What do you think of the 2012 regarding Nostradamus and the Mayan Calender?

Question

Most people believe it to be the end of the world...

Answer 1

"Most people"? The only place I've ever seen or heard it mentioned is right here on Wacko! Answers.

There is no scientific reason for anything to happen. PART of the Mayan calendar, which is complex, ends on that day. Nothing unusual, just like 31 December.

Not long ago, people started to see that they could make a bit of money by teaming that up with unrelated ancient myths, and completely made-up rubbish.

So they found an obscure Sumerian name, called Nibiru (which was just their word for Jupiter), invented some meaningless crap about "the Earth aligning with the centre of the galaxy" (which doesn't even make sense), and sold books and videos to people who just don't understand.

I don't see what Nostradamus has to do with it at all.

Answer 2

Nostradamus's quatrains are vague at best. Some are touted to refer to catastrophic events but that's only because people have gone back after said catastrophic event and then tied it to some specific quatrains.

The mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21st, 2012. So? It had to end at some point. It lasted a lot longer than the mayan people did.

The Heaven's Gate cult committed mass suicide because they thought Comet Hale-Bopp was a "sign". (And they were going to hitch a ride with the alien spaceship hiding in the comet's tail, but I guess they had to be dead to do that). Comet Hale-Bopp came and went and the world is still here.

When I was a child my pastor at church told the entire congregation that the world was going to end in 1984. It didn't.

The world was supposed to end in the year 2000 when the Y2K bug hit, or when the calendar rolled over. It didn't (and a lot of annoying and major inconviences were also avoided due to the HARD work of a lot of computer programmers).

My Mom says that when she was a teen-ager there were people saying the end of the world was coming soon. It didn't.

So, what do I believe about 2012, Nostradamus, and the Mayan Calendar? Nothing.

2012 is just another year. Nostradamus and the Mayans are dead.

Answer 3

The Long Count of the Mayan calendar does not stop at the winter solstice in 2012. There are inscriptions giving dates thousands of years in the future from that.

It is very common for people to expect the world to end or something similarly world-changing to happen in their lifetimes. This is an example of this. However, if enough people believe something major will happen, there could be a major shift in attitudes at that time. It could be the same as a coordinated direct action, like the protest where everyone flushes the toilet at the same time or uses all the electricity they can. In that way it could happen.

It wouldn't be enough just to sit back and expect it to happen. People need to do something major to change things personally. Then it could happen.

Some people are also predicting a technological singularity around 2020, where technological advance increases exponentially and supports itself. This is possibly a self-fulfilling prophecy as well, and the two might even be linked.

Answer 4

There have been so many doomsday prophesies that...(so far) have not come to pass, it's hard to believe a new one. (See the link).

I think it's in humans nature to conjecture about the end of the world. So, even if there is never an end of the world, we'll still come up with prophesies about it.

There is so much interpretation regarding that prophesies that are needed in order to come up with actual dates for the end of the world, that the date that you end up with becomes nothing more than arbitrary. For example, someone wanted to make Nostrodamus' prediction coincide with someone's interpretation of the Mayan calendar prediction, make some assumptions, fudge a few numbers, and you'll eventually come up with any date that you intended to get in the first place.

I recall seeing one time the history channel talking about when the anti christ "666" will be coming. They gave a good argument that the anti christ was already born, and it was Julius Caeser. The point it, people are still guessing about when it will happen.

Answer 5

According to the latest interpretation of Nostradamus by one expert, about midnight Guatemalan time on 20 December 2012 the entire Universe will cease to exist. This will last exactly one hundred millionth of an attosecond and then the Universe will resume existence immediately in exactly the same state as it was before, so nobody will notice.

Australians and the British have a word for people like Nostradamus and those who spew nonsense about 2012. It is very rude, has six letters, starts with "wan" and finishes with "ker". Where's me tinfoil hat?

Answer 6

1. You can make Nostradamus predict anything you want him to. All you need is a good imagination.
2. The Mayans were such a great civilisation they disappeared.
3. Why not go round to your local bookie and bet £100 on the end of the world being in 2012? You should get good odds.

Answer 7

"Most people"? I don't think so! Most people have never heard of Nostradamus OR the Mayan calendar. And you won't find ANY scientists who give credence to either of them, and this is a science forum.

People have been predicting the "end of the world" for thousands of years. Yet the world is still here. Like all the other "doomsdays," 2012 will pass and nothing will happen.

Answer 8

The Mayan calendar ends on 21st December 2012 so some people assume this is the end of the world, Yet Planetary Ailgnment is due 8th Sepember 2040. The end of the Muslim calendar is 2076 and the end of the Jewish calendar is 2240

Know one knows when the world will end I just hope its not in my life time

Answer 9

Anyone that thinks Nostrildumbass ever predicted ANYTHING, should be forced to wear a Member Of Rejectors Of Natural Science tattoo on their foreheads. Okay... its wordy, they can just use the acronym. I have a great idea for a gag gift. Really, I should patent this, but here it is... free of charge. The Exploding Mayan Calendar! Woo! You see, when you get to the last page, a smoke-bomb goes off. Hilarious?

Answer 10

Most people do not believe that. Most people know it is nonsense and nothing special will happen in 2012. Only a few ignorant people believe it is the end of the world.