On December 21, 2012, we will either all be witness to the most mind-blowing event in recorded history, or we’ll just be going to sleep excited to have Tuesday off for Christmas. If it’s the latter, well I might just take Monday off and have a four-day weekend…now that’s worth looking forward to!
But if, just if, all the predictions are true, 12/21/2012 will be a very fascinating day. I won’t go into excessive details, but the gist of it is that the Mayan Calendar, after 5,126 years, comes to an end on this date. The calendar is cyclical in nature, and the Mayans believed that the end of each cycle would usher in a new form of creation via a complete destruction of the old order.
This date might have slipped under the radar if it wasn’t for the efforts of apocalyptic-obsessed individuals around the world who are always itching for proof that the world is finally coming to an end. Keep in mind, there is a huge track record of apocalyptic prophecies getting proven wrong by the passing of the foreseen date.
In truth, only time will tell what the future holds. Who knows, maybe we really will all die in a cataclysmic asteroid collision or disappear in a fire-ball of nuclear holocaust or have to deal with the anti-Christ coming to power or be teleported into another dimension or be visited by aliens or witness a major shift in our genetics that gives us psychic powers and the ability to defy gravity…
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The Earth iPhone Wallpaper image courtsey of Flickr user The Pug Father published under the CC license.
13 Comments
I was talking about this Mayan calender thing with my girlfriend a couple weeks ago. I always just figured that they thought they would be able to make changes and extend their calender when the time came. It’s not like they knew they were going to be wiped out. So basically I think way too much has been made out of it. My girlfriends mother is an anthropologist with her area of interest being in the Mayan, Incas and Aztecs. She thought we might be on to something.
There is a lot we can learn from the Mayans, they were mathematical geniuses, building their civilization to an exact scale of the circumference of Earth. They also had their own pyramids which lined up with the Egyptian pyramids an ocean away. As far as the end of the world happening, I’m skeptical. We shall see.
In honor of the end of an age, there Maya would play an almost hybrid game of soccer and volleyball. The object was to get the ball to go through the center of an elevated ring in the middle of the field. It is then believed that upon scoring the goal the captain of the winning team would be sacrificed.
Do you think there are people so into this they’d kill themselves if (when) it doesn’t happen?
I’m thinking of that cult in the 90’s that got obsessed with the Hale-Bopp Comet.
I think Sebastian Davis is perfectly fit to lead a cult to the promised land.
Jim, there definitely has been way too much made of it. And its not like there’s even a specific event prophesied to happen. Its just a calendar ending and people dreaming up possible worst-case scenarios. I bet all these apocalypse junkies are into madlibs, too.
A madlibs blog post would be kind of cool.
Hey Andrew, these two YouTube videos are no longer available. It looks like the History Channel had them removed.
why is it that people generally assume the worst when predictions are made regarding the destruction of the old and birth of the new?
i’d like to believe there will come a time when everything changes, i.e. old ways go by the roadside, poverty, war, etc. etc.
we can transcend our essential biology. that’s what we’ve got these huge brains for. the hardware’s primed, just need some operating system reform, really.
bean,
Interesting thoughts. Do you believe something will actually occur on 2012?
hi andrew,
i’m not sure about exact dates, but i do know some very interesting things (new physics / huge paradigm shifts / amazing technological advances) are definitely in the works for the coming years. let’s just say 2010 ought to be interesting enough in itself.
perhaps it will take a few years for the nascent tech to blossom. it could be that by 2012, it will have reached some kind of fruition.
ha! it may sound to some as if i’m describing a type of doomsday machine. i suppose if one is a hardcore conservative, it very well may be. but for people who generally believe in the massed & varied potential of humankind, well, it’s going to be a renaissance.
cheers~
bean…
I have no idea what you are talking about. Please elaborate in detail so I can get a better picture of what you are trying to communicate.
Hi Bean, are you familiar with Ray Kurzweil and his thoughts on the exponential growth of technology and the impending singularity as he calls it?
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