World coming to an end? Not convinced.

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Four horsemen of the apocalypse
The Mayans said that the world would come to an end on December 21st, 2012.

But I really wonder about this because of a few specific points

1) What about that Mayan Calendar

"The Mayans employed three calendars, all organized as hierarchies of cycles of days of various lengths." (1)

 The longest date is actually later than what would be December 21st 2012. If the world were to come to an end at this date, why create a calendar with longer dates?

 "The Mayans believed at at the conclusion of each pictuncycle of about 7,885 years the universe is destroyed and re-created. Those with apocalyptic inclinations will be relieved to observe that the present cycle will not end until Columbus Day, October 12, 4772 in the Gregorian calendar." (1)

2) It might not be 2012

Not everyone uses the same calendar. This means that in some cases we are way past the 21st day of the 12th month of the 2012th year.

We have already missed December 21st, 2012 by 3761 years from the Jewish perspective as it's Teveth 8, 5773.
It's Safar 2, 1434 in the Muslim Lunar calendar.
Persian calendar calls this Jomeh 1, 1391.
Indian calendar puts the date as Agrahayana 30, 1934.
Bahá'í calendar follows a 19 years cycle so the date is Kull-i-shay 1, Váhid 9, Alif year, month of Masáil, day of Istiqlát.

Also sadly to say in Japan it's the 24th year of the Heisei Emperor. The Japanese use this calendar for political and educational dating. I have three children all of them with Heisei dated birthdays. And unless this emperor lives another 1988 years we won't see 2012.

3) Bad science

Back when the Mayans were a civilization, science was not too big. They knew little about the world and the stars. So their claims would be pretty much debunked by modern science.

Those claiming the end of the world now are also making claims based on bad. They say crazy stuff like "a hidden planet is hiding behind the sun and moving toward Earth."

This cracks me up. I mean, sure it would be a great "B" movie but reality is that all celestial bodies move in based on gravitation and don't hide. Planets don't have brains and do not plot.

Only powered objects can move toward or away from bodies in space but even then they must fight gravity. An object as large as a moon comet would need incredible energy to fight off other gravitational bodies. We think of the Death Star moving through space to destroy the Rebel Alliance but in reality, it would need billions of more power to leave orbit and break to do what it did. Planets and comets do not have minds of their own. I think some people have seen too many Hollywood summer blockbuster movies directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

Does this mean that a celestial object can't hit Earth and kill us all? Well of course it can but it has to be in the right orbit, size and make-up. It could happen someday but not on December 21st, 2012.

Others say that the planetary alignment will pause the Earth. But what about the other planets? Well again...let's just leave that to Hollywood writers. I look forward to another summer "world comes to the end" movie starring Bruce Willis or even oooh Angelina Jolie.

4) My own conspiracy

I have my own theory. Someone discovered this and then realized that December 21st was a Friday. No one wants to go to work on a Friday especially with Hanukah, Kwanza, Christmas and the New Years come up. Why not give the world a 3 day weekend. This could be a positive thing. People will go home and be with their loved ones, maybe fulfill an item on their bucket list and live life. There are those who might do drastic things and we can only hope that these actions are few and far between.

For me I have meetings and some family events planned on the 21st which I intend on joining. So the end of the world is not coming...just the end of Christmas sales and the end of a week.

Conclusion.
I think Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it best and in the most sarcastic way. Way to go Jules!


Article: Debunker of Doomsday

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