UPDATE: since this is one of the more popular entries on my blog, I decided to add a new post, with links to more recent information.  Look here: The Lost Numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42

Yeah, these numbers have been driving me crazy since I saw them last night.  4 8 15 16 23 42. I knew they had some numerical significance, and I knew that it wouldn't be something ridiculously complex to explain, because it would ultimatley have to make sense to the millions of viewers who don't know who Pythagerous us.

First, I thought of Fibonacci, Primes, and simple substitution cyphers.  none of these really panned out.  Then i thought that they might be a combination of a fib. sequence and a prime sequence, or just a modulation of the prime sequence.  So I started writing out my prime sequence..

1 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23...

Wait a tick, theres 23.  ok, so there is a prime in there... hm.  something else looks interesting.. 1+3=4.  3+5=8. those are the first two numbers in the Lost sequence. 3+5+7 is 15. bingo.  We're on to something.

• 4=3+1
• 8=5+3
• 15=3+5+7
• 16=13+3
• 23=19+3+1
• 42=19+23

So, every Lost number is a sum of two prime numbers.  Perhaps these numbers describe relationships between episodes, or characters?  are episodes 3 and 1, 5 and 3, 13 and 3, etc., somehow connected?  thats a bit of a stretch... but as long as we're playing along, lets look at other ways that we can express another these sums:

notice that i've added 11 and 19 to the sequence here.. it helps with the shapes. Also note that there are dozens of other ways to create these "pyramids" or "triangles":

Yes, i will acknowledge, this is a bit insane.  however, i could imagine this being explained in a hour long TV show that millions of people watch...

So, after last night's episode, I thought there might be some value in compiling a Lost timeline.  This is deftinately a work in progress; I won't be able to get everything right on the first shot, but thats cool;  let me know what I've forgotten, and I'll update it ASAP.

• More than 20 years before the crash (<1985):
• At least 20 years ago, Lenny Simms (from the mental institute) and Sam Tumi were doing reconnisance, and picked up a signal containing the numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42). 
• This is significant because it establishes that there was radio broadcast capability from the island for a considerable amount of time.
• Lenny and Sam where naval officers;  does this go all the way back to like, vietnam?
• Crash - 22 years(1983):
• Boone is born.
• Crash - ~ 20 years (1985):
• Sawyer experiences the murder/suicide of his parents.
• Shannon is born.
• Crash - ~ 16 years (1989):
• Rousseau and her team follow a signal to the island; her team is eventually overcome with a "sickness", they all die, she is left alone.  She ultimately finds the radio tower transmitting the signal, and modifies it.  The initial signal contained the numbers: 4 8 15 16 23 42.
• Crash - ~ 10 years (1995):
• Walter's son Michael is born (8/24/1995)
• Sayid is an interregator for the Iraqi National Guard; He attempts to let a female prisoner escape.
• Crash - ~ 5 years (2000):
• Locke becomes wheelchair bound
• Crash ~ 4 years (2001):
• Sam Tumi, the guy who used the numbers before Hurley, commits suicide.
• Crash - 8 - 12 months:
• Claire becomes pregnant.
• Jacks father kills a patient.
• Kate participates in a bank robbery (time may be off on this one...)
• Hurley wins the lottery, using the numbers that lenny gave him: 4 8 15 16 23 42.
• Crash - 6 months:
• Sun and Jin get married;  Jin takes a job with Sun's father's company.
• Claire goes for a palm reading, and is told that she must raise her baby herself, and that no one else can do it.
• Hurley has a run of bad luck (to put it mildly..).
• Hurley held a significant stake in a "Box Company";  Locke Worked for a Box Company.
• Hurley appears on Korean television; apparently escaping from the media.  The korean text on the screen translates into "Prize Winner", and mentions the location, "Los Angeles, CA"
• Sun decides to try to escape from her marriage with Jin; learns english (astonishingly quickly, eh?)
• Crash - 1 month:
• Sawyer goes to australia to find and kill the confidence man that ripped off his parents.
• Sawyer meets Jack's father, who encourages him to do whatever business brought him to Australia.
• Michael learns that Walter's mother died, and travels to Australia to take custody.
• Shannon and Boone, who are half-siblings, have relations of a sexual nature...
• Crash -2 weeks:
• Jack goes to australia to find his father.
• Kate is arrested.
• Locke is refused participation in his adventure.
• Charlie goes to australia to see his brother about starting the band back up.
• Boone goes to australia to help Shannon.
• Sawyer is shown being escorted through the police station in handcuffs.
• Hurley goes to australia to find the man who used the numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42) before him.
• Crash -2 days:
• Claire is given a ticket on Oceania flight 815.
• Crash -1 days:
• Jack finds out that his father dies, decides to bring his remains back to LA.  Shown in Airport, arguing at ticket counter.
• Sun and Jin are shown in airport; Sun was going to run away from Jin, but choses not to at the last minute.

• Late 2004: Plane crashes, 48 survivors stranded.
• pilot is found by Jack, Charlie, and Kate.
• Rose, who we rarely see, believes her husband, who was in the front of the plane, is alive; possibly on the other side of the island.
• Sayid picks up the signal left by Rousseau 16 years ago; Shannon translates it.
• The US marshal that had arrested Kate is killed by Jack and Sawyer.
• Locke teaches Walter how to play Backgammon.
• A Female character dies while swimming;  Boone and Jack fail to save her.
• Jack finds the caves.
• Michael learns that Sun speaks english.
• Locke and Ethan return from exploring, and give Hurley effects they found in the wreckage.
• The effects turn out to be Golf Clubs;  Hurley opens a Golf Course on the island.
• Sawyer is reading a book entitled, "Watership Down".
• Jack and Sayid torture Sawyer, thinking that he has Shannon's Inhalers.
• Sayid leaves the group in shame for turturing Sawyer; he ends up finding Rousseau.
• When escaping from Rousseau, Sayid hears voices whispering in the forrest.
• Claire has distrubing dreams, and believes she is attacked in her sleep.
• Hurley starts a census.
• Hurley discovers that Ethan didn't appear to be on the plane.
• Charlie and Claire are abducted by Ethan.
• Boone and Locke find some sort of mettallic doorway, or Hatch.
• Walter beats Hurley in backgammon; repeatedly.
• Jack and Kate try to find Charlie and Claire; Ethan traps Jack, and warns him to stay away.
• Jack saves Charlies life, after Ethan left him hanging for dead.
• Shannon helps Sayid discover that the maps that he took from Rousseau were annotated with lyrics from the french song Le Mer, which bears resemblence to the song "Beyond the Sea".
• Kate learns that Sun can speak english.
• Claire returns, wholly unharmed, but without any memory.
• Ethan kills Scott (who was essentially a throw a way character...).
• Charlie kills Ethan.
• Sawyer hears the 'voices' that Sayid heard earlier
• The raft that Michael has been building is burnt down.
• Everyone learns that Sun speaks english.
• Locke figures out that Walter burned down the raft.  No one else knows.
• Sawyer is reading a book entitled "Wrinkle in Time".
• Hurley finds Rousseau.

There have been 5 deaths shown on the island: the Pilot, the Marshal, The Female Swimmer, Scott, and Ethan.

Heres a summary of each character, why they were in australia, and how they ended up on the flight (if known):

1. Jack Shephard was in Australia to to find his father. He was coming home to LA with his fathers remains.
2. Charlie Pace was in Australia to convince his brother to restart their band, Drive Shaft.
3. John Locke was in Australia to go on a Walkabout tour. He was returning home to California.
4. Kate was apparently a fugitive in Australia. She was returning to the US under custody.
5. Claire lived in Australia. She was heading to LA to meet an adoptive family for her child.
6. Hugo Reyes (A.K.A. Hurley)was in Australia to find out how Sam Tumi escaped the bad luck associated with the numbers.
7. Sawyer was in Australia to kill the "real" Sawyer, who is responsible for his parents death.
8. Sun honeymooning with Jin.
9. Jin honeymooning with Sun.Sun and Jin may have been "escaping" to America.
10. Boone Carlisle was in Australia to save Shannon.
11. Shannon Rutherford was in Australia to take advantage of a boyfriend.
12. Sayeed ??
13. Michael Dawson was in Australia to take custody of his son, Walter.Michael and Walter were on their way back to NY.
14. Walter(Dawson, Lloyd, or Porter) lived with his mother and foster father in Australia.

I still have more to work on, but I have to stop for a bit;  more coming soon!

So, since the first episode, i've been hooked on lost.  Actually, thats not completely true;  I was hooked before the first episode, when I heard the castaways transmit their distress call on the radio during my morning commute.  My friends and I have been discussing various plots, theories, and wild guesses for weeks now, and honestly, i'm suprised it took me this long to blog about.

Instead of rambling through all of the theories that we've been spinning around, I thought i might take the opportunity to solicit some help from the general readership.  (if you haven't watched the most recent episode (12) yet, stop reading now...)

In ep. 12, Sayeed asks Shannon to help him decipher some notes on a map.  Shannon's translation of the notes seems nonsensical at first, but somehow familar to her.  Later in the episode, she realizes where she's heard the lyrics before;  a former (french) lovers son used to watch the french version of a "computer cartoon with the lost fish" (finding nemo, of course), and that movie ended with the french translation of the song, "Somewhere beyond the sea".  The notes on the map, according to shannon, correspond with lyrics from the song.

After watching the episode, I grabbed my copy of Finding Nemo, and skipped to track 32 (ending credits). I listened carefully, but couldn't hear the lyrics that she had read on the map.  I searched for the lyrics, and found them on the official Bobby Darin website... here they are:

Somewhere beyond the sea
Somewhere waitin’ for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailin’.
 
Somewhere beyond the sea
She's there watchin’ for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straight to her arms I’d go sailin’.
    
It's far beyond the stars
It's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon.
 
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just as before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailin'.
 
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet … I know we'll meet … beyond the shore
      
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailin'.
 
No more sailin' …
So long sailin' …
Bye, bye sailin'...
Move on out, captain …
So long, ensign …

Wheres the line about "infinity" or "eternity"?  Did Shannon mis read the notes? Did Russeau elaborate on the original lyrics?  or, most likely, is the literal french translation different from the english version?