Thoughts on the End(s) of the World
You may have heard news of the latest doomsday prediction -
Friday, 21st of December 2012, courtesy of the Ancient Mayan Times (BC)
forecast. Depending on who you are, you may genuinely believe it, might be
worried about it, or may have decided it's garbage. Whatever
your belief, it's hard not to have an opinion.
Honestly, I didn't know about the ancient Mayans before
this 2012 prediction, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate the
doomsday stigma.
The basic gist of it is that the Mayans used to carve time keeping tablets
(ancient calendars), and the last one they made had the 21st of
December as its final date. Thus the conclusion was made
that this is the date when the world ends. There are groups on both sides of
the argument with a wide variety of theories - some say that because of the leap
year system which was put in place
after the Mayan civilisation, this date was technically passed some months ago. To top it off, the modern Mayans themselves say there is no doomsday associated with this date.
Unfortunately, this doomsday "prediction" is far from the being
the first to become popularised. They have been arising since Roman times!
Technology has only made it easier for rumours
to spread and diversify. So far none have come true (obviously), and it's turning out
to be a global scale, centuries long story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf (or rather
Meteor/Super-volcano/Climate Event). Maybe the "Wolf" will finally
come, but that's not the point. I have little patience for anyone who aims to use
these baseless prophesies to spread fear instead of hope for the future, all too often in the name of their "faith". I have nothing but fury
for those who profit from this fear. What is much more likely is that the
biggest threat of these predictions comes from potential mass panic and depression.
The concept of The End of the World is far too big for me,
so I'm not going to attempt to prove or disprove it by using whatever facts fit
my conclusion. What I know for certain is that each one of us experiences
endings. Careers end, relationships end, phases end... and lives end. On a
daily basis, there are guaranteed to be endings all over the world, and not all
of them will make the news. It's not a surprise that everyone and everything has its
end time. What should we do about that? Live in constant fear? Peep out of our
curtains, awaiting the day when an ending will come? I certainly won't. The fact that things end is the perfect reason to greater value the life,
people, and things we have now.
Hug someone. Show kindness to someone. Forgive someone. Do
something you want to do that you've been procrastinating. Not because "the
end of the world is nigh!", but because it's a beautiful day to be alive.
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Still nervous? The smart people in this article might put you at ease
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