21st December, 2012

[Nikhar]

I think this is the topic worth discussion. I wonder if it has gripped the attention in your area, but out here, its slowly getting into people's minds.

The notion is that on the 21st of December, 2012, the earth would be destroyed and the belief is supported by scientific and mythological belief. The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years and as terminating on December 21 or 23, 2012.

I wouldn't get into why's and how's of the matter.
Check this out though--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon

It may interest you.

What do you think? Is it really going to happen?

Personally, my gut feeling says that our lives would still suck on 24th December as they are doing now. :p

[Shalot]

I've heard bits and pieces about 2012 but I really don't know all the details...is it supposed to be a spiritual awakening or the end of days?

[DanielBenoit]

A date is just a measurement of from a particular point in time which started a tradition of a culture. For the West it's the birth of Christ. The year 2012 is a meaningless statement because it is merely a relation to a particular time and a particular set of rules (1 year = 365 day, etc.).

What I'm getting at here, is that the year 2012 is virtually an arbritrary point in time and means nothing beyond the ink on the calender. People have been predicting the end of the world for millenia. Don't worry, our lives will still be like crap well after the New Year for 2013.

[Virgil]

Personally, my gut feeling says that our lives would still suck on 24th December as they are doing now. :p

:lol::lol: That was really funny. And I agree. Actually I think I've heard somewhere that some date in May of 2011 is supposed to be the end of the world. I'm curiously waiting for it. :D

[Nikhar]

:lol::lol: That was really funny. And I agree. Actually I think I've heard somewhere that some date in May of 2011 is supposed to be the end of the world. I'm curiously waiting for it. :D

Finally....finally...

SOMEONE FOUND ME FUNNY! *hurray* :banana: :cool:

[Shalot]

but Serious Cat says that this forum is for serious discussion only. I thought you seriously wanted to discuss this 2012 stuff. :D

[LitNetIsGreat]

I definitely think that the world will end iin 2012, especially if the prediction is based on the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. I've heard that is really good...

Edit: I think he will be there too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qo1eaWF8c

[Granny5]

I understand that this date is when the Mayan calender stops so everyone thinks it's the end of days. I'm sure that will be the end of days for someone, probably many people but not the world.

[Niamh]

Personally i think its a load of rubbish. People have predicted the end of the world on numerous occasions and it hasnt happened yet. The Dark ages came about because people believed the world would end in the year 1000AD. It didnt. Its not going to now either.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I understand that this date is when the Mayan calender stops so everyone thinks it's the end of days. I'm sure that will be the end of days for someone, probably many people but not the world.

You serious???:rolleyes:

[PeterL]

While it may be that the end of the Mayan calendar will be on Dec. 21, 2012, but that isn't important, because the world was created, complete with records, ruins, and people of various ages on July 23, 1973.

One thing that bothers me about the Mayan claendar is that I have seena number of different dates for when it will end. I remember clearly that one of the dates was Apr. 18, 2012. It appears that everyone is using 12/21/12 these days.

[Lokasenna]

I seem to remember there being a big brouhaha over Nostradamus' prediction that the world would end in 1999. I also remember that 1999 passed without any noticably apocalyptic overtones.

So let me put it this way: I'm still going to buy Christmas presents in 2012.

[Haunted]

I fear with that the growing number of apocalyptic predictions, the probability of one coming true is imminent. 2012 could be it... Is it too soon to start building our own Litnet biodome?

[stephofthenight]

I think all calenders end...that does not make it the end of the world, They predicted that the end of their world, I believe that there will be disaster around that time, as we are due for another major one. but I do not think it will be the end of mankind. I find it insulting that with as far as we have come from the days of the mesoamericans technology, civilization, archtiecture, medicine, science. all the vast things we have learned and have the resources that we are still going to let them throw us into panic... Its Meso-American...haha cant be believed anyway, america...oh wait *bites tounge* I still live here. sh*t scratch that.. My calender runs out in January, Is it the end of the world? No it just means that I got tired of drawing little squares and decided when the time comes I'll draw a new one. How do we know that they where predicting the end of the world. so all of these ccalenders run out at one time, I have heard multiple ones. well my thoughts are the first ones planed to draw out a new calender at the time that that one ran out, than they died out before then, so the next ones assumed that was the end of the world and kept that as the end of the calender and here we are today...ta' dah! Besides if it is the end of the world, not like we are losing that much, I think people in general have screwed up the world, maybe its time to reset things?

[Granny5]

You serious???:rolleyes:

I watched a show on the History Channel or Discovery about it. Appears that the Mayans just stopped at December 12, 2012. So lots of folks believe that
that is when this world will end. Something about the Earth tilting or something.
My world could end tomorrow so I really don't worry about it.

[SleepyWitch]

My calender runs out in January, Is it the end of the world? No it just means that I got tired of drawing little squares and decided when the time comes I'll draw a new one. How do we know that they where predicting the end of the world.

:lol: :lol: you crack me up, steph. I was about to say the same, how do we know they didn't just stop updating their calendar because they had other things to keep them busy? Probably they were fighting other cultures and later they were conquered by the Spanish or something, so maybe they re-allocated their resources and didn't have the leisure or expertise to make calendars any more.

[Taliesin]

But it's a genuine fin de siecle feeling. (and damn, I can never get the French accents right, even while living there)
Only I'm not sure whether fin de siecle is the right word - it isn't exactly century and I also doubt that it's not the end either.

Nevertheless, nothing consoles and soothes me better after a hard day of work (if I ever do one) than a nice ending for the world we have here. It's somehow very peaceful, in my opinion.

Do you think it's going to be a happy end? I am a sucker for happy ends.

[Emil Miller]

I definitely think that the world will end iin 2012, especially if the prediction is based on the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. I've heard that is really good...

Edit: I think he will be there too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qo1eaWF8c

Thanks for the video clip Neely, one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[JuniperWoolf]

If the world were to end, in 2012 or in a thousand years, do you think you'd want to be alive during that time period to see it happen? I think that if I had a choice, I'd want to be there to see how things go down. I'm kind of curious. Will we be hit by a giant piece of rock from the asteroid belt? Are we going to blow ourselves up? Inquiring minds want to know!

[IceM]

The notion is that on the 21st of December, 2012, the earth would be destroyed and the belief is supported by scientific and mythological belief. The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years and as terminating on December 21 or 23, 2012.


During Academic Decathlon last year, the broad topic was Latin America. A discussion on the Mayan Calendar was included. The Long Count form was expected to terminate every 5,125 years, but that does not specifically allude to the end of the world. It as though their Long Count is a form of automated washing-machine, with the cycle ending every 5,125 years, but restarting itself again. In our USAD studies, it never specifically mentioned an apocalyptic end.

The greatest causes of fear for 2012 prophecies among historians and some of my educated friends seem to be either the eruption of Yellowstone's supervolcano or the "dreaded solar alignment" that happens once every 12,000 years. I find it difficult to accept that the eruption of Yellowstone as a supervolcano can be predicted on a specific date and actually occur. It seems too unlikely. Plus, the assumption that some solar alignment that occurs rarely will end up wiping us out seems faulty. I mean, this solar alignment occurred 12,000 years ago, and the human race still breathes. I thin 2012 is just hype.

[Nikhar]

If the world were to end, in 2012 or in a thousand years, do you think you'd want to be alive during that time period to see it happen? I think that if I had a choice, I'd want to be there to see how things go down. I'm kind of curious. Will we be hit by a giant piece of rock from the asteroid belt? Are we going to blow ourselves up? Inquiring minds want to know!

Maybe we'd run short of washrooms and then people'd die of shame? :p


Anyways, if the world does end in 2012, I'd like to see the expression on the faces of those gits who spent their last years of brilliant school life in coaching classes studying for entrance examinations; gits who missed their last batch party, fiesta and picnic to learn what force would the ground exert on them if they rolled down the hill at a speed of 55 k/hr. (Personally, I'd be more worried to check if my legs were in the correct place :D )