from article - “Adam and Eve” have been in the caves 40 years. They've been in the caves longer than that, right? Koolaidman 12:48, 27 April 2006 (PDT)
- Right. "Takes forty, fifty years for clothing to degrade like this" said Jack examining the bodies --Perpetka 02:22, 9 July 2006 (PDT)
- Yes, but 40 is not the same as 4.C.m. 13:00, 26 April 2007 (PDT)
From article: "# of years since Sawyer made his 'Birthday wish'." What wish? Did I miss something? --Perpetka 02:22, 9 July 2006 (PDT)
I felt free to edit and link stuff... Also removed two inputs since they were already mentioned. --ShivaTalk 10:52, 9 July 2006 (PDT)
Cleanup[]
Some numbers in the show are going to happen in real life - some numbers are shown for a reason. I think we need to clean up some occurances that happen just because they are a number (0-9) --Ohmyn0 (talk) 21:07, 5 November 2006 (PST)
I did some serious cleanup, and it is shorter because I took out the 2898198345 type entries as references to 4. Also put (episode) references all in parentheses at the end, to get people to follow chronology better, it's pretty messy with people inserting references whereever they feel like it. Hopefully people will at least try and follow the general format from now on. PS: also put in a warning that arhithmetic is no longer 'allowed' to get a number; i.e., "9 days - episode 5 = 4" means nothing and will be deleted. --PandoraX 09:04, 6 November 2006 (PST)
- Whoa. Just discovered this article. I think most of these references to the number 4 need to go. They're quite silly.C.m. 13:00, 26 April 2007 (PDT)
Valency of Carbon[]
from wikipedia: Valency of carbon (that is basis of life on the Earth) is four. Thanks to its tetrahedral crystal bond structure diamond (one of the natural allotropes of carbon) is the hardest known naturally occurring material. It is also the valence of silicon, whose compounds form the majority of the mass of the Earth's crust.
Valency...kind of sounds like Valenzetti, but that may be a stretch.
definately agree, was more pointing out the reference to the 4 (as if we havent seen enough, but i hadnt seen this one)...and it being an environmental factor, not really anything that can be changed, but it is one.
Clean-up[]
The # signs look very bad. I'm changing most of them to be acutal sentences. And I propose that anything that is too obscure to be cross-referenced in recurring themes sections of episode articles should not appear on this article either. I would love to see that as a rule, um, maybe with a better wording.
Also, number 4 is especially common as a number, so I oppose to so-called references of "4 years" or "4 days" too, because the number 4 is just more likely to be used than, say, 3. I think there should be a general statement that the number 4 occurs many times, especially associated with time periods and numbers of people or objects mentioned throughout the series. I'm going to retain them until the matter is further discussed.
Removed[]
I removed:
Season 1[]
- The year of the Flight 815's crash--September 22, '04 ("Pilot, Part 1").
- The year? Are you serious? Everything on the Island happened in '04. Just one digit from 22/09/2004 is a stretch.
- # of scratches Jack had on his face straight after the crash ("Pilot, Part 1").
- More coincidence than reference. Not referenced in article.
- # of people in Drive Shaft ("The Moth")
- Coincidence. Four is the most common number of members of a rock band, because of the number of instruments: Drums, bass guitar and two electric guitars. If the band consisted of 8 members, that would be another story.
- Drive Shaft is 234 on the juke box. ("Homecoming")
- Incorrect. It's 134, and thus, can't make it.
Season 3[]
- # of smoke trails shown--there should be three, one for Cockpit, one for Tail Section, and one for the The middle section. ("A Tale of Two Cities").
- This is very speculative. Doesn't make sense. Etcetera.
- A sign in the medical part of the Hydra reads "Area OP-04". ("Every Man for Himself")
- That's a stretch.
- Kate and Jack collectively snapped 4 pieces of dried wood, during their stony silence. ("One of Us")
- Collectively? I could accept this if it were 4 each (possible reference to 4 and 8) but this is too much.
Temporarily Retained[]
A lot of things that looked coincidental, or too trivial, I retained because they may need some discussion. I listed them here, and noted whether they were referenced in their respective episode articles, to show how they are inconsistently interpreted, which is enough grounds to remove altogether, if you ask me.
I retained, but oppose to:
Season 1[]
- Not referenced in ep article.
- It has been 4 years since Sawyer made his 'Birthday wish' ("White Rabbit").
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Boone brought 4 of Shannon's inhalers with him ("Confidence Man").
- Not refeenced in ep article.
- Richard Malkin tried to convince Claire to raise her baby alone for 4 months before giving her money and telling her of the couple in LA ("Raised by Another").
- Referenced in ep article.
- Walt blows on the dice 4 times while playing backgammon before Hurley stops him. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
- Referenced in ep article. Might be legit since Walt is special and Hurley is the numbers nut.
- There are 4 guns in the marshal's case ("Whatever the Case May Be")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Michaelangelo stared at the marble 'working' for 4 months in Locke's story. ("Hearts and Minds")
- Referenced in ep article.
- There are 4 miles back to the camp from where Locke ties up Boone. ("Hearts and Minds")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Locke sets up 4 traps around camp to catch Ethan. ("Homecoming")
- Referenced in ep article.
- When Locke, Jack, Boone and Kate are hunting Ethan, John recommends that they should take a break, to which Jack replies "it's got to be almost 4 (o'clock)". ("Homecoming")
- Not referenced in ep article. Plus, it's not even 4, it's almost 4. The only way this would've been an actual reference to the numbers is that if it's 15:42, and that's what Jack means by "almost 4".
- Not referenced in ep article.
- It's been 4 years since Hurley's grandfather got his pacemaker. ("Numbers")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Sam Toomey killed himself 4 years ago. ("Numbers")
- Not referenced in ep article as a Numbers reference, but only as a Life and Death reference.
- Boone repeats "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs." 4 times in Locke's Dream ("Deus Ex Machina")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Locke bangs on the hatch door 4 times before the light comes on. ("Deus Ex Machina")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- 4 people knew their bloodtype, when Charlie asked the surviors. ("Do No Harm")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Jack plays the key B4 on the piano in a flashback ("Do No Harm")
- Not referenced in ep article. And it seems like a strech.
- Sayid's friend stole and was using C4 for the suicide bombing. ("The Greater Good")
- Not referenced in ep article. Seems like a coincidence, C-4 is a very popular type of explosives.
- Dr. Arzt says the next time they can launch the raft is 4 months later. ("Exodus, Part 1")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- 4 people left the Island aboard the raft. ("Exodus, Part 1")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- 4 people kidnapped Walt from the raft. ("Exodus, Part 2")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- 4 survivors went to find Rousseau for dynamite and were present at the Hatch's opening. ("Exodus, Part 2")
- Not referenced in ep article.
Season 2[]
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Libby tells Ana Lucia that Donald will be the "fourth one to go" if they don't help with his injury. ("The Other 48 Days")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Ana-Lucia was shot 4 times while working for the Los Angeles Police Department. ("Collision")
- Referenced in ep article.
- 4 Tailies actually made it to join with the other survivors. ("Collision")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Sam Austen was in Korea up until 4 months before Kate's birth. ("What Kate Did")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Sun claims being told what to do was her life for 4 years. ("The Hunting Party")
- Referenced in ep article.
- There are 4 planes on the mobile in Claire's dream and in the plane mobile in the Nursery. ("Maternity Leave")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Michael takes 4 shots (1 at Ana-Lucia, 2 at Libby and 1 at himself). ("Two for the Road")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- There are 4 people on the list the Others give to Michael. ("Three Minutes")
- Referenced in ep article.
- Libby gives Desmond $4 to buy a drink. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
- Referenced in ep article.
- There are four toes on the statue. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
- Not referenced in ep article. Furthermore, at the 4/17 teleconference, Darlton said that they first wanted to make it a six-toed statue, indicating that this was not a reference, but only coincidence.
Season 3[]
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Juliet injects 4 milligrams of A4993-E3 into her sister's abdomen. ("Not in Portland")
- Referenced in ep article, though as "4 cl", not milligrams.
- Juliet works in "Research Lab A-4" at the Miami Central University Medical Research Laboratory. ("Not in Portland")
- Referenced in ep article.
- Juliet said it was the 4th time her shoulder was dislocated. ("Left Behind")
- Referenced in ep article.
- The smoke monster flashed 4 times in Juliet's face ("Left Behind")
- Referenced in ep article.
- Kate's license plate is 40N DVB. ("Left Behind")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- Ben's tumor was growing around his L4 vertebra. ("One of Us")
- Referenced in ep article.
Season 4[]
- 4 people come to the Island via the helicopter. ("Confirmed Dead")
- Referenced in ep article.
- Desmond and the other soldiers were alotted 4 minutes to get "in the yard". ("The Constant")
- Not referenced in ep article.
- 4 "X"s were marked in yellow on the October-December page of the 2004 calendar in the freighter's sick bay. ("The Constant")
- Not referenced in ep article.
Please discuss whether these should be removed. -- c blacxthornE t 15:54, 18 April 2008 (PDT)
Further Clean-up[]
No one seems to be willing yet, so I'm gonna "discuss" it myself. I'm removing almost all of the above based on LP:EMOS#Trivia. Although the policy is about episode articles, the trivia section briefly covers the recurring themes, and especially the numbers:
“ |
Recurring themes also play a main part of Lostpedia's trivia section. However, like cultural references, we ask that they are concise and generally seen by the community as intentional. For example, a digital clock saying "8:23" is quite obviously a purposefully placed reference to the Numbers. However, stating that, for instance, "4 survivors took part in the mission" is obviously a little over-analysis and probably not what the writers were thinking about when they scripted the episode. |
” |
The ones that I did not remove (which seemed a little more open to discussion):
- Libby tells Ana Lucia that Donald will be the "fourth one to go" if they don't help with his injury. ("The Other 48 Days").
- Juliet said it was the 4th time her shoulder was dislocated. ("Left Behind")
- I did not remove these yet because they're different from the other examples: Basically, they're ordinal, not cardinal numbers, and thus seem a little different.-- c blacxthornE t 14:13, 20 April 2008 (PDT)
Desmond has met 4 people before he's arrival on the island: Jack, Charlie, Libby and Daniel.--Station7 17:49, 9 June 2009 (UTC)