Apocalypse not

Andre

Thanks, that's interesting case. I think that also "Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience" of Richard Landes is worth a try.

This part of the description caught my eye:

Andre

According to wiki, Maya scholars deny that there is any evidence for the end-of-the-world claim, on the contrary

Obviously the apocalypse is a modern invention based on 'misinformation'.

nazarbaz

Apocalypse is deeply rooted in the monotheist trail of cultures... Literally, it means revelation. While it is prophetism about the destiny of the community that prevailed in judaism, there's some sort of emphasis on the end of the world as a whole in the christian path : early christians thought that the end was imminent and this vue thrived till the european renaissance... Islam doesn't give a damn : believers can wait until god decides, as muhammad closed the doors of prophecy...
From time to time, there's a kind of resurgence of this archetypal myth which has less to do with mayas than with christianism : syncretism is at work here. But nowadays almost no one really believes it, the normal fraction of crackpots and morons excepted.

surajt88

Andre, obviously u r late to d party..come in & enjoy..

Chi Meson

then the first guy says:
"Well that's going to freak some people out in about 400 years."

(attributed to some other comic.)

Abstr7ct

I think that 21/12/2012 has been the most famous apocalypse date prediction globally. Movies, books, investigations, documentaries, games...etc, have been dedicated to this day. It's coming in less than one month. Until then, keep your eye on this countdown website.

http://www.december212012.com/CDC.htm

See you on 22/12/2012!

FreeMitya

Not always misinformation, but sometimes just misinterpreted information. When new scientific ideas come along, there will always be a group of people who won't fully understand them and will either dismiss them or turn them into something they're not. Solar flares, super-massive black holes, and geomagnetic reversal are a few examples. To add fuel to the fire, there is also a group of people who will exploit scientific illiteracy to make money.

Rooted

Does this mean I don't have to revise for January exams? Woo-hoo!

seaofghosts

12/21/12 falls on my parents' anniversary. I've always found this hilarious.

OmCheeto

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I predicted, in 2006, that we would have a black president within 8 years?

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I'd never heard of this "Barry" guy, so I claimed the president was going to be Colin Powell. Interpreting visions is not easy.

Andre

Anyway, back to business. Of course I realize that true believers will find a way to rationalize the failure. I found this a very informative study:

When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview showing that creativity knows no boundaries explaining away, and it well exceeds the expected cognitive dissonance explanation of the failure. If it wasn't so you'd really on that.

But also a bit of an objective of this thread was, that maybe doubters also come here to read this thread, wondering what to believe, especially kids, highschool etc. After reading all this and realizing how science work, they may not buy the -no doubt- hilarious adaptation strategy of the new agers.

AnTiFreeze3

I do think that there are some people who can be reasoned with, who will ultimately change their beliefs, so long as peope persistently confront them. I look towards pastors and ministers, and other self-proclaimed holy men and women, who now dismiss the idea of an omniscient entity as evidence, and I feel as if this conversion from irrationality to rationality is a universal occurrence.

For the others, we simply need to wait for them to die and hope that their children aren't as horribly decadent as they were.

ImaLooser

In 1969 Frank Zappa predicted a Reagan presidency.

OmCheeto

Really?

Btw, I also predicted that Bush would be elected to a third term. But I heard on the radio the other day that Barry is going to pull it off.

I can't get any of my details right.

Ivan Seeking

When December 22nd comes along, when we're all dead and the world is nothing but a smoking cinder, you all are going to feel pretty silly.

Ivan Seeking

I normally just listen to people and their beliefs and leave it at that. People need to believe these things. So if you actually manage to change someone's mind you won't make them happy anyway. They are happy believing what they want to believe.

The same is true of people who have more rational beliefs. When faced with evidence contrary to established beliefs, denial is the next reaction. Whether beliefs are rational or not, as we grow older, everyone is a true believer.

Wasn't it Einstein who said that physics progresses one death at a time?

phinds