The Four Toed Statue

Whilst in work today (bored as hell), one of those mundane conversations started where we were talking about how the size of your foot is the same measurement as the space between your elbow and your wrist, or that if you sneezed and kept your eyes open then they would fly out of your head... you all know the ones i mean!

Anyhows... one of the guys was discussing how our little toes weren't important in terms of our skeletal structure/balance and that given a few more decades/centuries of evolution, future humans will be born without them. Now obviously the sheer mention of a foot with four toes sent me into a spin thinking about the statue on Lost, and more importantly which toe was missing from the statue. Now after looking at the pic from the episode its obvious that it is the little toe which isn't there.

Now to my point.... We now know that the Island can move in space/time, given the events of season 4. So is this maybe a clue that the statue is not from an ancient civilisation, but from a future one?

I'm not too sure on the validity of my workmates comments about the evolution issue (as admittedly I can't be bothered looking it up) but I think this is definitley a topic worth some discussion....

Wow yeah that's so clever

Cool, this point has been raised before, but never with the whole, losing a toe thing. My only problem is that it would have to be quite a long time for evolution to take its course. But I like that idea.

I heard a podcast where Damon and Carlton were discussing the four-toed statue. Basically, a conversation occurred where they were discussing how many toes the statue should show. I believe 'Darlton' were keener on having six-toes, but the network were not convinced and thought that it looked weird. So, humourously, Darlton conceded the point and settled for four instead. The network acknowledged that four did not look as weird as six, so four it was.

I think our little toes will disappear with evolution. I know that when i wear heels my little toe gets crushed lol

AC you not think that could be Darlton messing with us and giving a little bit of misdirection?

I think the number of toes is not the crucial element. What's crucial is that the statue is of a foot that is not normal in the five-toe sense. The purpose behind that. . .? Dunno.

I really dont want to belive in this.. but maybe they put the statue without thinking on the consequences of that image... now they dont know what to do with it.. (damn!)

I'm gonna stick with its just a ruin of what was once on the island. Another piece of ancient remains that shows us that this island once had an advanced civilization on it. The Foot, the stone door under Ben's house and now the wheel room with the inscribed pillar, are all archeological remains. Just little pieces to ground us in the idea that this island has been around for centuries and it is unlike anything we have ever seen or comprehended before.

p.s.
as to the four toes…
I think it was in someone else’s theory post, but they mentioned that Greek sculptors would depict the gods, such as Zeus and Poseidon and the gang, with only four toes on their left foot. To show that their sculptures were not that of men, but of gods. (not so sure how reliable that is though. I’ve tried google-ing the subject, but after 10 pages of returns for Lost theories I just give up.)

You know what, I like this idea.
Just because wooden donkey wheels, hieroglyphs (am I spelling that correctly?) and stone pillars are present does not necessarily indicate the past. These things seem to want to suggest the idea of mysticism to us as well as time in general.

I'm pretty sure that it is Apollo (god of light, truth, prophecy, healing. medicine and the sun)who is usually depicted as having only four toes.
Which now makes me think that my Apollo Candy Bar has medicinal value which would definitely increase its resale value.
::evil grin::

PS...
No one better snag my Apollo Bar/healing candy theory!

I hate my little toe, does anyone else think we'd be better without them.

TheHolyStickman wrote:I hate my little toe, does anyone else think we'd be better without them.

I actually like my little toes. They're cute and chubby. he he he!
My feet in general are pretty a-ok compared to some others I've seen.

My feet are horrible, I would hapily get rid of my little toe and make room for the others on my un-naturally wide feet

my feet are nice and really small but my toes are really stumpy lol

Has anyone ever done that thing when you're indoors with no shoes on. . . and you open a door quickly. . . and manage to run it over your little toe. . . and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you've entered into a world of pain that sends you hopping and howling and cursing that little pinky digit?

AngeloComet wrote:Has anyone ever done that thing when you're indoors with no shoes on. . . and you open a door quickly. . . and manage to run it over your little toe. . . and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you've entered into a world of pain that sends you hopping and howling and cursing that little pinky digit?

Yes. It really shouldnt hurt that much, but it does.

Too many times to count. What do you say we all give evolution a kick start? Let's all get Heaven's-Gate-crazy and chop off our pinky toes! It would be the sign of a true Lost fan.

Kind of an homage to "The Big Lebowsky," too.

Just an idea.

This may be sick, but I have done that so many times that now my pinky toe nails are so fragile that they fall off if you stare at them too long. Ewwww

You guys still have your pinkie toes!?!?!

*pfffft* posers.....

the island's original inhabitants?



"Most folk won't loose a toe,
But then again some folk'll.
Like Cletus, the slack-jaaaaaaaawed yokel"

GaryOC,

I have long wondered if this was the gist of the four-toed statue. If not representing a "future civilization", I thought it was a way of representing:

(i) a more advanced civilization (i.e. the futuristic aspect is really a metaphor for a more advanced society); and/or (ii) the evolution of a separate people on the island with unique qualities (as alluded to by A.C.). The cool thing being that #1 and #2 may both be true.

I really dig #2 though and, like A.C., I think it is the purpose of the statue.

As to your friend's point on humanity losing our pinky toe, that is not exactly correct. As of now, it appears the pinky toe does not confer a benefit to humans (i.e. we would be as sure footed if we had four toes), but by the same token, it is not seemingly a drawback either.

Evolution "selects" for traits using two inter-related principles: (i) does the trait that is being selected enable its host to survive (or impede its survival); and (ii) does the trait that is being selected for enable its host to gain an advantage in reproducing (or impede its reproduction)

In this sense, evolution would not result in people losing their pinky toes unless the existence of pinky toes impact survival or reproduction. Since it (apparently) doesn't, it's unlikely that the mutation, if it occurred, would become prevalent enough in the human population to result in the mass of humanity having 4 toes.

That said, evolution does indicate that a small isolated group within a species may be more likely to experience mutations (i.e. punctuated equilibrium) than the species at large, and that such mutations may become dominant in such small groups where they would not necessarily become dominant in the species at large.

So it is feasible, given evolutionary principles, that a random mutation among one of the original inhabitants of the island (4 toes) -- which confers no benefit nor a drawback -- became a dominant feature of the small isolated community on the island.

Was this far too serious for a pinky toe post

Great point Igs......the same reasons we still have an appendix i'm assuming!

And a tail bone.

Well, I guess there are those of us who have tails. I don't want to offend anyone. If you've got a tail, that's cool. You probably have better balance than I do.

I have a tail.