There is much more to the Mayan long calendar’s conclusion than the doom and gloom portrayed in the film “2012.” Three years ago Hollywood said that John Cusack would save the world from its own continental shift, but in just a couple of days on Dec. 21, millions of people around the globe will be wondering, if not praying for a real savior.
Beliefs of the 2012 Armageddon stem from the ancient Mayan civilizations’ calendar ending on Dec. 21, 2012. However, contrary to what pop-culture would have us believe, many scholars say that the end of the calendar is not an end-of-the-world prediction, but a new cycle similar to a New Year’s Day, only much more momentous.
The Mayans were expert astronomers and their calendar has been one of the most accurate to date influencing the modern-day Gregorian calendar. The Mayans, being superior warriors, mysteriously and surprisingly disappeared leaving the calendar possibly unfinished with the date Dec. 21, 2012 as the last recorded date, thus making many people believe that the end of the calendar signifies the end of the world.
There has been much speculation about the disappearance of the Mayans: was it a collapsing of their society, a deadly natural disaster, a civil war, famine or being wiped out by another group of people? The fact is that nobody seems to know. But one thing is for certain, people from the world’s top scholars to the average Joe down the street seem to have an opinion about December 21.
All over the world there are people who are bracing for doomsday, and others who are treating each day like any other. The theories of how the world may end are bountiful, such as Nibiru (more commonly known as ‘Planet-X’) colliding with Earth.
There’s also the theory of solar flares engulfing Earth. However, N.A.S.A. has debunked any, if not all of the theories about the Earth’s could-be death. The solar storm activity has been relatively low and solar flares have only been known to strike certain satellites according to N.A.S.A., but never anything that could destroy the planet. According to N.A.S.A’s web site, solar flares might be the highest on record in 2013, but they do not expect any impact on Earth.
There has been no solid evidence about any of the doomsday predictions, just guesses and estimates – mostly on personal web sites on the World Wide Web.
Some people do not know what to believe in; some are not swayed to believe that the world will end and others have been preparing for the end for years. The world has been predicted to end many times but civilization will just have to wait and see if the predictions were right or wrong. If on Dec. 22 we’re all still drinking our Starbucks and checking our Facebook accounts, then Cusack’s ‘2012’ movie might be nothing more than a bad comedy.
