I for one do not think the world is going to end today… but in the off chance it does, I’ll see you at the restaurant at the end of the universe, ok? Ok. xoxo
Psst! Get the countdown timer for your location here.
So for those of us who weren’t following the doomsday predictions very carefully I dug up a quick fact file on why some people believe that the Mayans were all hot and bothered about December 21, 2012 as the end of the world. It’s the kind of logic you can’t argue with. I mean, you can laugh at it but you can’t argue with it.
Take a look and leave me a comment with your thoughts. Do you think the world is going to end tomorrow? And in that case, what’s your exit strategy? I’m betting we’ll be fine and then I’ll be going on a Friday Club SantaCon with my favorite people to celebrate the fact that the world didn’t end. I suggest you do something similar. xoxo
Doomsday 101.
The Mayan calendar finishes one of its great cycles in December 2012, which has fueled countless theories about the end of the world on December 21, 2012 at 11:11 (UTC). – In Mumbai this happens on Friday, 21 December 2012, 4:41pm. (Cancel my meetings Clarice, we may not make that conference call.)
Friday, the winter solstice, will see the end of the current era of the Long Count, one of the Mayan cycles which lasted 1,872,000 days or 5,125.37 years.
A New Age interpretation of this transition is that the date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggest that the date marks theend of the world or a similar catastrophe.
Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the black hole at the center of the galaxy, or Earth’s collision with a planet called “Nibiru”.
There is a strong tradition of “world ages” in Mayan literature. The Popol Vuh describes the gods first creating three failed worlds, followed by a successful fourth world in which humanity was placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after 13 b’ak’tuns. This means that the fourth world will also have reached the end of its 13th b’ak’tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, on 21 December 2012.
In 1957, Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that “the completion of a Great Period of 13 b’ak’tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya”. In 1966, Michael D. Coewrote in The Maya that “there is a suggestion that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the 13th [b’ak’tun]. Thus… our present universe would be annihilated in December 2012 when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion.”
The last time the world was about to end was on October 21, 2011.
The scientists’ conclusion is that the end of the Mayan calendar does not imply the end of the world, only the end of the Mayan long-count period. The ‘long count’ is a part of the Maya calendar shaped like a wheel. When we reach the end of the wheel, it will turn to the beginning again, just like our modern Gregorian calendar starts again every January 1.
Here are a few videos I found quite entertaining so if you’re still curious, knock yourself out.