Several years ago I saw a program on the Discovery Channel which told about the Mayan calendar and it's prediction that the world would end in 2012. Since then I have noticed that this idea is gaining momentum as that date grows closer. I even saw a movie trailer the other day for the movie 2012. I have encountered several people who believe that the world will really end in just under 3 years. I spoke with one guy who cashed out his retirement and said if it doesn't end in 2012 then he will just start saving up again. He's probably not counting calories either.Having survived the horrors of Y2K (which was pretty much just listening to reporters and experts speculate about how bad everything could have been) I think I am qualified to give some advice about the end of the world. I am grateful that we did not have to deal with the uprising of the machines and total chaos and predicted anarchy of 2000 but I don't think we will get off so easy this time.
First of all, believing that the world will end soon could be a dangerous thing for some groups of people. Those with the eat drink and be merry mentality could do some damage to society if they think "why bother if these are my last 3 years?". On the other hand, it might actually be a good thing for people with a conscience who believe that the end is very near. Those who believe in a higher power and a pending judgement may improve their behavior and maybe now they will stop putting the empty milk jug back in the fridge because they are too lazy to throw it away.
Then there is the fun of speculating how this will happen. Will it be meteors, aliens, nuclear war, global warming, or maybe the dinosaurs coming out of hiding to kick or butts? Some people reach their conclusions about the end of the world with information from the news, the Mayans, Nostradamus, or the Bible, but regardless of where you get your information, I think it's evident that the end is near and things have already started to unravel as was witnessed by the follower fiasco with Blogger over the last few days. Unfortunately I only have 2 years and 10 months left to work on recruiting more followers for my blog.
10 comments:
On the chance that the events of December 2012 prove me to be fool of astronomical (pun intended) proportion I'd like to first say that anyone left can laugh at my headstone.
In a world full of instantly gratified, attention-deficient television babies you would think it would be easier for us to believe that the Mayans just left well enough alone. Their monumental feat is like someone of our age pre-programming a daily status for our facebook profiles for every day for the next 2000 years.
Maybe the Mayan's started outsourcing their labor and technical jobs and the only people left in the cities were middle management and telemarketers. In other words no one near enough qualified for the job.
Maybe we haven't translated the last little bit at the end of the calendar that really says "Lather, rinse, repeat."
Sheesh! ;-)
Personally, I think the Sleestaks are joining forces with the Terminator machines who will unleash the dinosaurs on us. (That's after the aliens surround the planet so there's no cosmic escape route.)
It's fascinating though, huh? Maybe that's the real bailout plan? No worries after 2012!
(thanks for following my blog!)
Okay... I've set my doomsday clock. *braces* I'm ready!
I believe that there was also a big article in Time about this. My coworker absolutely believes this, so we've been giving him a hard time.
The world has been predicted to end every year for the past 1,000 years. Whatever.
I hate the end of the world nonsense. It's impossible for anyone to know. Even me.
I guess I was off on my calculations. It looks like we get until the end of 2012. Now I can still afford to procrastinate.
Personally I think the Mayan guy that came up with the calendar died unexpectedly and so he never finished his calendar. So all this hype is for naught. I also feel that just when everybody thinks they have "weathered" the storm and things get back to normal. The real end of the world will be 2014 (March 29th if you must know)the balance of the earth will be upset with all the gold in the hands of Asians, the earth will stop spinning and one side will burn up and the other side freeze. So take your pick.
"It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine."
That's just a bit like saying "the world's going to end in December because we're going to run out of calendar"... :)
Give me strength! At this very moment civilization as we know it is in flux. Has anybody not noticed that our economy is in a race to the bottom? Why assign arbitrary woo woo spiritual dates from another vanished cilivation to the end of time? The crisis is in our faces now with climate changes and the loss of cheap abundant energy resources. We are in for a major paradigm shift but the end of the world is a rather vain and fatalistic conceit. Life will continue but we might not like the new reality quite so much when we have to walk everywhere and grow our own food. Being forced to live sustainably like the Amish just doesn't have the ooky spooky boogeyman resonance of the Mayan apolocalypse. People will either adapt or die. If a supernova took away the sun and our lives we wouldn't know what hit us anyway. How about cherishing living in the present while hoping for the best and preparing for the worst? I had a friend in New York whose father was a professional gravedigger and his favorite expression was "Any day above ground is a good one." That's not an invitation to reckless hedonism so much as a gentle reminder to keep things in perspective. Savor those mundane moments! What could be sicker than hoping and praying that the Yellowstone caldera takes you out in a supervolcano event? What a way to go, but isn't it healthier to focus on the here and now and continue living responsibly and being productive and treasuring time spent with those we love best?
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