The concept of the end of the world was first brought to my attention when I heard about the alleged end of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar. The Long Count Calendar is most closely associated with the Maya Civilization, which met its own demise circa 900 at the hands of Spanish conquistadores. From what I was told, according to the calendar, the date marking the end of man is December 21, 2012. However, after a bit of research, I realize that this assertion was made by anthropologists early in the 1990s and largely a result of the human inclination to create hype. Later research has shown that this date simply marks the end of the 13th baktun cycle (a period of 144,000 days, or 394.25 years) since the start of the Mayan Calendar. It is accepted by all anthropologists that the end of the 13th baktun would mark a great point in time for the Mayans. However, early researchers claimed this meant an astrological event, while more recently it has been said the date is simply a cause for celebration. In fact, there are no known prophetic claims to have been made by the classic Maya civilization concerning the date.
Al Gore, self-proclaimed expert on global warming, has a doomsday countdown clock that estimates the world will end sometime in early 2016. This is conditional, however, on whether or not humans take action on minimizing the global warming that the earth is experiencing. His prediction can said to be based on science, but the belief that the world will end so soon, even if the rate of global warming continues or slightly rises, seems to be held solely by him. However, this is not to say that the warming of the earth does not have a great effect on the life of its human and animal inhabitants as well as the planet itself.
Finally, it has been recently discovered that the great scientist Isaac Newton - known of course for discovering gravity and the laws of motion - wrote down in his notes his own date for the end of mankind: 2060. Newton was, in addition to a scientist, a Christian theologian, however one that did not accept trinitarianism, being the belief that Jesus Christ is also God. His research, as well as his aversion to the papacy, all contributed to his conclusion that the human earth would come to an end point at this time. However, in his description of the event, he also mentioned the replacement of the current world with a new one through God's grace.
As I was talking to a classmate of mine a few days ago as we walked through heavy rain and wind because of the cyclone, he said to me: "If the predictions for the end of the world are correct, I'm going to go into the hills and live somewhere alone with the years I have left." This came as a bit of a shock to me, and I then started to think myself what I would do if I only had a decade or so left to live. Don't get me wrong, a lot can happen in a short amount of time, but I have so many things I want to do, yet so many things that are already so important to me. But then I came to my senses, and realized that I was just buying into the the hype. The idea of a doomsday coming so soon in the future is used to strike up fear in the minds of humans. Maybe Al Gore is right, and that is necessary in order to help curb global warming, however to consider making a drastic change in personal lifestyle seems incredulous to me. Scientists and theologians can speculate, but will never properly come up with a date for the end of the world, even if there name is Isaac Newton.
The human race has become so obsessed that we have created a "Doomsday Clock" that constantly fluctuates, telling us how close we are to destroying ourselves, with midnight symbolizing a global catastrophe. Originally set at the time 11:53 - 7 minutes to midnight - in 1947, the clock was invented during the Cold War pertaining to the possible event of a grand-scale nuclear war. Currently the clock is set at 5 minutes to midnight, the closest it has been since 1987. But what does it mean anyways, when minutes are added and subtracted from the clock after each event concerning nuclear power. Its all speculation, but it works wonderfully as a propaganda tool.
Someday, according to science, the world will end. If nothing else causes its destruction beforehand, the earth will eventually either crash into another planet or fall victim to a black hole. There is no reason to believe this will be anytime soon though, certainly not in my lifetime. I'm still going to continue working, being in love, and enjoying life. Anyways, my life could end anytime, and not as a result of the destruction of our earth. The prospect of the entire race being destroyed at one time makes you think though: If you knew how much time the human race had left, what would you do with the rest of your life? I know personally who I would want to spend my time with, and I'm sure all would agree with me when I say family, friends, and my love.
As much as I enjoy listening to Muse's apocalyptic masterpiece "Time Is Running Out", I refuse to believe it's true. There's no reason to hype. The end of the world won't come any time soon in my mind. It's not worth it to buy into the system and worry, though that's what human nature leads us to do at time. Never does it hurt to think about the possibility, but just enjoy what time you have always, even if the world does end tomorrow.
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