The world's not going to end in December

[Handley_Page]

Better pay your taxes: The world's NOT going to end this year

Mayan prophecy is for drought or disease, not apocalypse, say bone boffins

By Brid-Aine Parnell • Get more from this author
Posted in Science, 1st October 2012 15:16 GMT


Those folks counting down to the end of the world, currently scheduled for 21 December according to the Mayan calendar, are going to be disappointed, a gaggle of experts have said.

Archaeologists, anthropologists and other experts in old things meeting over the weekend in Mexico have suggested that the Mayas may indeed have made various prophecies about that fateful date, just not a doomsday one, AP reported.

The boffins convened to discuss the Mayan Long Count calendar, which is made up of 394-year periods called baktuns. Since Mayas started their calendar at 3114 BC, the 13th baktun will begin on 21 December, 2012. The number 13 was a significant number for the Mayas.

However, that significance does not point to the scream-filled end of days for mankind, possibly as a Sun flare ravages our planet or the Earth's magnetic field reverses or (insert favourite apocalyptic scenario here).

Instead, the end of the cycle could be a milestone, a prophecy of something a bit less final, like droughts or disease outbreaks. “The Mayas did make prophecies, but not in a fatalistic sense, but rather about events that, in their cyclical conception of history, could be repeated in the future,” said Alfredo Barrera, of the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History.

There's also the fact that the prophecies don't stop at 21 December. Instead, Maya monuments refer to events even further into the future, thousands of years from now. "The king of Palenque, K'inich Hanaab Pakal, believed he would return to the Earth a couple of thousand years from now in the future," Braswell wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

“This thing about looking for end-times is not something that comes from Maya culture,” said Alexander Voss, an anthropologist at the University Of Quintana Roo, in Mexico. ®

quoted from the Register.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Dammit. I was going to ask a neighbor for his Prius if he died in the Mayan Apocalypse. I guess I won't be getting no free car now..

 

[lovecraft68]

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[soflabbwlvr]

So, guess it wasn't such a good idea to hand in my resignation, effective January 1?

 

[TxRad]

A lot of people are going to be scrambling to make those junk bond payments on the 22nd.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I don't know, folks, after all, this baktun brings the end of the Fifth Sun. That's Ollin, motion, in English, and it should end in earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. So we're ok, I guess, after all the recent earthquake in Costa Rica was just south of the traditional Mayan territory, and Popocatepetl, which has been active recently, is north of the Maya homeland. That just leaves the volcanoes in Gauatemala, and their dormant, right? Oh, except for Fuego. Well, that's ok, I guess. And the fact that Thera has swelled with millions of cubic feet of lava doesn't matter; it's in the Aegean. Though the last time it erupted, it seemed to have contributed to the end of Minoan Civilization... Japan? Indonesia? They're even further away.

On the more serious side, when I was in the Yucatan last year, the Maya I spoke to agreed with the anthropologists and archaeologists - they were just expecting some socio-political change for the next baktun.

 

[nicecthulhu]

A co-worker is positive that something big is in the works and those of us who disagree are just ignoring the truth. Sigh. He's Mexican and claims the Mayans knew stuff we didn't and their astronomy was far more advanced, they were better engineers, etc., etc. He even claimed the Mayans discovered black holes.

One day he explained to me how the prophecy says the sun will be swallowed up, later to be reborn.

So I did a little research into this fiasco on the internet and then tried to explain the opposing viewpoint. No luck.

People want to believe in a beginning and an end.

I'm just hoping that people like him stay home and don't try to take out innocents the day before doomsday.

 

[Handley_Page]

So I did a little research into this fiasco on the internet and then tried to explain the opposing viewpoint. No luck.

People want to believe in a beginning and an end.

I'm just hoping that people like him stay home and don't try to take out innocents the day before doomsday.

I think the response might be: "If you are convinced that the world will end tomorrow, will you give me loads of money/ your house/ car, etc.."
If the answer is NO, then why are they not so convinced ?

I'd be interested to know what happened to the dimwhits who gave away everything when the octogenarian twerp proclaimed the ending of the World.
Did they get it back or did the 'Church' recompense them in some way ?

Try this:
Tom Lehrer

 

[TE999]

I'm guessin' whoever was scratchin' out them End O' Th' World prophesies prolly got writers cramp or their chisels got dull and they figgered "Axolotl dammit, that's enough. Nobody's gonna be around to reas this anyways.'.

 

[MsQuote]

I'm waiting until after the election when the media the media will have time to focus on all the nuts preparing for and proselytizing the end of days. Should be entertaining.

 

[estragon]

"This is the way the world ends/this is the way the world ends/this is the way the world ends/not with a bang but a whimper." T. S. Eliot

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.


Robert Frost

 

[WantABWriter]

Really

Damn

I mean it has never been perdicted before.....I just knew this one was true and ran up all my credit cards and bought that new BMW...what am I going to do now?

 

[Quiet_Cool]

I'd be interested to know what happened to the dimwhits who gave away everything when the octogenarian twerp proclaimed the ending of the World.
Did they get it back or did the 'Church' recompense them in some way ?

Which Church was it? They may have all gotten free blow jobs...

Q_C

 

[Quiet_Cool]

What has been amazing me about this whole thing is how people keep focusing on the Mayan calendar (like they've all got original copies on the kitchen wall or something) then presenting a hodgepodge of Mayan, Sumerian, etc stuff all stuck under the Mayan headline. Most of what I keep hearing are Annunaki rumors, which don't have anything to do with the Mayans.

Odd what people will believe. And I'm a pretty open-minded guy.

Q_C

 

[topace]

I'm surprised people are still worried about this.

The whole end-of-the-world thing was concocted for the movie "2012" as a promotion gimmick. From what I'm seeing, it's worked better than what they were hoping for!

 

[nicecthulhu]

I'm surprised people are still worried about this.

The whole end-of-the-world thing was concocted for the movie "2012" as a promotion gimmick. From what I'm seeing, it's worked better than what they were hoping for!

I first heard about this Mayan end of the world stuff in the 1980s, I think. There were a few authors putting out stuff before that on the numerous ways the world was going to be destroyed, any who could connect something up with an ancient and mysterious civilization suddenly seemed almost reasonable - well, almost, almost reasonable.
This has been going on for about 2000 years that the western world knows about and likely longer. People claim the world is going to end and here are the signs - oh, why can't you see them? Are you one of the heathen who'll suffer eternally?
Supposedly there was an upswing to this nonsense around the year 1000. Then it increased again in the 19th century, and some of those 'religions' still exist. There was talk about 1998, 2000 and Nostradamus apparently predicted a doom from the sky shortly after 2000. Now it's 2012. Afterwards it'll be Apophis in 2028 or something.

There are dangers to the world that we have to learn about and can possibly do something about: climate change, pollution, rampant use of chemicals without figuring out their effects on humans and other living things, overpopulation, emerging diseases.

The belief that the world will end no matter what we do takes away from our ability to make this planet a better place.

 

[Agingras]

I'm confused (asusual)

I'm waiting until after the election when the media the media will have time to focus on all the nuts preparing for and proselytizing the end of days. Should be entertaining.

I thought the preparation and the proselytizing was the election. At least that's what the NRA has been preaching. Speaking of the NRA, or as my liberal neighbor says the "no rules allowed" bunch, does anyone else get their propaganda? I was a member for five years until they resorted to stupid lame gifts for renewal. Still on their mailing list even though I voted against every ballot issue and candidate the told me to support . . . I'm guessing they support Romney though I wonder if he's ever fired a gun in his life. Probably doesn't know which end to point anyway. Guess I'll sit out another election. Does anyonee know if Ralph Nader is running again? Maybe Alf Landon is still around, we've elected dead people before . . . God I'm babbling again.

 

[topace]

I know quite a few people who believe that a man crucified nearly 2000 years ago is returning one day to take them away before the earth goes through hell for 7 years before it gets remade by "God" for the believers to live on peacefully for 1000 years before it gets wiped out for good.

Total B***S*** IMHO, not scientific or logical - and I prefer logic over emotions which get swayed way too easily in my experience.

 

[R. Richard]

I can guarantee that the world will NOT come to and end on 21 December 2012. No, there will be a disaster on 15 April, 2013, as usual and NOTHING will stop that.

 

[njlauren]

I don't know, folks, after all, this baktun brings the end of the Fifth Sun. That's Ollin, motion, in English, and it should end in earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. So we're ok, I guess, after all the recent earthquake in Costa Rica was just south of the traditional Mayan territory, and Popocatepetl, which has been active recently, is north of the Maya homeland. That just leaves the volcanoes in Gauatemala, and their dormant, right? Oh, except for Fuego. Well, that's ok, I guess. And the fact that Thera has swelled with millions of cubic feet of lava doesn't matter; it's in the Aegean. Though the last time it erupted, it seemed to have contributed to the end of Minoan Civilization... Japan? Indonesia? They're even further away.

On the more serious side, when I was in the Yucatan last year, the Maya I spoke to agreed with the anthropologists and archaeologists - they were just expecting some socio-political change for the next baktun.

Thera doesn't exist any more, it is the Island of Santorini and is basically a blown apart crater, not even sure there is enough oomph left in that for a fart...

 

[njlauren]

I know quite a few people who believe that a man crucified nearly 2000 years ago is returning one day to take them away before the earth goes through hell for 7 years before it gets remade by "God" for the believers to live on peacefully for 1000 years before it gets wiped out for good.

Total B***S*** IMHO, not scientific or logical - and I prefer logic over emotions which get swayed way too easily in my experience.

Even more interesting when the book of revelations is nothing more then rehashed Zoroastrianism, that people still believe it. What is interesting is that there is gospel of revelations,not of John, but of Peter, that almost made it into the NT canon, that was quite different then the revelations of John......be a kicker if the end of the world comes and revelations that is in the bible turns out to be the wrong one *lol*.

 

[njlauren]

I don't have a link, but a couple of months ago there was an article saying they had found a Mayan calendar painted on a wall that extended well beyond december 2012....the mayans were advanced in some ways, their calendar was much more accurate then calendars were in the western world until relatively recent times and they were good observers. Part of the problem is that a lot of Mayan culture was lost, much of it deliberately destroyed by the Catholic Church (for example, the native mayan language, the written language, was undecipherable until fairly recently, because it was forbidden under pain of death thanks to our old friends the Inquisition..and the church has the gall to claim religious liberty over contraception *gag*), so there is a lot more myth and conjecture, even now, then facts. Mayan experts, descendants of Mayans whose life work is deciphering Mayan culture, have all said that the December 2012 was the end of a cycle,not the end of the world, and that given how long ago Mayan civilization died out, they simply didn't have time to keep building the calendar forward.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Even more interesting when the book of revelations is nothing more then rehashed Zoroastrianism, that people still believe it. What is interesting is that there is gospel of revelations,not of John, but of Peter, that almost made it into the NT canon, that was quite different then the revelations of John......be a kicker if the end of the world comes and revelations that is in the bible turns out to be the wrong one *lol*.

The kicker isn't which bible prophecies turn out to be true-- it's that bible prophecies are just as false as all other prophecies.

 

[gentledemands]

SHHHHHH!

You're ruining my e-bay promotion!

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Haha. Very nice.