4 8 15 16 23 42
During the second season of LOST it was revealed that the numbers are the code that must be entered into the computer located inside The Hatch every 108 minutes (By the way 4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42 = 108). Entering the numbers resets the countdown timer to 108 minutes. It is not explained to viewers what is to occur if the numbers are not typed in, except it is believed to be bad.
Bunker Hieroglyphics
If an individual does not push the button in time, the numbers flip to a series of glyphs . While the numeric sequence is flipping into these icons, an individual can still finish typing in the numbers, press execute, and return the counter to 108 minutes.
Note that the mysterious project the hatch was built for is called "The Dharma Initiative". The word "Dharma" means "moral duty", and the number 108 is very important in Buddhist mythology. 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.
Facts
- The numbers are 4 8 15 16 23 42.
- The numbers total 108 when added together.
- The numbers are used to reset the Countdown Timer inside The Hatch.
- The crew in The Swan was supposed to be replaced every 540 days (108 x 5), Which means that each crew will enter the numbers at least 7200 times.
Appearances
All numbers together
- On the hatch
- On the medicine that Desmond injects into his arm
- On the vial that Claire was injected with in the Medical Station
- In the mental ward
- sees them at the airport on the team jersey of a girls football (soccer) team
- Hurley rides past 6 players of a girls soccer team in the airport, each uniform has one of the numbers.
- When Hurley's car broke down they showed the speedometer (in KPH) go from 16 to 15 to 8 to 4. The dashboard also displayed a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius and 42 km on the odometer.
- Hurley- Wins the lottery using the numbers
- Danielle- the numbers led her to the island
- Jack's badge number was all the numbers.
- Danielle's notes contained the numbers written 7 times, along with a mathematical formula.
- On the Blast Door in the Swan.
Single Numbers
each number has its own article with more detailed information on where it appears in the show (and outside the show):
4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42 = 108
Combos
A common combination with a separate article is 815 (or 0815)
- 48 plane crash surviors. (4 & 8)
- (If Jack is including the pilot and Ethan when he says it, it would mean that there are 46=4+42 survivors in the fuselage; note that 4 of them are dead before the exodus episodes in season one: the marshall, Joanna, Scott and Boone; leads to 42 survivors)
- Boone's shirt with the Chinese symbols stood for 84. (4 & 8)
- DriveSHAFT is 234 on the juke box. (23 & 4)
- In the Dharma Initiative movie the number 540 is mentioned. (108x5)
- The real number of the intelligence tape Sayid saw was 23108-42
- The flags on Locke's bedside table. One is the Spanish Cross of Burgundy (something like that) which was used in the year 1516
- Anthony Cooper's safety deposit box in Lockdown was #1516
- In the Blast Door map, under The Flame is the equation "√16. √64. √225" which equals 4.8.15
- ("Whatever the Case May Be" episode) The safety deposit box that contained Kate's toy plane was box #815
Please keep in mind if you start adding and subtracting the numbers you can make up almost any theory that you want. That said, some examples:
- Boone's accident is in episode 19 (42-23)
- Boone dies in the 20th episode (16+4), Claires's Baby is born in the same episode
Interesting tidbit on the numbers as written on 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. 15 is 15th, 16 is 16th, 23 is 23rd and 42 is 42nd. If only the 4 was a 1 or 7 this would work with all the numbers.
Occurences outside of the show
At least some of the numbers are well known as special numbers even before this show. It is likely that at least some of them were used in the show for that reason:
- Oceanic flight 816 from Sydney to LA is a flight that appeared in the 2003 Thriller "Code 11-14". It had a terrorist on board and almost crashed
- 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 rifle during WW I
- 4, 8, 16 are binary numbers with only one "1".
- 23 is in several conspiracy theories the number of the "Illuminati" (see also Mindfuck). It is claimed to appear all over history.
- 4 is a very unlucky number in Korea. Its pronunciation is similar to the pronunciation of the Chinese character for Death. Typically, elevators are marked "F" instead of "4".
- 8/15 is Independence Day in Korea. South Korea even has a national soft drink called "815 Soda," or "Pal Ship Oh Cola" as it is better known locally.
- 42 is of course the famous "answer to life, the universe and everything" from the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Even google tells you that, if you enter "answer to life, the universe and everything" as a search term.
A reference to some of the numbers is made in other shows or movies, some of them predating "Lost":
- Fox Mulder from "X-Files" (1993-1998) has one of them as appartment number and 23 and 42 appear throughout the show.
- "Alias" also makes use of the numbers on some occasions, which is notable because Alias and Lost are both made by Abrams.
- The numbers also make an appearance in "Veronica Mars", at the end of the episode "Donut Run" (2x11 - January 2006), on a fortune cookie that Duncan gives to Veronica. "Veronica Mars" airs on UPN in the same time slot as Lost.
- There is a german movie called "23" (1998) (more info on IMDB)
- All the numbers are retired Yankee jersey numbers. (Note: While Jersey 42 was not retired specifically by the Yankees, 42 was retired across the league on April 15, 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson.)
- In the movie "Saw II", the numbers 8 and 16 were part of the Mindfuck Game: They were part of the combination to a safe that supposedly held an antidote for the poisened "players".
- On the cover of an issue of the comic "Catwoman", there is a drawing of Catwoman's mug shot. Her ID number is 4815162342.
Ideas/Theories
- They may be coordinates
- The numbers specify a location somewhere between Australia and Los Angeles if interpreted left-to-right as GPS coordinates.
- Latitude: 4° 8 Min. 15 Sec./Longitude: 16° 23 Min. 42 Sec. is about 150 miles West of Bangui in The Central African Republic... about 400 miles SE from the border to Nigeria
- 4.815 N 162.342 W, shown on a map along with the air route mapping along the great circle route for SYD-LAX (which is the original flight-plan for Oceanic 815 map
- 4.8151 S Lat., 174(Which is 180-6).2342 W Long. These coordinates lie in the Pacific Ocean, in a direct line between Sydney and Los Angeles
- They seem to be cursed
- According to one of the Exec. Producers, they may have no meaning whatsoever.
- Of course, we're not 100% sure the numbers are decimal, except for one key factor, that their sum in decimal is 108. If it weren't I'd say they had another base.
- Each of the Numbers represents one of the 6 stations. The number 4 represents the Swan because the alarm sounds when the Countdown Timer reaches 4 minutes.
See Also
External Links
The LOST Numbers preference guide List of appears of the numbers in the show