The Countdown Begins: 12/21/2012 - 22 Days away

[NtG]

http://blogs.discovery.com/inscider/...#mkcpgn=fbsci1

Why Do We Want to Believe in Doomsday Predictions?
By: Patrick Kiger

Biopsychologists tell us that humans, like other species, have a compelling interest in our own survival, so that we can fulfill our evolutionary imperative to pass on our genes and sustain the forward march of our species. In light of that, it's a bit puzzling to observe our contradictory fascination with--and for some, fervent belief in--predictions of our impending extinction.

Case in point: The currently trending meme that the world will end on December 21, 2012, which coincides with the end of the 13th Baktun, or 144,000 day cycle, in the Mayan Long Count calendar. Oddly, the future-obsessed Mayans themselves didn't have any prophecies depicting the Earth's destruction, and as this New York Times article points out, the Mayan calendar doesn't actually end in 2012, but instead simply slip into the 14th Baktun, in the fashion of an aging car's odometer that reaches 120,000 miles and just keeps ticking toward 130,000.

But the absence of an actual Mayan Doomsday prediction simply has caused apocalyptic fanboys to fill in the blanks themselves. One popular option for those eager to foretell their own demise is the belief in Nibiru, which is not a dragon conjured up by Dan of the Bakagan battle brawlers, but rather a rogue planet that supposedly was discovered by the ancient Sumerians and is now hurtling on a collision course toward Earth. As this NASA 2012 debunking FAQ notes:

Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist.

If you're wondering where such ideas came from, Space.com offers this fascinating take on the origins of the Nibiru myth. Earthlings first learned of the mysterious unseen planet in the 1970s from the late Zecharia Sitchin, a Russian-born author who, based on his interpretation of ancient Sumerian pre-cuniform script, believed that Niburu roamed the cosmos on an enormous orbit that brings it near Earth every 3,600 years or so. Sitchin also claimed that humans were genetically engineered in ancient Mesopotamia by nine-foot-tall extraterrestrials, who were in need of laborers to mine gold on Nibiru. To quote a 2010 New York Times profile:

"This is in the texts; I’m not making it up,” Mr. Sitchin said, finishing his coffee. “They wanted to create primitive workers from the homo erectus and give him the genes to allow him to think and use tools.”

The idea of Nibiru, or Planet X as some called it, percolated though the UFO fabulist subculture on the Internet, and somehow morphed into a Doomsday prophecy that the rogue planet would collide with Earth--a premise vaguely similar to the 1951 sci-fi movie When Worlds Collide. Originally, the collision was to occur in May 2003, but when, for whatever reasons, that didn't happen, 2012 apparently emerged as a makeup date. (You may scoff, but revising Doomsday dates is an accepted practice in the apocalyptic subculture; here's a 2011 USA Today profile of radio evangelist Harold Camping, who predicted that the world would end on May 21 of that year...or else Oct. 21.)

It's easy enough for a skeptic to poke holes in Nibiru--or in the catastrophic pole shift theory, or any number of other apocalyptic scenarios. But the more interesting question is why so many people fervently embrace these predictions. A May 2012 Reuters poll found that 22 percent of Americans believe that the world will end in their lifetimes--a level of end-of-the-world prognostication matched only by Turkey, and way above Great Britain (eight percent) and France (6 percent). Another 2010 Pew Research Center poll found that 41 percent of Americans believe that Jesus will return by 2050, even though the New Testament itself says that event is impossible to predict.

Why is it that better than so many of us are convinced that the end is near? Why is it that the idea of an impending apocalypse is so appealing? I haven't been able to find much scientific literature on the subject. In this 2011 New Scientist article, Concordia University religious scholar Lorenzo DiTommaso hypothesizes that this may reflect an innate human aversion to future uncertainty, and desire to know the unknown. He

Within its limitations, apocalypticism is very rational. It's a world view that explains time, space, and human existence. It's not science - it's not universal or repeatable - but it does explain things.

And apocalyptic thinking isn't necessarily a sign of unscientific irrationality, DiTommaso maintains. He points out that Isaac Newton, the great 17th-early 18th century theoretical physicist, was an end-of-the-world enthusiast who spent much of his life trying to decipher prophecies in the Biblical books of Daniel and Revelation.

[Phills14]

My money is on that massive asteroid scheduled to zoom by Earth in 2029, followed by fear of the one to hit earth in 2036.



Not as well known, but they did the same thing the first day the station aired. They signed off the same way as on homage to how they came into the world.

Yea the station was called Power 108. It went from teeny bopper stuff like you hear on 96.5 today over to the new craze "alternative rock". All Pearl Jam and Nirvana all the time. I remember my bus driver kept the station on that day and forced us to listen to that damn song the whole ride. I had about an hr long bus ride at the time.

Also... http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/tickets/promotions.html

Cavaliers vs. indiana pacers
Friday, December 21st at 7:30 PM

Theme: Mayan Calendar Survivors Night
Theme (2): Boy Scout Night
Theme (3): Kids Postgame Free Throws
Family Packs: Includes four Cavs tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas starting as low as $79 – or $19.75 per person, for a $41 savings! Buy Tickets
Friday Night Out: Grab a best friend, girlfriend or just someone from the office and enjoy two tickets plus a loaded ticket value starting at $50. Buy Tickets

[MattyFos.]

I'm looting the entire week. Fuck it. NO CONSEQUENCES!!!

[Mdog1]

Can't wait to wake up the 22nd, but just in case this actually does happen, i'm not doing any christmas shopping just yet...

I actually wouldn't mind a massive tidal wave hitting Miami, LA, and Boston, just saying.

You know what F OKC too, so I wouldn't mind a tital wave bashing them too, and while we're at it New Orleans too for losing that coin toss.

[The Voice]

11 days and counting. I'm taking Viagra and fucking the whole day.

I actually built a bunker for this. We'll see if it pays off...

["Boobie" Gibson]

So my mom just texted me and said she bought the family tickets to see the Cleveland fucking orchestra on the 21st. This is how I get to spend my last evening...

I'm now convinced, the world is ending.

I will exit the world in one of the most painful ways possible... listening to an orchestra play Christmas music.

[Jack Brickman]

I have been saying for a while that earth needs a good plague right about now but I would be content with a mass suicide.

The problem with that is that there's no guarantee the smart people will be the ones who are immune. We could end up worse off than we are now.

Anyway, if nothing else, the 21st is going to be an awesome night to party.

[Damage]

So my mom just texted me and said she bought the family tickets to see the Cleveland fucking orchestra on the 21st. This is how I get to spend my last evening...

I'm now convinced, the world is ending.

I will exit the world in one of the most painful ways possible... listening to an orchestra play Christmas music.

Prepare to be deaf before you die.

[Mdog1]

The problem with that is that there's no guarantee the smart people will be the ones who are immune. We could end up worse off than we are now.

Anyway, if nothing else, the 21st is going to be an awesome night to party.

Nah we live in first world country's man, we'd be fine. Just stay away from rats, and people who cough a lot, and you'd be fine. It's the people in poor places that would be really fucked.

[Lee]

So my mom just texted me and said she bought the family tickets to see the Cleveland fucking orchestra on the 21st. This is how I get to spend my last evening...

I'm now convinced, the world is ending.

I will exit the world in one of the most painful ways possible... listening to an orchestra play Christmas music.

Worse yet, I hear Brandon Weeden will be playing first violin just to taunt you.

[Lee]

Nah we live in first world country's man, we'd be fine. Just stay away from rats, and people who cough a lot, and you'd be fine. It's the people in poor places that would be really fucked.

So are you saying Detroit is screwed?

["Boobie" Gibson]

Detroit, yeah.. and Cleveland

u wot m8?

[The Voice]

Heard Chuck Booms advertising an end of the world party today. Which one of you fools work for 92.3?



I kid

[Mdog1]

So are you saying Detroit is screwed?

Hopefully NY, and LA too, although they're not exactly poor, just stupid and NY has a lot of rats.

Edit: Oh and for the record I have never seen a rat where I live, so I think i'm good.

[Jack Brickman]

Detroit, yeah.. and Cleveland

u wot m8?

Sucks to be you guys. I'll stay safe in my white collar city.