North Star Take: The Mayans Started Unnecessary Mayhem

A look through skeptical eyes at the 2012 end of the world prophecies

The Mayan calendar. A catastrophic flood. The Christian rapture. We’ve heard it all before. Y2K. Solar flares. Technology overtake. The who, what, when, where, why of the world’s end has been predicted thousands of times since the beginning of human existence. But note that word–predicted. They’ve all failed. Everyone is still here. So when Dec. 21 rolls around, people will enjoy their day, go to sleep and enjoy the
next day as usual.

The recent craze has been about the Mayan calendar and how it just cuts off on Dec. 21, 2012. The “end of the world” theory gained some ground in the latter part of the 2000s and completely blew up. The movie “2012” was created in its honor, along with the show “Doomsday Preppers” and there is even a WikiHow page titled “How to Overcome a Fear of 2012.” When the Mayan prophecy gained popularity, it seemed many jumped the bandwagon, coincidentally found other 2012 prophecies and did no research on anything they were talking about.
A look through skeptical eyes at the 2012 end of the world prophecies Google “2012 end of the world theories.” There are pages upon pages of theories predicting the doom that was supposed to take place this year. Since nothing has happened yet, it’s just to assume all of these predictions will have to take place sometime this month.

Probably the second biggest end of the world prophecy for 2012 is the one from Michel de Nostredame, more commonly known as Nostradamus. According to History.com, he predicted things from the French revolution to the creation of the atomic bomb to the falling of the Twin Towers. In context, reading Nostradamus’ prediction with the event it apparently predicted, it seems to fit perfectly.
However, out of context, Nostradamus’ poetic predictions are almost so vague they could be shaped around any happening, and it would make sense.

Then there’s the rumor of a rogue planet on a course to hit the earth. With the technology available today, space administrations would have already known about it for years. The actual fact of the Sun aligning with the center of the Milky Way is also going to take place. However, it too has had the Dec. 21 doomsday theory tacked onto it. Along with the amount of 2012 prophecies there are, there has also been
a number of galactic alignments that never resulted in man’s doom. According to NASA, a galactic alignment can’t even be narrowed down to a specific year, much less a specific day.

The most recurring doomsday prophecy in history is the rapture, or the second coming of Christ. This is because interpretation plays such a huge role in the end of the world theories. The most recent failed rapture prediction was set for May 21, 2011. Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster, interpreted the Bible and said the rapture would occur, then following, the universe’s end on Oct. 21, 2011. Predictions of the rapture will never be correct because no one is able to interpret the date of its happening or if it even will take place.
The biggest thing about all of these 2012 prophecies is that people believe them right
off the bat. If the theories flying around were questioned before immediately believed, there would be less rumors, less theories and lesser popularity on the predictions already present.

Taking everything for face value is what made one 2012 theory after another come from authors to scientists to researchers. All the while, the original predictions seemed to become more embellished and more popular. In situations such as these, when thousands of people are saying earth’s population is set to expire in just nine days, become a skeptic. When rumors fly around about a civilization that made a calendar in 3114 BC, and it’s set to end with death and destruction in this lifetime,
educate yourself. Feeding the 2012 fire with ranting, raving and being naive will only allow it to grow.