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So what do you guys think about all the dooms day predictions that point to the year 2012 in which the world ends? Bull shit or plausible?

I call bs. Just sounds like superstition to me.

Quote from: "Godless"So what do you guys think about all the dooms day predictions that point to the year 2012 in which the world ends? Bull shit or plausible?

Total BS ... they always are!

Kyu

Quote from: "Godless"So what do you guys think about all the dooms day predictions that point to the year 2012 in which the world ends? Bull shit or plausible?

Could you clarify this? What are "all" the doomsday predictions? I only know of the misinterpretation of the Mayan long count calendar for this, and no legitimate Mayan scholars, or anyone who studies them seriously believes that it indicates doomsday. Are there others?

The teaser for the film '2012' looks pretty awesome. That is where my knowledge of 2012 predictions ends, though.

For anyone who dies in 2012 the world quite literally will end. For everyone else, however, it's a bunch of crap.  

Total bullshit.  Predictions based on supernatural hooha are just a bunch of crap.

I read recently an article outlining solid evidence that the 2012 conspiracy is actually a combination of marketing schemes.

It's a money making scheme.

Quote from: "Willravel"I read recently an article outlining solid evidence that the 2012 conspiracy is actually a combination of marketing schemes.

It's a money making scheme.

Do you have a link to that article? I'm intrigued . If not, do you know the source?
EMZ=]

Quote from: "Emor"

Quote from: "Willravel"I read recently an article outlining solid evidence that the 2012 conspiracy is actually a combination of marketing schemes.

It's a money making scheme.

Do you have a link to that article? I'm intrigued . If not, do you know the source?
EMZ=]

The gist is that most if not all of the theories surrounding the end of the Mayan calendar are nonsense worthy of religion and, unsurprisingly, many pseudoscience writers and even Hollywood are reinforcing this pseudoscience in order to make a quick buck.
http://splicetoday.com/pop-culture/the-mystery-of-2012 (http://splicetoday.com/pop-culture/the-mystery-of-2012)

Thanks . *Bookmarked*.
EMZ=]

I'm betting on armageddon because a lot of Chrsitians have promised I can have their stuff if it happens  

But, seriously, every time someone tries to predict the end of the world they are wrong.  The only kind of prediction I'd put any stock in is one made when a scientists notices a huge comet is headed on a path directly towards the earth...then we should start preparing to either destroy the comet or die (and it will happen eventually).

Quote from: "laetusatheos"But, seriously, every time someone tries to predict the end of the world they are wrong..

Well they would be wouldn't they? Its like saying I am imortal, so far all the health threats i got have been phooey.

Note, this does not mean I endorse 2012 doomsday, everyone knows its 2034 when we are judged.

If it actually does amount to any thing you have to remember that there are multiple meanings to the "words end of time". It can refer to the end of an era or age. it can refer to the end of the universe, end of the world, end of civilization, end of humanity, end of Starshmucks, or the the of the energizer bunny. Who knows we could get seriously lucky and it mean the end of Religion.

Nope. Don't think so.

I think that every generation has their predictions of the "end of the world." I think it comes from the same human arrogance that made us think we were the center of the universe. The same one that makes so many people believe that we're the only intelligent creatures in the universe. And also the same one that makes so many people believe there is an all-powerful god that modeled humans after him and gave us rule over all other creatures.

If the end times, or rapture if you're religious, comes while you're alive... sure would make you feel special wouldn't it? No one else in history would get to experience that.

Quote from: "Willravel"I read recently an article outlining solid evidence that the 2012 conspiracy is actually a combination of marketing schemes.

It's a money making scheme.

get your doomsday T-Shirts here!  

Quote from: "laetusatheos"I'm betting on armageddon because a lot of Chrsitians have promised I can have their stuff if it happens  

But, seriously, every time someone tries to predict the end of the world they are wrong.  The only kind of prediction I'd put any stock in is one made when a scientists notices a huge comet is headed on a path directly towards the earth...then we should start preparing to either destroy the comet or die (and it will happen eventually).

Luckilly, the instance of comets striking the earth is a lot rarer than it should be because we have a planet like Jupiter in our solar system which acts like a cosmic vacuum cleaner. Shoemaker-Levy could have possibly hit the earth if Jupiter hadn't sucked it in first.

The Mesoamerican calendar predicted eclipses and other cosmic events thousands, I repeat, THOUSANDS of years in advance with pin point accuracy.  I have little doubt that their prediction of a cosmic event happening in 2012 will not bare fruit, however, I'm not a "Doomsday" advocate.  It may be an indicator of the beginning of a solar cycle, some cosmic alignment or the "dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquari-uuuus" signifying the end of jesus fish on cars.

With all the end of days, end of humanity, conspiracy theories, and doomsday predictions running around, somebody sometime is going to get it right just by chance.  I don't believe that society is always as stable as we believe it to be; evolution has a way of producing nasty viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria, politics and religion have a way a creating nasty wars, and the weather, well we all saw what Katrina did. I mean, really, life comes up with great new ways to die every day!  :P  

Think about history, the Black Death, World Wars, Atomic Bombs and the lovely aforementioned meteor and the world seems a bit precarious.  And each of us has to face our own mortality once in awhile, too. Death is an inexorable part of life.  And sometimes in comes in droves for us rather wimpy hairless apes.

But well, do I need to be scared about it?  Run around with an end of the world placard preaching end of days?  No, but I do pay attention to events going on around me and the climate so to speak.  I think that everyone needs to be prepared for catastrophic events whether it's weather, war, or some kind of medical emergency and have people they can rely on in an emergency.  I think that this should have been the prime job of churches and church leaders in the past, but they've fallen desperately lax on their jobs, heading instead into ego and dogma, forgetting that there is a real need in any community for safehouses for everyone and it has nothing to do with what magical man you profess to believe in, but survival.

I'd like to see a world in which we stop panicking and making silly predictions about doomsdays and really have good sets of survival skills and emergency preparedness part of common knowledge for everyone.  This is supposed to be the job of our governments, but I worry about how well they are doing it lately.

I've always thought that a good first rule of survival in any situation is "Don't Panic", and basically keep your head.  Anytime you are filling your head with apocalyptic B.S. and unscientific thinking, you are putting yourself in a weak position for when something really awful does happen.

Other people, by and large, are not special. Everyone knows this. There is, however, a slight problem: everyone thinks he or she is special. This extends to the times in which he or she is living. No one ever wants to think, "Oh, it's okay. I live in that boring time right before that really exciting time." The universe is big and we are very tiny; people need to feel special.

People are stupid.

LARA, I found something for you.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.royal-plus.de%2Fdna%2Fimages%2Ftowel_day.jpg&hash=34b2503d7c501fb35daed3bf80e04ea976caad19) (http://www.royal-plus.de/dna/indexE.html)

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"Other people, by and large, are not special. Everyone knows this. There is, however, a slight problem: everyone thinks he or she is special. This extends to the times in which he or she is living. No one ever wants to think, "Oh, it's okay. I live in that boring time right before that really exciting time." The universe is big and we are very tiny; people need to feel special..

I think it's the opposite.  People are special and don't believe or realize it.  They are sheep and there's nothing special about being a sheep.  Most of these people, however, feel their shepherds are special and that's very different.  

If someone wants to change the world and believe they can, then it's probable they will in some way just by programming their mind to do so (this can also work in the negative realm).  The mind is so much more powerful than most think.  Unfortunately, a lot of minds are set to rest listening to preachers sermons, watching TV or playing video games rather than exploring new ideas.

Here's an interesting theory based on scientific data.  It does, however, lean toward Doomsday-ish results.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wIMYlKzYTig&feature=related

Quote from: "DennisK"The Mesoamerican calendar predicted eclipses and other cosmic events thousands, I repeat, THOUSANDS of years in advance with pin point accuracy.  I have little doubt that their prediction of a cosmic event happening in 2012 will not bare fruit, however, I'm not a "Doomsday" advocate.  It may be an indicator of the beginning of a solar cycle, some cosmic alignment or the "dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquari-uuuus" signifying the end of jesus fish on cars.

Ooh, the age of aquarius...does that bring goods things for people born under that sign? (hehe, just checking since the lotto isn't paying off).

Seriously though, the Y2K thing made some sense to me, at least it was based on the fact of our reliance for modern technology and not some type of voodo mumbo jumbo.  But, I only recently heard of the whole 2012 thing and I wonder if people really buy into it why aren't they spending the time enjoying life and living out the final few years to the fullest?  I don't believe in any great destiny, fate, things being written in the stars or forsight...it does give people something to talk about though, so that's always interesting.

Quote from: "DennisK"

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"Other people, by and large, are not special. Everyone knows this. There is, however, a slight problem: everyone thinks he or she is special. This extends to the times in which he or she is living. No one ever wants to think, "Oh, it's okay. I live in that boring time right before that really exciting time." The universe is big and we are very tiny; people need to feel special..

I think it's the opposite.  People are special and don't believe or realize it.  They are sheep and there's nothing special about being a sheep.  Most of these people, however, feel their shepherds are special and that's very different.  

If someone wants to change the world and believe they can, then it's probable they will in some way just by programming their mind to do so (this can also work in the negative realm).  The mind is so much more powerful than most think.  Unfortunately, a lot of minds are set to rest listening to preachers sermons, watching TV or playing video games rather than exploring new ideas.

I take offense to that since I'm a gamer  

Quote from: "VanReal"

Quote from: "DennisK"The Mesoamerican calendar predicted eclipses and other cosmic events thousands, I repeat, THOUSANDS of years in advance with pin point accuracy.  I have little doubt that their prediction of a cosmic event happening in 2012 will not bare fruit, however, I'm not a "Doomsday" advocate.  It may be an indicator of the beginning of a solar cycle, some cosmic alignment or the "dawning of the age of Aquarius, age of Aquari-uuuus" signifying the end of jesus fish on cars.

Ooh, the age of aquarius...does that bring goods things for people born under that sign? (hehe, just checking since the lotto isn't paying off).

Seriously though, the Y2K thing made some sense to me, at least it was based on the fact of our reliance for modern technology and not some type of voodo mumbo jumbo.  But, I only recently heard of the whole 2012 thing and I wonder if people really buy into it why aren't they spending the time enjoying life and living out the final few years to the fullest?  I don't believe in any great destiny, fate, things being written in the stars or forsight...it does give people something to talk about though, so that's always interesting.

I first quickly dismissed the 2012 stuff until I did some research into the Mesoamerican calendar and it's uncontested accuracy at predicting cosmic events.  It really is amazing and deserves some study.  It may just mean that we're at the end of one galactic cycle and we need to reset the clock.  Who knows?

Quote from: "Godless"I take offense to that since I'm a gamer

No offense intended.  Please note I was only talking about Atari, Activision and Commodore 64 users.  All other video games are good for you.

Quote from: "DennisK"

Quote from: "Godless"I take offense to that since I'm a gamer

No offense intended.  Please note I was only talking about Atari, Activision and Commodore 64 users.  All other video games are good for you.

 

Nice.

There is no strong reason to believe the world will end in 2012, barring any huge global wars that may take place between now and then, or barring some catastrophic natural disaster of epic proportions. An opinion research (http://www.minekey.com/) study says ‘The Mayans do not say that this is the end of the world, they say that this is the end of one stage in development and another will follow. It means change, not death.’ There have been so many predictions like this that haven't come true.