A mysterious sequence of numbers plagued Lost. Across multiple seasons, audiences saw a particular set of numbers appear at a surprising frequency. They appeared so often that it seemed too strange to be a coincidence. Not only that, but Hurley was convinced that the numbers themselves were “cursed”.
Hurley’s first flashback episode revealed that before the crash of Flight 815, the character actually won the lottery. The winning numbers were 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. When several bizarre accidents followed, Hurley came to the conclusion that the numbers – which he got from a mental hospital patient – carried a curse that brought him bad luck. In Lost season 1, Hurley discovered a startling connection between the island and the numbers when he spotted them on the hatch to the Dharma Initiative facility. They were also the same numbers that Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) had to input into the Dharma computer every 108 minutes. Each time they popped up, the mystery of Hurley’s numbers deepened.
An explanation for the numbers’ significance was hinted at in Lost season 6 when the show finally explored Jacob’s master plan. Apparently, Jacob assigned numbers to all of the candidates for his replacement. Interestingly, Hurley’s numbers corresponded with his final candidates, which were Locke (4), Hurley (8), Sawyer (15), Sayid (16), Jack (23), and Sun and Jin, who were both listed as the 42nd candidate. The Jacob connection s for part of the mystery, but the origin of the numbers goes much deeper than that.
They also connect to The Lost Experience, an alternate reality game created by the showrunners during season 2 that was used to answer questions that didn’t fit into the show itself. In The Lost Experience, it was explained that 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 represent the Valenzetti Equation, a mathematical formula used by a scientist to predict the end of the world. Apparently, one of the goals of the Dharma Initiative was to change these numeric values and prevent the apocalypse (which may or may not have been the Man in Black’s escape from the island). This ties directly into how Hurley got the numbers in the first place. The mental patient that kept repeating the numbers originally heard them on a radio broadcast from a Dharma station. It would seem that what he intercepted had something to do with their work on the Valenzetti Equation.
The Valenzetti Equation helps explain the significance and origin of the numerical sequence, but it can’t provide any answers about the supposed curse on Hurley’s numbers. It’s likely that despite the bad luck that appeared to be associated with them, they actually had no real power in the series or any sort of curse put upon them. Lost choosing to leave the true nature of the numbers ambiguous made them one of the show’s most perplexing and longest-running mysteries.