanity. The numbers in actuality are said to represent human and environmental factors in the equation, though their precise meaning is uncertain. One purpose of the DHARMA Initiative was to change the factors leading to humanity's demise, which will be indicated by an alteration in at least one of the human/environmental factors that succeeds in changing one of the numbers. However, in all its years of research, the Initiative failed to reach its goal. Despite much research and manipulation of the equation's values, the end result was always the same.

In an interview with E! in 2009, Damon stated the following in regards to the Numbers: "Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe itself out." [1]

The numbers were featured in the episode Lighthouse when Jack learned that if the Lighthouse mirror were turned to a certain degree, it would show the lives of a particular person. The people who were shown at 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 were the remaining candidates to replace Jacob, explaining why the names were grouped together with those numbers in Jacob's cave. (The only exception to this is Kate, whose corresponding number 51 is not one of the original sequence).

Occurrences

Hurley's winning lotto ticket.
The numbers printed on the the Swan's Hatch.
Girls of a soccer team seen in the background of one of Hurley's airport flashbacks are wearing jerseys with the Numbers on them
The numbers appear on the odometer of Hurley's Camaro.

All at once

Danielle's papers

Numbers written by Danielle.

4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42

8 is 8th number counting in standard reading format; that is, starting at the top, reading a line left-to-right, then moving to the next line beneath. 15 is 15th, 16 is 16th, 23 is 23rd and 42 is 42nd. If the 4 was a 1 or 7 this would work with all the Numbers.

Danielle's numbers map has exactly the same columns and rows (rotated 90°) as a Connect Four board, which was used by Lenny while being questioned by Hurley in the episode 'Numbers'.

Combos & single numbers

Please see their respective articles:

Main article: 4
Main article: 8
Main article: 15
Main article: 16
Main article: 23
Main article: 42

Candidates as Numbers

When the Man in Black takes Sawyer to the cliffside cave, he shows him names and numbers written all over the walls and ceiling. He explains that Jacob wrote these names and numbers and that they represent people he brought to the island as candidates to replace him. Each candidate's name is paired with a number. ("The Substitute")

When the names and numbers are first shown, most of the names are crossed out, but several are still left:

The Man in Black claims that each candidate has three choices:

  1. Stay until you're "crossed out".
  2. Take over and become the new "Jacob".
  3. Leave.

As he explains this, he crosses out the name and number of Locke.

The Lost Experience

  • On Thehansofoundation.org if you go to a nonexisting type like this link, the Numbers on the loading screen are 4 8 15 16 23 42 and 64.
  • In the early introduction of Sublymonal.com, 6 blank television screens were seen rotating. They had to be clicked 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 times, respectively, to get a clue.
  • One of Rachel Blake's Copenhagen post clues points us to 43 Things, where the words to goals #4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 were the only entries that contained just one word. Together, these words: "truth safe reckon copenhagen alvar sumo" formed a secret code that needed to be entered in as a string at Sublymonal.com.
  • They are the "core environmental and human factors" of the Valenzetti Equation, according to the Sri Lanka video.
  • In a Thehansofoundation.org hack, a computer at the Vik Institute displaying the hieroglyphs was shown. After sequence #4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, each step gave a part of the clue, which ended up solving the DHARMA acronym.
  • There are 23 questions asked to be accepted into LOST UNIVERSITY [1]

Production notes

  • Damon Lindelof did make a comment at Comic Con in 2005 that "We may never know what the Numbers mean". He quickly regretted this, as he got tons of unhappy fan mail demanding to know what he meant exactly, and since then, the writing team have declined to comment directly or expand on this topic (except through The Lost Experience).
  • In a May, 2008 interview with Kristin Dos Santos, Damon Lindelof furthered his statements: [2]
“

Damon Lindelof

There are some questions that are very engaging and interesting, and then there are other questions that we have no interest whatsoever in answering. We call it the midi-chlorian debate, because at a certain point, explaining something mystical demystifies it. To try and have a character come and say, "Here is what the numbers mean," actually makes every usage of the numbers up to that point less interesting.

You can actually watch Star Wars now, and when Obi-Wan talks about the Force to Luke for the first time, it loses its luster because the Force has been explained as, sort of, little biological agents that are in your blood stream. So you go, "Oh, I liked Obi-Wan's version a lot better." Which in the case of our show is, "The numbers are bad luck, they keep popping up in Hurley's life, they appear on the island." ... But if you're watching the show for a detailed explanation of what the numbers mean—and I'm not saying you won't see more of them—then you will be disappointed by the end of season six.

”

In a 2009 interview with E!, Damon again commented on the Numbers: [3]

“

Damon Lindelof

Here's the story with numbers. The Hanso Foundation that started the Dharma Initiative hired this guy Valenzetti to basically work on this equation to determine what was the probability of the world ending in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Valenzetti basically deduced that it was 100 percent within the next 27 years, so the Hanso Foundation started the Dharma Initiative in an effort to try to change the variables in the equation so that mankind wouldn't wipe it itself out.

”
  • The numbers are visible at the beginning of the current (2008-?) ABC Studios video logo:
    The numbers appear at the very beginning...
    ... and a couple of frames later
  • During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on 2/2/10 Cuse revealed that we would see more of the numbers in the upcoming episodes.
  • In a tweet from Carlton Cuse on 02/16/2010, he advises watching that night's episode as "a number of things are illuminated"

Trivia

Conception

  • In a Lostpedia interview, David Fury (one of the Season 1 writers and co-executive producers) talked about how the Numbers were developed: "When I started writing the episode (Numbers), I already figured to use numbers that had been heard on the show… 4 (number of years Locke was in wheelchair); 8, 15 (Flight 815), etc." He also confirmed that the number 42 is a homage to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and that the original idea to include a set of Numbers which would be important was J.J. Abrams'.
    • The original interview does not address 23. (The reward for Kate was $23,000. "Exodus" Hurley to Kate: "Does 23 mean something to you?")

Religious references

The project the Swan Station was built for is called "The DHARMA Initiative". The word "Dharma" means "moral duty", and the number 108 is very important in Buddhist and Hindu mythology; Namaste and many other recurring themes also follow from the same religious traditions. To many Buddhists, there are 108 sins (or "defilements") of mankind. It is for this reason that New Year's celebrations, such as those in Japan, feature ringing a bell 108 times as well as one possible reason most Buddhist prayer beads (mala) have 108 individual beads. In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths that are meant to be followed. The fourth Noble Truth lists 8 habits (the Eightfold Path.)

Liturgy Hyms to the Devas (Gods) known as "Sahasranama" (1008 Names) are common for Shiva, Vishnu, as well as the Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati. In Shiva worship, a rosary known as a "Rudraksha Mala" (Rosary of Seeds) has 108 beads for the chanting of Shiva's name 108 times.

In traditional Chinese culture, 108 is a lucky or auspicious number, deriving from the "108 heroes" (also called the "108 generals" or the "108 bandits") who were the central figures in an uprising in Shandong province a millennium ago—events immortalized in the classic 14th-century Chinese novel Shuihu Zhuan (in English, The Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh) by Shi Nai-an. The 19th-century Japanese version is known as "The Heroes of the Suikoden."

Apophenia in arithmetic

Main article: Apophenia

If you start adding and subtracting the Numbers you can make up almost any theory that you want. For example;

  • Boone's accident is in episode 19 (42−23)
  • Boone dies in the 20th episode (16+4); Claire's baby is born in the same episode
  • LOST Final Episode Count Coincidence:
    • LOST will have a total of 121 episodes. 1 + 2 + 1 = 4, a number.

This is why using arithmetic in deciding if a number counts as a reference is a somewhat pointless exercise, with three notable exceptions;

  • 108 (the sum of the Numbers; referenced above in detail)
  • 7418880 (the product of the Numbers, which appeared on the computer screen at the listening station before the discharge).
  • -100 (the difference of the Numbers; the temperature outside the listening station, at the end of season 2).

Here, the arithmetic is straightforward, and therefore can be construed as intentional, and beyond coincidence. This follows a general rule laid out by Occam's razor of avoiding needless complexity in order to force connections which do not really exist.

Occurrences outside of the show

At the time the Numbers were first prominently featured in the episode Numbers, The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences did not have any integer sequences which included the Numbers. Two days after the episode aired, the numbers (along with 108) were added to the encyclopedia as "The Lost Numbers". Because of this it is highly unlikely that the Numbers have any real-world mathematical or scientific significance. Since then, however, two more sequences have been added which include the Numbers, A122115 and A130826

At least some of the Numbers are well known as special numbers before the show:

  • 4 is considered to be an unlucky number in Korea. Its pronunciation is the same as the pronunciation for the Chinese character for "death". In the past, elevators were marked with an "F" button instead of "4".
  • 4, 8, 16 are binary numbers with only one "1" (and are thus powers of two).
  • The numbers are very similar to the common bit-depths of color on VGA and SVGA (and later) graphics cards for PCs, for example 4-bit (16 color), 8-bit (256 color), 15-bit (32k hi-color), 16-bit (64k hi-color), and then the sequence deviates slightly with 24-bit = 16.7 million color TrueColor, and 32-bit for 24-bit true color with an 8-bit alpha channel. This generates the sequence 4 8 15 16 24 32, only the digits "4" and "3" near the end being swapped. Other common bit depths have existed for different types of displays such as Amiga, but these are the most common on the PC.
  • 08/15 is a German saying for "ordinary" or "boring", also used as a placeholder on demonstration objects.
  • 08/15 was the model number of the German standard machine gun during World War I.
  • The Hiroshima Bomb was detonated at 8:15 a.m. (JST).
  • 8/15 is Independence Day in Korea. South Korea even has a national soft drink called "815 Soda," or "Pal Il Oh Cola" as it is better known locally.
  • 8/15 is also Independence Day in India. "Namaste" is a greeting word in Hindi, an official language of India.
  • 23 is in several conspiracy theories the number of the "Illuminati". It is claimed to appear all over history.
  • 23 is the only prime number in the sequence.
  • In the famous science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything.
    • David Fury has stated that this was the inspiration for selecting 42 as the last number.
  • Fox Mulder from X-Files (1993-2002) has one of them as an apartment number and 23 and 42 appear throughout the show. This was one of the most influential science fiction series prior to Lost, and had influence on a number of writers within the genre (and the show, in turn, was influenced by the Illuminati and Hitchhiker's).
  • All the Numbers are retired Yankees jersey numbers. (While jersey 42 was not retired specifically by the Yankees, 42 was retired across the league on April 15, 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson.) The other numbers: 4 - Lou Gehrig, 8 - Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, 15 - Thurman Munson, 16 - Whitey Ford, 23 - Don Mattingly. Of special note is Munson, who died in a plane crash. And despite the baseball-wide retirement of 42 for Robinson, the Yankees' star closing pitcher, Mariano Rivera, continues to wear 42 under a grandfather clause because he was using it before 1997. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are both baseball fans, from their comments in the Official Lost Podcasts.
    • Ten other numbers have also been retired by the Yankees.
    • Mariano Rivera's 42 will most likely be retired by the Yankees as well.
  • Alias predated the show, but is by the same creators, with overlap of cast and crew, which would explain the Numbers' appearance there as Easter eggs.
  • Addictinggames.com's The Impossible Quiz shows the numbers plus 108 in one of their questions as a spin-off.
  • In the movie "Bull Durham," Susan Sarandon's character Annie muses that there are "108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball." In actuality, it is a (Hindu) Japa Mala that has 108 beads.
  • William Shakespeare’s The Tempest was initially published in the First Folio of 1623 – it ran until the closing of the theatres 1642. 16 23 42
  • In an episode of The George Lopez Show, originally aired April 2, 2004 and titled "George's House of Cards," Max mentions one possible combination for the lock on their garage as being 42-23-16.

Outside media references

A reference to some of the Numbers is often made in other shows, movies, or pop culture that post-dated Lost, very frequently a tribute to the show:

Main article: Outside references to Lost

Mythological occurrence

  • Penelope Widmore's given name comes from the Homeric epic poem, the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, the character Penelope has 108 suitors (4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42 = 108).

Natural occurrences

  • 42, 16 are the latitude of Ann Arbor, MI (42 16 N), the city from which the Dharma Initiative had its roots.
  • Not found in the first 1,000,000,000 digits of pi. Interestingly, 4815162343 can be found at the 176,025,488th position of pi [4], and 4815162341 begins at the 734,468,718th position.
  • Latitude 4.815, Longitude 162.342 are the GPS coordinates that lead to a point in the Pacific Ocean (see Mapquest: [5] or Google Earth: [6] or Google Maps [7] [the former requires Google Earth being installed])
  • Looking on Google Maps, 151.6 miles due east of latitude 4.815n, longitude 162.342w, you will find a small island with no discernible features of note (it is called "Manounou", and its coordinates are 4.8n, 160.4w; 4+8+1+6+4=23). Continue 108 miles due southeast of that island, and you will find Tabuaeran, also called "Fanning Island" [8] which can be found at 4n, 160w [9]
  • They appear in a mathematical relationship to the Flavius-Josephus sieve. The appear in the on-line encyclopedia of integer sequences as A130826[10], which defines it as "a(n) is the smallest number such that twice the number of divisors of (a(n)-n)/3 gives the n-th term in the first differences of the sequence produced by the Flavius-Josephus sieve". This sieve locates "lucky" numbers[11]. Josephus Flavius[12] was a 1st century Jewish historian.

Diophantine relation

  • The numbers hold a valid Diophantine relation: math.

Miscellaneous real world occurrences

  • Coincidentally, the winning lottery numbers in the Irish national lottery were very close to the Numbers, at 4 8 15 16 23 24 (last number reversed digits) on 11/16/2005 (after the show had begun)[13]. Because of the increasing popularity of the show, the Numbers are one of the most frequently played number sets in lotteries in recent years. [14]
    • On 6 and 10 September 2009, the numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35 and 42 were drawn, twice in a row, in the Bulgarian lottery [15]. Nobody won the top prize in the first draw, but a record 18 people guessed all six numbers in the 10 September draw.
  • The numbers being repeated by the radio tower resembles real-world Numbers stations.
  1. ↑ http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/index.html
  • The Numbers appeared as co-ordinates in the real-life adventure game, Secret Agent Clank, where the main character doesn't recognize them. Somebody also states that the co-ordinates (being the Numbers) "are lucky numbers".

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
  1. Do not answer the questions here.
  2. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer.
For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Numbers/Theories
  • Why do they cause bad luck to anyone who uses them?
  • How can they be changed, if at all?
  • Outside of Jacob's use of the numbers on the cave wall, is their use on and off the island random, intentional or fated?

See also

External links

v • d • e
The Numbers
4 8 15 16 23 42: The Numbers • 4 • 8 • 15 • 16 • 23 • 42 • 77 • 108 • 305 • 325 • 7418880
Retrieved from "http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Numbers"