# Lost 2.3: "Orientation" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852 "2005-10-05T06:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/241 "2005-10-08T00:59:22Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > Have any of you mathmeticians out there found anything interesting with the numbers? First, let’s notice that all of the numbers can be obtained by adding 4s and 15s: 4 = 4 8 = 4+4 15 = 15 16 = 4+4+4+4 23 = 4+4+15 42 = 4+4+4+15+15 The first number is just **one four**. The second is **two fours**. The last is **three 4s, two 15s** , and so on. We can write this numerically like so: 4 = 14 8 = 24 15 = 115 16 = 44 23 = 24115 42 = 34215 Now let’s add those numbers together in the right column. The sum is 58527. Turn your calculator upside down, and it says: **LZS8S** You read it right: “lez sates”. It’s a subliminal message from the liberal media (yes, _that_ liberal media), telling our precious and innocent daughters that only lesbian sex can sate their carnal appetites! ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/242 "2005-10-08T01:01:02Z")
It’s always on page five of these things that I fade out… ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/243 "2005-10-08T02:40:44Z")
_Posted by Larry Mudd:_ > [@](#): > > If you convert every number (from 1 on) to binary, and then count the number of “1’s”, and create a set of numbers that yield a prime number of “1’s”, you get this sequence: > > Quote: > 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 27, 29, 30… Intriguing; but if I understand the procedure you describe, the results I get are: > [@](#): > > 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 … – unless you count 1 as a prime, in which case I get: > [@](#): > > 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17… So apparently, as so often happens, I’m not following. ---
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/244 "2005-10-08T05:06:12Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I didn’t hear him say “space” at any point. Locke also never _typed_ “space” at any point. Once the number was entered, the cursor moved on after a short amount of time. > [@Ass For A Hat](#): > > I’m overanalysing a bit, but why did Sawyer have the gun? Michael had it last when he shot the shark, right? A friend of mine had me go back and look it over. Mike puts the gun down on the makeshift raft after shooting the shark and then paddles over to Sawyer on the pontoon. So it’s certainly within Sawyer’s reach at that point. Next scene with them is as the sun is dawning and it looks like Sawyer has the gun in the back of his pants. Then they come ashore and he falls over on the sand and _defintely_ has it there. Personally, I don’t buy this idea of the hatch being a psychological experiment. I’ll admit, though, that the idea is certainly plausible and it wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out to be the case. But the guy in the film made three points, and the first two were correct, so why shouldn’t the third? [ul] [li]There’s a strange electro-magnetic force on the island that needs studying.[/li][li]Something bad happened while studying it (the mental disease)[/li][li]Therefore, entering the numbers and pressing the button is necessary.[/li][/ul] So, assuming all this, here’s my theory: While working on testing the strange electro-magnetism field, the researchers set in motion a chain of events that cause the phenomenon to grow until, left unchecked, the field would engulf the entire world. Since the magentism seems to cause madness in those who are exposed to it, it would essentially mean the end of the world. Working quickly, the researchers find a way to neutralize it by shooting it with an electro-magnetic pulse (or some such Star Trekian concept) every so often to keep it under control. However, if not kept in check every 108 minutes, it would grow too big to be contained. The numbers entered are the frequency, signal pattern, whatever, of the pulse that is sent out. Since those working in the Swan station would be exposed to the magnetism as well, they need to take an antidote filled with material of the same frequency/signal-pattern/whatever. If you’ll notice… Jack started acting a little mad after his exposure to the magnet (i.e. when the key pulled away from his neck). So in order to keep the entire world safe, someone needs to put in those exact number every 108 minutes. A flaw in my theory, though, is that Desmond already seems to think that the world’s ended anyway. Which implies to me he must have missed entering the numbers once. But then why didn’t he leave the hatch _then_? Or does he think the world ended for another reason? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/245 "2005-10-08T05:16:37Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > A flaw in my theory, though, is that Desmond already seems to think that the world’s ended anyway. Which implies to me he must have missed entering the numbers once. But then why didn’t he leave the hatch then? Or does he think the world ended for another reason? Another flaw, IMHO, is that if you are correct and its a real effect that could cause the ending of the world and all, I have serious doubts they would then just shrug and forget all about it…which is appearently what happened. There should be an ongoing effort to make sure people are relieved and that equipment is kept up to date (like someone said, you could write a friggin batch file to type in the numbers ever 108 min). I would expect to see some backup systems, more modern equipment and most importantly additional backup personnel…if the world hangs in the balance and all. Even if I’m Evil Corporation™, I have a stake in the world ending, right? 😛 To me it sounds more like one of those funky 60’s experiments in communal living and para-psychology that the company eventually lost interest in…and forgot all about leaving the test subjects there still going through the motions. Except that the experiment seems to be working and the psychic stuff is actually happening on the island. Of course, it could all be the space aliens… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/246 "2005-10-08T05:28:29Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > So apparently, as so often happens, I’m not following. Sorry. For “prime” read “_non_-prime.” _Then_ it works. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/247 "2005-10-08T07:05:06Z")
I think it’s a real effect. It has to be, since there are too many real-world things happening for it to be all just a big psych experiment. That doesn’t mean it’s not an experiment - the strange electromagnetic field is real, the experiements are to determine what the field can do. One of them is remote viewing, which may involve Walt. Another is the ability of the mind to control real-world events, and that involves having people ‘under the influence’ focus on a set of numbers. A third involves animal experiments - the polar bears and shark. The strange ‘creature’ that looks like smoke and can flatten trees and grab people could be yet another parapsychology experiment. Just guessing. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/248 "2005-10-08T09:49:53Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > Locke also never _typed_ “space” at any point. Once the number was entered, the cursor moved on after a short amount of time. That just makes it look even less believable. Why the space after “4” but not a space after the “4” in “42”? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/249 "2005-10-08T16:42:02Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > That just makes it look even less believable. Why the space after “4” but not a space after the “4” in “42”? I’ve got a cell phone that enters letters by cycling through the corresponding number. Hit 2 three times to get to C, for example. If you pause in pressing the button, the phone assumes you’ve got the letter you want and moves to the next space. No reason why the computer can’t be programmed to do the same. There’s a significant pause between entering 4, then 8 (especially when someone’s telling you which numbers to enter), that isn’t there when entering 4 then 2. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/250 "2005-10-08T17:11:49Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I think it’s a real effect. It has to be, since there are too many real-world things happening for it to be all just a big psych experiment. Oh, I agree its a real effect…I’m just saying that the button pushing thing isn’t there to prevent the ending of the world. If it IS then they are mighty casual about the world ending is all I have to say. -XT ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/251 "2005-10-08T21:08:47Z")
I’m probably thinking about thsi waaaaaay too much, but anyone think there is significance to Dharma being close to DARPA? Maybe Dharma is a code name for DARPA, which is doing some crazy ass experiment. I can believe that DARPA could rig a lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/252 "2005-10-08T21:14:09Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Oh, I agree its a real effect…I’m just saying that the button pushing thing isn’t there to prevent the ending of the world. If it IS then they are mighty casual about the world ending is all I have to say. > > -XT Agreed. It still seems to me that the most likely reason for the button pushing is to simply get the ‘subjects’ to think about a specific set of numbers constantly over a period of years, while in the influence of this brain-enhancing ray. It’s the only thing that makes sense, since it would be much easier and less error-prone to simply automate the process, or if you wanted a ‘dead man switch’ to simply make it a button. But no, the operator has to type the numbers by hand, thereby forcing him to think about them. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/253 "2005-10-08T23:07:06Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > Locke also never _typed_ “space” at any point. Once the number was entered, the cursor moved on after a short amount of time. Except (as I mentioned in last week’s thread) – although Locke never types the space to enter the numbers, Desmond **does** enter the spaces when we first see him typing the sequence at the start of the season premiere. A little inconsistency there… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/254 "2005-10-08T23:57:14Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I’m probably thinking about thsi waaaaaay too much, but anyone think there is significance to Dharma being close to DARPA? Maybe Dharma is a code name for DARPA, which is doing some crazy ass experiment. I can believe that DARPA could rig a lottery. I have no idea, nor do I particularly care, what Dharma is, but like you, I immediately thought it looked & sounded like DARPA. I’ve worked with those guys. If anyone was going to pull any of this off, it’d be those guys. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/255 "2005-10-09T01:52:12Z")
Just saw it. Well, that blows my theory out of the water. Kinda. Still want some time to think and revise. But check out [this composite](http://www.flyservers.com/members5/humpys.net/images/theothers.jpg) (no spoilers). Coincidence? Or reverse vampirism? ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/256 "2005-10-09T02:31:20Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > Jack started acting a little mad after his exposure to the magnet (i.e. when the key pulled away from his neck). I don’t think this is why he was over agitaged. The Man O’ Science v. Man O’ Faith conflict with Locke got him stewing. Seeing Desmond made him remember his ex-wife’s seemingly miraculous revovery. He then started going throuh the accumulation of things that he’s seen in the last 44 days that can’t be explained by science, and he’s now seriously doubting all that he’s held sacred his whole life. He has his conversation in the forest with Desmond, and the process is complete. He presses the button. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/257 "2005-10-09T06:29:30Z")
I wonder if Helen and Jack’s wife died from the same cause as Walt’s mother. Just thinkin’ is all… ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/258 "2005-10-09T13:20:43Z")
Although they haven’t said that Jack’s wife is dead outright, I think that his reaction when Desmond asked him what happened to her was pretty obviously more than just a reaction to a divorce. He seemed crushed like she had died or something terrible had happened to her. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/259 "2005-10-09T13:25:35Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > The eighth number you hit is 8 > The fifteenth number you hit is 15 > The sixteenth number you hit is 16 > The twenty-third number you hit is 23 > The forty-second number you hit is 42 > > The only number that doesn’t fit the pattern is 4. (Guess it should have been either 1 or 7.) > > Any ideas? Maybe they’ve been typing the wrong numbers in all these years; the first number’s supposed to be a 1 or a 7, and rather than preventing something, maybe it happened years and years ago (such as, say, the island not showing up on radar, thus preventing the button-pushers from getting rescued). ---
**Author:** ![GreyWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@GreyWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreyWanderer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852/260 "2005-10-10T12:09:03Z")
That movie of the Hanzo headquarters is actually from Narvik ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narvik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narvik)), a town of 20k in northern Norway. I used to live not very far from that building, which is the town hall. The guy who is supposed to be Hanzo himself is very likely the father of a soccer coach in Narvik, who worked there during the 80s. Sorry, I don’t have any articles about this in English. [![](https://img.nrk.no/img/264231.jpeg) ](https://img.nrk.no/img/264231.jpeg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-3-orientation/324852.md?page=14)