Nature

A line of a song says it all - its the end of the world, as we know it - but the problem is do the people know for sure if it is the end of the world The answer is no. No one, not even scientists, know exactly for sure that December 21, 2012, or any other date for that matter, marks the end of the world. There are many reasons why this is the case, why it is easy to say that the end is near, why people are easily convinced and why people do it in the first place.

First, it is important to trace the roots of this kind of fear and anxiety gripping mankind. At the start of the 21st century, the world appeared to be heading closer to December 21, 2012. This date was believed to be date that the Mesoamerican Mayan Civilization predicted the end of the world. This spawned a cult following among doomsday soothsayers and even in pop culture. Recently, a movie entitled 2012 featured a world that was devastated by several different natural calamities and disaster of previously unknown and inexperienced proportion. Disasters include massive earthquakes split open and deep roads and highways tsunamis taller and higher than Mount Everest flooded the Earth volcanoes exploded and ash and fire spew from below the Earth, creating a huge mass of dark clouds, etc. In the movie, they used scientists to appear as if there are authoritative claims to this concept. However, in real life, the situation is far more different, leading people to ask this question should we believe in 2012

The answer is no because December 21, 2012 is not the end of the world. No authoritative claim with scientific credence and supporting empirical data will prove that the world will end in December 21, 2012. Soothsayers and even selfish, moneyed individuals who wants to cash in on the craze are grossly misinterpreting and incorrectly putting together what is happening in real life, what is imagined and the true context of the Mayan calendar that was supposed to predict the end of the world together in a totally misleading concept.

Because of that, it is important to first clear the air of certain issues. One should start with discussing the natural disasters. With the growing instability in the world and the rise of many different military superpowers all across the globe, the world should have been more scared about the prospect of the world ending because of a nuclear holocaust, which is more possible. However, natural disasters were the chosen brew of those who wanted to believe that the end is near, albeit this is not a strong leg to stand on in this particular issue. 2012 stipulates that the world will meet its end because of natural disasters of epic proportions. Proof of the possibility of that prospect is what is happening today.

Professionals refute this, explaining that natural calamities that the world has been experiencing this past few years are actually normal and expected natural calamities within its expected strength and power - the typhoons and hurricanes, the volcanic eruptions, the earthquakes, etc. Analysts believe that the occurrences of these natural calamities are compounded. Technological developments, like the mass media, allow the individual to be more informed. Thus, the worldwide happenings appear ominous and foreboding when it fact, this has been the trend in the past although news about it doesnt reach the global audience the way it does today.

The issue with 2012 is that it is about propagandists who twisted an idea to sell it, and hopefully profit from it. Today, no scientist supported by a scientific association and a study containing empirical data that has come forward with explanations regarding 2012 as the end of the world. This should be proof enough that 2012 should not be taken as something that has scientific truth in it. It is merely a story about a fictitious turn of events and developments involving the Earths core, something that hasnt happened yet and is unlikely to happen. As for natural calamities, scientists have explained time and again that there are calamities that hit the world with a stronger force than the usual. These calamities are always deadly and destructive, like the earthquakes in many parts of the world like Haiti in the last two years, the Hurricane Katrina, the Banda Aceh tsunami, etc. Natural calamities have the potential to kill people by the thousands. That is why, the government as well as science and technology are continuously developing ways so that human beings are more able to withstand and survive these kinds of natural calamities in the future.

Another important point to make to refute the concept that 2012 is the end of the world is the misreading and misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar and what is actually says and means. Like in many cases, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican groups like the Mayans are difficult to decode because of their language. This alone is enough to say that modern scientists are unsure if they correctly interpreted what the Mayan calendar when it said end of the world. Professionals argue that the end of the world could also mean other things, like the end of a cycle of (Vachon, 2007, p. 102) a long calendar like the case of the Mayan civilization, and more importantly, change (Hitchcock, 2009, p. 11) or even enlightenment (Liptak, 2010, p. 2).

As far as the Mayan calendar is concerned (since this is the basis of many 2012 end of days perspectives, including the movie), it did not say that the world is ending via a spate of natural calamities rendering humans extinct or nearly extinct. Individuals merely used natural calamities for a very good and practical reason because natural calamities are very unpredictable and can change some of its characteristics unexpectedly, and because it is a naturally powerful force, that humans cannot control or contain. People batting for the belief that it is the end of the world in 2012 uses the fear of the unknown to lure people in and convince them that this is true. For the believers and those who are made to believe, the prospect of such turn of events is very dramatic and devastating, affecting the emotional aspect of the human being which can easily pull the individual towards believing even without solid proof.

If 2012 has any real and scientific significance, then by now countries should be amassing their talented minds, their money and their resources towards creating a feasible course of action that can save as many people once this destructive force hits the planet. Countries should not be bothered anymore by capitalism, terrorism, and other issues when what they are to face is something far greater than all of those things combined.

Lastly, if it is any consolation, the problem about the concept of 2012 is not about natural calamities and worldwide destruction, but the tendency of the people to believe in things that are supposed to be greater than them, like the concept of doomsday. People have the tendency and the yearning to be awed by something as big and overpowering as the concept of the end of the world that people do not have a hard time selling it and convincing people about it because of the innate characteristics of human beings.

That is why skeptics stand out from crowd, because they appear not normal compared to most people who would easily believe anything as long as it is awe-inspiring, great and big, like doomsday and end of the world. Regardless of the absence of proof among soothsayers and the overwhelming scientific proofs claiming that there is no 2012 end of days scenario coming, in the end, the problem is with individuals who only believe what they choose to believe. Proofs, or lack of it, are mainly second considerations. This condition is the bigger problem in this issue. Many individuals as far back as the 19th century have resorted to predicting the end of the world, but none of them is yet to hit the nail in the head (Danelek, 2009, p. 29). If ever one of them turned out to be right in the future, the only consolation is that they cannot brag and say I told you so because once the human race is wiped out, it does not matter.

For now, the only ones that would claim the I-told-you-so line are those who are trying to wake people up from their state anxiety caused by their unnecessary 2012 fears. This includes professionals and several famous Mayan experts (Hundley, 2010, p. 11) who have challenged the idea that December 21, 2012, corresponds to the end of the world (Hundley, 2010, p. 11). If there is something to fear in the future, it is the fear of continued ignorance and ignoring the truth that the world is not about to end as what people are led to believe because of 2012 related end-of-days concept popularized by the mass media.