Comments on: The last thing I will post about apocalypse in 2012 http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Fri, 24 May 2013 10:50:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: IronEdithKidd http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1309038 IronEdithKidd Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:19:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1309038 Let's hear it for Saturnalia 2012! Let’s hear it for Saturnalia 2012!

]]> By: LightningRose http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308953 LightningRose Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308953 If you wait a few weeks until after the start of the new calendar, the cost will be 50% off. If you wait a few weeks until after the start of the new calendar, the cost will be 50% off.

]]> By: Nicky G http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308914 Nicky G Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308914 It's much more fascinating to me to look at the "2012 mythos" more in terms of the radical shift our society is undergoing largely for technological reasons, than a drop-dead date for "apocalypse." 3114 BCE was the beginning of the long count, and I find it interesting that this was around the time the thing we now think of as "civilization" in a more modern sense was beginning to take root.  Fast-forward five-thouand some-odd years, and I can't help but feel a new phase of civilization is upon us.  hat, to me, is more interesting than thinking of 2012 in purely apocalyptic terms. It’s much more fascinating to me to look at the “2012 mythos” more in terms of the radical shift our society is undergoing largely for technological reasons, than a drop-dead date for “apocalypse.” 3114 BCE was the beginning of the long count, and I find it interesting that this was around the time the thing we now think of as “civilization” in a more modern sense was beginning to take root.  Fast-forward five-thouand some-odd years, and I can’t help but feel a new phase of civilization is upon us.  hat, to me, is more interesting than thinking of 2012 in purely apocalyptic terms.

]]> By: wrybread http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308890 wrybread Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:04:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308890 I guess its time I let you in on a little secret: the only reason anyone claims to believe  any of this stuff is because "End of the World" parties are awesome. I guess its time I let you in on a little secret: the only reason anyone claims to believe  any of this stuff is because “End of the World” parties are awesome.

]]> By: Pedantic Douchebag http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308827 Pedantic Douchebag Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:50:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308827 Moron: "Is the world really ending in December?" Me: "Yes! May I have all of your stuff?" Moron: “Is the world really ending in December?”

Me: “Yes! May I have all of your stuff?”

]]> By: Harry Cunningham http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308543 Harry Cunningham Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308543 The sad thing is that the people who believe this nonsense will be proven wrong when 2013 arrives, but will just move on to believing the next set of nonsense they see... like the people who believed Harold Camping on his May 21st prediction and THEN AGAIN on his October 21st prediction! The sad thing is that the people who believe this nonsense will be proven wrong when 2013 arrives, but will just move on to believing the next set of nonsense they see… like the people who believed Harold Camping on his May 21st prediction and THEN AGAIN on his October 21st prediction!

]]> By: petsounds http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308541 petsounds Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:04:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308541  Definitively stating that the world (or at least humanity) won't end in 2012 is just as ridiculous as the ones who believe in this Mayan apocalypse. Between a rogue asteroid/comet, global thermonuclear war, magnetic pole reversal, or Michelle Bachmann becoming US President, we have a fair shot.  Definitively stating that the world (or at least humanity) won’t end in 2012 is just as ridiculous as the ones who believe in this Mayan apocalypse. Between a rogue asteroid/comet, global thermonuclear war, magnetic pole reversal, or Michelle Bachmann becoming US President, we have a fair shot.

]]> By: Jim Saul http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308435 Jim Saul Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:42:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308435 "Apocralypse"... nice! Did you just create the defining meme of the year? Apocalypse, apocryphal, and crap all in one package. That's a good reason not to completely vow to ignore the 2012 Doomers all year... the antics of the scam artists and true believers will range from hilarious to horrendous. If Halley's Comet was enough to get the Heaven's Gate eunuchs to kill themselves, imagine the furor this could whip up. More than 900 killed themselves for Jim Jones, and he seemed about as charismatic as Rod Blagojevich to me. (edit - Hale-Bopp, not Halley's) “Apocralypse”… nice! Did you just create the defining meme of the year? Apocalypse, apocryphal, and crap all in one package.

That’s a good reason not to completely vow to ignore the 2012 Doomers all year… the antics of the scam artists and true believers will range from hilarious to horrendous. If Halley’s Comet was enough to get the Heaven’s Gate eunuchs to kill themselves, imagine the furor this could whip up. More than 900 killed themselves for Jim Jones, and he seemed about as charismatic as Rod Blagojevich to me.

(edit – Hale-Bopp, not Halley’s)

]]> By: catcrobatics http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308434 catcrobatics Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308434 um... first year at college? lol um… first year at college? lol

]]> By: grib http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308417 grib Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308417 Nasa's website also has some good information. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html Nasa’s website also has some good information.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-guest.html

]]> By: Jerril http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308409 Jerril Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:56:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308409 The sad thing is that some people <b>are</b> living like it. Spending all their savings for their children, running up huge debts, yanking the kids out of school, because none of it will matter after the Apocralypse :P The sad thing is that some people are living like it. Spending all their savings for their children, running up huge debts, yanking the kids out of school, because none of it will matter after the Apocralypse :P

]]> By: Jim Saul http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308391 Jim Saul Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308391 If someone gets too excited preaching the prophesied doom thing, I hope interviewers ask just a few basic questions. Do they have any insurance? Investments? A bank account? Does the book contract for their 2012 prophecy work include provisions for future royalties?  In short, anyone who truly believes in some kind of predicted apocalypse would clearly be living like it, wouldn't they? If someone gets too excited preaching the prophesied doom thing, I hope interviewers ask just a few basic questions.

Do they have any insurance? Investments? A bank account? Does the book contract for their 2012 prophecy work include provisions for future royalties? 

In short, anyone who truly believes in some kind of predicted apocalypse would clearly be living like it, wouldn’t they?

]]> By: arcfinn http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308385 arcfinn Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308385  Fair enough, but there will be no foil hat for you when the mother ship cruises in ;)    Fair enough, but there will be no foil hat for you when the mother ship cruises in ;)  

]]> By: Newt Gingrich http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308384 Newt Gingrich Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308384 As an amateur archaeologist, I can say with certainty that the world will in fact end in the coming year (whether I become POTUS or not).  As an amateur archaeologist, I can say with certainty that the world will in fact end in the coming year (whether I become POTUS or not). 

]]> By: Oskar http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308381 Oskar Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:02:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308381 "Argüelles, who thought that the problems of Western civilization were due to the use of a calendar that was not directly linked to the movements of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars.  He sought to revive a version of the Maya calendar based on solar and lunar cycles, creating a new system that he called the Dreamspell.  Following the Maya calendar, it was based on the numbers 13 and 20 rather than 12 and 60.  He thought that the use of this different calendar ultimately bring about world peace." That last sentence might be the most awesome sentence I've ever read. Seriously though, it's fascinating to read an article like this describing this very different culture and their different ways of organizing the world, filled with really solid archaeology and anthropology. But then the madness starts, with the whole "then that crazy von Däniken dude thought aliens visited the martians, and hippies in the 60s started thinking that the turn of the calendar meant the end of the world!" If people were actually paying attention to Mayan history and culture, that would be a great thing, even if the reason was some crazy belief in the apocalypse. Far too often when people think about history, they think "European history" or "US history". Very few people study history outside those areas, but there's a whole world of it to discover. People can rattle off names of presidents like nobody's business, but ask them what the Taiping rebellion (a Chinese civil war that killed more people than WWI) was, or what the earliest American civilization is called (the answer is the Olmec civilization), and their faces go blank. But the thing is, people don't actually care about the Mayans. They only pay attention to the nutjobs who doesn't have the first idea what history is, or the fascinating things it can tell us. It's a real shame.  “Argüelles, who thought that the problems of Western civilization were due to the use of a calendar that was not directly linked to the movements of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars.  He sought to revive a version of the Maya calendar based on solar and lunar cycles, creating a new system that he called the Dreamspell.  Following the Maya calendar, it was based on the numbers 13 and 20 rather than 12 and 60.  He thought that the use of this different calendar ultimately bring about world peace.”

That last sentence might be the most awesome sentence I’ve ever read.

Seriously though, it’s fascinating to read an article like this describing this very different culture and their different ways of organizing the world, filled with really solid archaeology and anthropology. But then the madness starts, with the whole “then that crazy von Däniken dude thought aliens visited the martians, and hippies in the 60s started thinking that the turn of the calendar meant the end of the world!”

If people were actually paying attention to Mayan history and culture, that would be a great thing, even if the reason was some crazy belief in the apocalypse. Far too often when people think about history, they think “European history” or “US history”. Very few people study history outside those areas, but there’s a whole world of it to discover. People can rattle off names of presidents like nobody’s business, but ask them what the Taiping rebellion (a Chinese civil war that killed more people than WWI) was, or what the earliest American civilization is called (the answer is the Olmec civilization), and their faces go blank.

But the thing is, people don’t actually care about the Mayans. They only pay attention to the nutjobs who doesn’t have the first idea what history is, or the fascinating things it can tell us. It’s a real shame. 

]]> By: benher http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308378 benher Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308378 Every time I read things like this I'm reminded how badly my fellow Americans need a hot science injection to the eyeball, post-haste. Every time I read things like this I’m reminded how badly my fellow Americans need a hot science injection to the eyeball, post-haste.

]]> By: Nadreck http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308379 Nadreck Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308379 When your Mayan Calendar runs out, it's time to get the next one.  Hopefully this one will have more kittens on it. When your Mayan Calendar runs out, it’s time to get the next one.  Hopefully this one will have more kittens on it.

]]> By: Frederik http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308372 Frederik Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:49:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308372 And even if the Mayan calander did actually predict the end of the world. Why would that matter? It would just be another mythological story, not to be taken litterly. And even if the Mayan calander did actually predict the end of the world. Why would that matter? It would just be another mythological story, not to be taken litterly.

]]> By: IronLemur http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308365 IronLemur Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:37:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308365 What really concerns me is that many of the same people who are so worried about this fabricated Mayan Apocalypse couldn't care less about NDAA. Civil liberties are being rolled back and the country is sliding into Fascism, and they can't be bothered. But, oh, a dead civilization ran out of room for a calendar, and OMG DISASTER! The entire world is buckling under the weight of our collective stupidity. What really concerns me is that many of the same people who are so worried about this fabricated Mayan Apocalypse couldn’t care less about NDAA. Civil liberties are being rolled back and the country is sliding into Fascism, and they can’t be bothered. But, oh, a dead civilization ran out of room for a calendar, and OMG DISASTER!

The entire world is buckling under the weight of our collective stupidity.

]]> By: Carlos A. http://boingboing.net/2012/01/02/the-last-thing-i-will-post-abo.html#comment-1308361 Carlos A. Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:31:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=136748#comment-1308361 Never say never again. Never say never again.

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