Miles and Much More Magnetism

The exchange between Miles and Ben in "Eggtown" is an extremely important one. My theory is the entire conversation is gibberish except for the number. On this island: Only the numbers matter.

So, Miles constructs a b.s. conversation to convey the number "3.2 million" to Ben. Ben verifies the number by saying, "Why not 3.3 or 3.4?" With this he is asking Miles if he is sure that 3.2 is the correct number; Miles nods. I'm not sure if the million is significant, or if Miles was just getting 3.2 across to Ben. How else could he say it with Kate standing there? "I just came from Minnesota, Ben. And it was 3.2 degrees outside. Do you get me?" Not.

What's the significance of 3.2 million? With little searching, I found a recent experiment that sheds light on the state of Earth's magnetic field 3.2 million years ago. This ties nicely into one of my previous theories that the island exists millions of years in the past. Another article on this has a link to some findings on the Earth's inner core, which ties in nicely to my theory that the island is located within the Earth's core. Though, 3.2 million years ago was the Pliocene era, which puts me about 137 million years off -- but who's counting.

This new finding about ancient Earth's magnetism was widely publicized in scientific rags in April 2007, right about when this episode was created. Here's another link that says this finding has "important implications for the origin of life on our planet." The article also mentions that the method for measuring the ancient Earth's magnetic field was developed four decades ago. Which would put it at about 1970 -- when the Dharma Initiative was founded.

Miles could be telling Ben about Charlotte's findings -- the polar bear she found in Tunisia was 3.2 million years old. She did say to her colleague at the dig site that she was off by "a couple of million years."

Also significant about 3.2 million years ago: the beginnings of humanity in Ethiopia. Australopithecus — a type of ape which, just like us, walks upright on two legs -- walks the Earth. Their major threat: malaria. They must not have had the vaccine the Others have been taking. In climate news: the Earth was actually hotter 3.2 million years ago, so the island could be in a part of the world that is now icebound. Which would explain Penny's two Portugese men listening for signals in a snowstorm, and the many references to ice and winter that I've discussed previously.

If not 3.2 million, what could 3.2 signify? It is Pi rounded up. That's all I got for now.

But back to Miles and Ben: Why would Ben need to know about 3.2 million? I think it has to do with some imminent deadline. Which is why Miles says he wants the money in two days. Then Ben says he can't -- prompting Miles for a drop-dead date. Miles says one week. So Ben got two pieces of info: 3.2 million and one week. Maybe the Earth has one week left unless Ben fixes whatever has gone wrong with its magnetism -- caused by Locke not pushing the button? But, at the rate of one island day per show, we won't find out until the season finale if Ben makes the deadline. Great.