Lost Numbers

4 8 15 16 23 42

So I don't know how many of you out there watch "Lost", but I am an addict. One of the mysteries of the show surrounds the set of numbers listed above. As I am sure you already have noticed, the numbers appear as combinations or by themselves all over the show. For example, they were on Oceanic flight # 815, the sum of the numbers equals 108, there were 48 survivors in the main group, Danielle's distress signal has been looping for 16 years, and on and on. One of the creators of the show mentioned in an interview that 23 was the most important number and cited the writings of Robert Anton Wilson. The number 23 has been considered both a lucky and unlucky number, but is often related to disasters. As a side note, William Burroughs collected incidences of the number 23 and put them in his writings. Robert Anton Wilson cowrote the Illuminatus Trilogy, which gives importance to the number (it is also the numer of the Illuminati). The trilogy also references the Principia Discordia, which believes 23 and 5 (2+3) are sacred numbers. As you notice from the Lost Number, 8+15 = 23. Jack also has a tatoo with the number 5. 2, 3, and 5 are also three of the first five numbers in the of the Fibonacci sequence. The ratio of consecutive Fibonacci numbers equals the golden ratio 1.61803....(you might recall Fibonacci and the golden ratio played a part in The DaVinci Code). Sorry, I really went off a little there. For insights on quite a few other Lost mysteries, check out this blog. It has some good info that points out many of the same connections as I have above and greatly expands upon them. I especially like how mentions the connections with Kircher and notes the Mayan calendar on the Degroot's bookshelves (2012 is the end date for the Mayan calendar).