2012: Whaddya Think

[TerranceL]

Yup --- Miller had his Y2K as well.

So did Manson with Helter Skelter.

But science always manages to top the list.

The 2012 nonsense has nothing to do with science.

Then again neither did Y2K.

 

[Cabal]

Let's follow the train!

Mayan Calendar --> Y2K --> Thalidomide

I'm having a tough time predicting what the next stop will be...

Probably Pluto, followed shortly by an unconvincing "scientists are a gift from God."

 

[Witchy Bee]

Well darling, people have been predicting the end of the world since, well since the 1800s at least, so it's very likely nothing will happen. I don't think time is linear anyway though.

 

[sfs]

Probably Pluto, followed shortly by an unconvincing "scientists are a gift from God."

Followed by a suggestion that somebody or something take a hike. (Which I will be doing this weekend, in the White Mountains, incidentally.)

 

[Cabal]

Followed by a suggestion that somebody or something take a hike. (Which I will be doing this weekend, in the White Mountains, incidentally.)

I just got back from the Alps. Although I was there for an ultracold atoms school. Got some hiking in during the afternoons and weekend though.

So ironically, it was somewhat representative of science taking a hike.

 

[Alunyel]

I just got back from the Alps. Although I was there for an ultracold atoms school. Got some hiking in during the afternoons and weekend though.

So ironically, it was somewhat representative of science taking a hike.

Highest I've been is Mt Snowdon in Wales.

But yeah, science has taken many hikes, and every time it comes back knowing more than it did before it left.

So we should take Av's advice. The more hikes we go on, the more we learn!

 

[Solomon Kane]

At worst, the incressed output from the sun might cause a slightly unusual weather pattern for the planet.
Beyond that nothing is going to happen.
Of course this will not prevent various groups from jumping on any diaster and shouting about how it is a sign that we are all doomed.

 

[AV1611VET]

Of course this will not prevent various groups from jumping on any diaster and shouting about how it is a sign that we are all doomed.

Aren't we going to be killed by space debris before that?

Isn't some communication satellite suppose to hit another one and the resulting debris field supposed to create a domino effect that will have us zig-zagging to work?

I think that's the latest technoscare --- unless it's H1N1.

I need to go get some tee shirts that say:

1. I survived the Harmonic Convergence.
2. I survived Y2K.

 

[thaumaturgy]

Aren't we going to be killed by space debris before that?

Isn't some communication satellite suppose to hit another one and the resulting debris field supposed to create a domino effect that will have us zig-zagging to work?

I think that's the latest technoscare --- unless it's H1N1.

I need to go get some tee shirts that say:

1. I survived the Harmonic Convergence.
2. I survived Y2K.

Technology has a long way to go when compared with the number of times the end has been predicted by mystics and religious folks!

A Brief History of the Apocalypse

 

[AV1611VET]

Technology has a long way to go when compared with the number of times the end has been predicted by mystics and religious folks!

In spite of God's timetable, or in respect to it?

 

[Belk]

In spite of God's timetable, or in respect to it?

Present God's timetable for us to look at and I'll let you know.

 

[Alunyel]

Present God's timetable for us to look at and I'll let you know.

0600 - Reveille
0640 - Drill
0740 - Breakfast
0715 - PT
0815 - Firing range

 

[thaumaturgy]

Present God's timetable for us to look at and I'll let you know.

I suspect his point will be that no one is supposed to know what God's timetable is (Matt 24:42-44).

Ergo when someone attempts to predict exact time of the end they are doing so in spite of God's timetable.

But, of course, that doesn't eliminate the fact that many people, acting under a variety of religious points of view have done that very thing. (Note; not all apocalypses are "christian" in nature.)

So for any and all "technological" apocalypses we have many, many religious apocalypses. The difference being that a technological apocalypse would entail some physical reason for its appearance whereas a religious one is often for somewhat less objective reasons (the earth has become too sinful, people are bad, things are nasty).

I think most people kind of like that apocalyptic feeling of being the last ones at the part.

Like the Wilco lyric says:

"Come on children, you're acting like children.
Every generation thinks it's the end of the world."

 

[juvenissun]

Alright... so over the past year I have heard pretty much every 2012 theory under the sun, from the Annunaki and Nibiru (lolzor) to the crossing of our galactic equator into intense GCR's.

Does anybody think 2012 is actually going down? If you do, which theory sounds the most viable to you? Even if you don't which theory sounds the most realistic to you?

Ze end of ze vurld.

Now, there are a few things that are happening in that year that give the theory some merit to me.

The first is the Maxima of our sun. Our sun is going to be the brightest and hottest it has been in 11 years in 2012.

Couple this with global warming, ozone holes, the depreciation of pretty much all our resources and over-population.

Another (though I'm not sure this is happening,) is our solar system passing through the galactic equator, where the most harmful GCR's in the galaxy are stabilized. If our earth crosses through the galactic center, and is caught between the sun (which is at it's maxima,) and the black hole of our galaxy (which stabilizes many harmful rays at its equator,) I daresay something bad has the potential to happen.

But whaddya think?

A.D. 2012 represents a number of true scientific problems which we have no answer to them, and will not have answer even 100 years after 2012. This date is certainly different from any of the previous false alarms in terms of scientific content. This date will not be a concern just two decades ago. But it is a scientifically legitimate concern today. To dismiss this "prophecy" based on science simply shows your ignorance to science.

 

[Thistlethorn]

A.D. 2012 represents a number of true scientific problems which we have no answer to them, and will not have answer even 100 years after 2012. This date is certainly different from any of the previous false alarms in terms of scientific content. This date will not be a concern just two decades ago. But it is a scientifically legitimate concern today. To dismiss this "prophecy" based on science simply shows your ignorance to science.

What true scientific problems does 2012 represent, which shouldn't be ignored based on science?

 

[Alunyel]

A.D. 2012 represents a number of true scientific problems which we have no answer to them, and will not have answer even 100 years after 2012. This date is certainly different from any of the previous false alarms in terms of scientific content. This date will not be a concern just two decades ago. But it is a scientifically legitimate concern today. To dismiss this "prophecy" based on science simply shows your ignorance to science.

Enlighten us, what exactly makes it any different from 2011, or 2013?

It's the end of the Mayan calendar cycle. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. After that, the Mayan calendar restarts itself. Just as on Sunday the week restarts itself. Science has never concluded, or even predicted that 2012 will be any different.

 

[juvenissun]

Enlighten us, what exactly makes it any different from 2011, or 2013?

It's the end of the Mayan calendar cycle. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. After that, the Mayan calendar restarts itself. Just as on Sunday the week restarts itself. Science has never concluded, or even predicted that 2012 will be any different.

Is your b-day or your anniversary "just a calendar" day to you?

If you do not get the question right, then any given response will not make any sense to you.

 

[SimplyNothing]

What true scientific problems does 2012 represent, which shouldn't be ignored based on science?

While they may not even be problems that have to do with 2012, these are real problems that could have a very negative effect on our planet.

-Climate Change
-Maxima of the Sun
-Large Hole in the Ozone
-Overpopulation
-Lack of available space
-The availability of Nuclear Armaments
-The ability to blow up the earth four times over
-Economic meltdown
-Lack of available fresh water
-Lack of Food
-Too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere
-Deforestation

I'm not saying that these are all scientific phenomena that have to do with the Mayan Prophecy of 2012. I'm not saying the Mayan's had any knowledge of any of these aforemention events with the exception of the Maxima of the sun (or the transition from the fifth sun, to the sixth sun.)

My stance on the whole 2012 issue is maybe. All the problems above are very real and unavoidable problems. I'm not going to go far enough to say that 2012 is the apocalypse. But what I will speculate, is that, whether or not it occurs even in 2012, eventually we're going to reap what we have sown, and it's going to be really uncool.

That's what I think.

 

[AV1611VET]

I think if this earth blows to yottabits on January 1, 2012 --- on January 2, 2012 someone will just say it was done on purpose to make that prophecy self-fulfilling.

 

[juvenissun]

What true scientific problems does 2012 represent, which shouldn't be ignored based on science?

Many.

The one I concerned the most: Communication breakdown. This problem does not exist a few decades ago.

The strange nature of 2012 is: If any of the bad things happened, nobody can do anything about it, even we know it now. This is very different from the Y2K problem.