We have been obsessed with the Numbers. They have been center stage since the beginning of LOST. It has been symbolic as a curse in Hurley's mind. The following is my self professed Tangent of the Show nominee:
When watching the episode where Jack is the school janitor and he is cleaning the school room , I observed there was something odd to the right of the blackboard. On further investigation, it was a chart of the Periodic Elements. However, there was one of the elements blocked in red on the chart, like an island. So, I squinted and counted the rows and columns over to find it was the 4th row, 8th element in . . . oh, those pesky Numbers. So the highlighted element could not be a shear coincidence, right?
Well, it turns out that it is element 26, Fe (Iron), the most common ferromagnetic material. It is also an early reference to Mars, the red planet. And what is the symbol for Mars? It is the MALE FERTILITY symbol.
So I decided to run The Numbers through the Periodic Chart:
4: Be (Beryllium) is a rare element caused from the Big Bang (CREATION). It is used as a hardening element in alloys, and radiation filter (but it is highly toxic).
8: O (Oxygen) means SHARP. It is used to smelt iron ore to purify it. It is a basic foundation for organic LIFE in photosynthesis and respiration.
15: P (Phosphorus) means LIGHT BEARER. It is never found as a free element in nature, but it is an essential element for living cells.
16: S (Sulfur) is a pure element in nature and essential to life. It is associated with BRIMSTONE and HELL.
23: V (Vanadium) is named for the norse goddess of beauty and FEMALE FERTILITY.
It is a natural element which is part of steel smelter slag in the production of alloys. It is also a catalyst to produce sulfuric acid. And some life forms use it as the center for enzyme production.
42: Mo (Molybdenum) is from the Greek word LEAD. It has a high melting point and is used in high strength steel alloys. It is not a free element found in nature but is found in oxidized minerals. There is a theory that Mo in minerals in early oceans allowed free oxygen to be used by early life forms as a catalyst which allowed more complex organisms to evolve (EVOLUTION). There are more than 20 Mo-based enzymes in animals and higher organisms.
So, I speculated whether The Numbers could be the following formula to explain the show?
MALE FERTILITY + CREATION + LIFE + LIGHT BEARER + HELL + FEMALE FERTILITY + EVOLUTION = LOST.
