Lost Numbers Almost Found In Ireland's National Lottery

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, & 24 - these numbers should be familiar to fans of ABC's Emmy-award winning television drama, Lost.

Well, look again, those are actually the winning numbers for the November 19th drawing of Lotto in the National Lottery of Ireland

The actual Lost numbers are 4,8,15,16,23 & 42 - the last was transposed in the winning lottery numbers. There was a bonus number in the Lotto drawing - 19. The jackpot was €1,350,000, and 3 people have claimed it. Matching just five numbers gave €341, won by 298 people - one wonders how many of them were Lost fans.

Wikipedia notes on the Lost numbers,

The number sequence 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 is a recurring and significant story element. This string of numbers was broadcast from the island's radio transmitter, and it was this message that drew Rousseau's expedition to the island. Although she later changed the message after the deaths of her team, the numbers had also been heard by others, eventually making their way to Hurley, who used them to win the lottery. However, after his win, a series of misfortunes began to happen to those around Hurley, leading him to believe the numbers are cursed.
. Also of relevance: some symbolism around these numbers

It seems rather strange that the numbers helped win a lottery in the show as well as in real life.

There are numerous mathematical coincidences, of course, not least signficantly the Fibonnaci sequence and the Golden Ratio. This might be considered an application of the anthropic principle, and any meaning given to these occurences merely wishful thinking

Or it might be the Singularity manifesting itself.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for aaman-lamba

Article Author: Aaman Lamba

Aaman Lamba is a Blogcritics editor, as well as the Publisher of Desicritics.org, a Blogcritics network site covering media, politics, culture, sports and more with a global South Asian focus

Visit Aaman Lamba's author pageAaman Lamba's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own

Article comments

  • 1 - Eugene Mitchell

    Nov 20, 2005 at 7:40 am

    i was in that draw but lost...
    by the way i live in limerick

  • 2 - Aaman

    Nov 20, 2005 at 11:27 am

    Which numbers did you pick? Do you know any good limericks? Are you a Lost fan?

  • 3 - Eric Berlin

    Nov 20, 2005 at 10:36 pm

    Wow, I thought it was crazy for people to pick the Lost numbers because even if they win, they have to split the money with all the other Oceanic maniacs out there.

    But maybe they're onto something...

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Nov 24, 2009

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for October

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs