DISTILLED SPIRITS

In order to get to the essence of the Numbers dogma, I decided to distill them down to see what I could get:

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

4 ---- --- 1 ----- --- 19

3 ----- ------ 18


15

I distilled the Numbers down to the Number 15.

That was an interesting overlap. Then I asked myself, "who was the 15th character on LOST?" So, I googled the question to see if anyone had ever asked it. Well, a long time ago someone on the Fuselage boards apparently asked that question, in the scheme that it is believed the show is about 15 main characters. However, ABC lists only 14 major characters on its show website.

ABC had listed the 14 main characters as Jack, Kate, Boone, Charlie, Hurley, Shannon, Walt, Sayid, Michael, Sawyer, Locke, Jin, Sun and Claire.

Bringing those characters up to date: Jack (in 1977), Kate (1977), Boone (dead), Charlie (dead), Hurley (1977), Shannon (dead), Walt (off island, 2007), Sayid (1977), Michael (dead), Sawyer (1977), Locke (dead and reanimated in 2007), Jin (1977), Sun (2007) and Claire (alive? dead? with Christian in 2007?)

So who could be the 15th main character? Jacob? MIB? Too new to the story line. Ben? A fan favorite but not at the beginning of the show. No, the 15th main character has been seen from the beginning but not understood. The Island and/or its Spirits have been presented by the supernatural elements within the story structure.

Does the Number 15 have any other possible significance? According to many theorists, the Numbers represent the Valenzetti Equation which presupposes the doomsday of mankind. The Numbers represent certain tipping point events: 4 (nuclear fire), 8 (chemical warfare), 15 (biological warfare), 16 (conventional warfare), 23 (pandemic) and 42 (overpopulation). Many of those themes are imbedded in the story line: Jughead, chemical purge of Dharma, armed soldiers like Keamy, and maternity issues. In the real world, mankind has experienced those events on a global scale, except a biological world war (Number 15). It could be said that each Number represents a major event, and when all six events take place, it is like the end of a combination lock which opens the cascade of mankind's destruction.

Just like Faraday had his experimental lab in order to teach his lab rat the maze without learning by trial and error, the Island could be a place inhabited by spirits who are trying to help mankind stop destroying itself before it is too late when the Number 15 event occurs.