Supposedly, the Mayan calendar predicts that the end of the world or something as significant as that will occur on December 21, 2012. This is based on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends exactly on that date. The conclusion is that the ancient Mayans did not project their calendar beyond that date implying that somewhat there is no point for doing so because beyond that date, there would be no use for the calendar anymore perhaps because by then, the world would have ended.
I consider this baseless on at least two grounds: common sense and the credibility of the source of the prophecy. On the ground of common sense, it is of course certain that the Mayan astronomers who calculated the calendar would have to end somewhere in their calculation. In theory they could have gone on and on and calculated a million year calendar. But would they do that? That would have been impractical and a plain waste of time and effort. They just had to stop at some date and it happened to be a date corresponding to December 21, 2012 in our modern calendar. It could have been 11 January 2014, 30 November 2016, and any other date of your choice. If the Mayan astronomers stopped their projected calendar on 30 November 2016, I suppose the doomsday prophets would equally be saying now that the end of the world will be on November 30, 2016.
On the second ground, what credibility do the Mayans have in the first place? They had a degenerate civilization characterized by genocidal tribal wars and human sacrifices as part of their religious worship. These probably contributed to their complete destruction. They simply vanished from history. If the Mayans were not even able to predict the complete demise of their culture and civilization, why would you ascribe to them the ability to predict the future of the world?
In spite of this, however, the feeling of foreboding is something that is very difficult to eradicate specially in these times when we are faced with a lot of uncertainties as to where the world really is heading. Consider the impact of climate change, for example, and how it will impact the earth within the next few decades. Consider the not so remote possibility that one of these days, a giant comet or meteor may just hit the earth with devastating consequences. These are all scientific facts or possibilities and we cannot just discount the possibility that indeed, the end of the world as we know it is not a far flung possibility.
Tied up with the scientific scenario is the curious fact that quite a number of prophecies are all asserting the coming end of the world, somewhat in the near future. Foremost among these prophecies is no less that the much awaited second coming of Christ among Christians which is supposed to be accompanied by worldwide upheavals, an event that can likewise be equated to the "end of the world."
What if in the end, all of the above jibe and indeed, we are now in a countdown for something big and earthshaking that might occur soon as we approach December 21, 2012? Well, there is really nothing much we can do about that. But it is something good to be aware of and be psychologically prepared for whatever may come on that date.
I consider this baseless on at least two grounds: common sense and the credibility of the source of the prophecy. On the ground of common sense, it is of course certain that the Mayan astronomers who calculated the calendar would have to end somewhere in their calculation. In theory they could have gone on and on and calculated a million year calendar. But would they do that? That would have been impractical and a plain waste of time and effort. They just had to stop at some date and it happened to be a date corresponding to December 21, 2012 in our modern calendar. It could have been 11 January 2014, 30 November 2016, and any other date of your choice. If the Mayan astronomers stopped their projected calendar on 30 November 2016, I suppose the doomsday prophets would equally be saying now that the end of the world will be on November 30, 2016.
On the second ground, what credibility do the Mayans have in the first place? They had a degenerate civilization characterized by genocidal tribal wars and human sacrifices as part of their religious worship. These probably contributed to their complete destruction. They simply vanished from history. If the Mayans were not even able to predict the complete demise of their culture and civilization, why would you ascribe to them the ability to predict the future of the world?
In spite of this, however, the feeling of foreboding is something that is very difficult to eradicate specially in these times when we are faced with a lot of uncertainties as to where the world really is heading. Consider the impact of climate change, for example, and how it will impact the earth within the next few decades. Consider the not so remote possibility that one of these days, a giant comet or meteor may just hit the earth with devastating consequences. These are all scientific facts or possibilities and we cannot just discount the possibility that indeed, the end of the world as we know it is not a far flung possibility.
Tied up with the scientific scenario is the curious fact that quite a number of prophecies are all asserting the coming end of the world, somewhat in the near future. Foremost among these prophecies is no less that the much awaited second coming of Christ among Christians which is supposed to be accompanied by worldwide upheavals, an event that can likewise be equated to the "end of the world."
What if in the end, all of the above jibe and indeed, we are now in a countdown for something big and earthshaking that might occur soon as we approach December 21, 2012? Well, there is really nothing much we can do about that. But it is something good to be aware of and be psychologically prepared for whatever may come on that date.
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