• Question: is the theory of 2012 really going to happen

    Asked by jjcandy to David, Luna, Mark, Melanie, Probash on 17 Mar 2011 in Categories: . This question was also asked by avengedsevenfold, ladygaga, fedoris, thejellybabies, janetandlucy, mmsp, jome, sushilthapa, ellaandkatie, herculesishere, jaws, pinkpanther, gracelk, charlie13, camelnath.
    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      No! The idea that the world is going to end in 2012 is just that, an idea. There is no scientific reason why the world should end then. It is true that the Earth is influenced by the orbit of the moon (tides), and by the shape of its path round the sun (long-term climate), but if a ‘galactic’ alignment was going to cause the Earth to end, it would have happened long ago, as these sorts of things happen over and over.

      NASA have a pretty detailed page which takes the ideas part one by one.

      The internet means that it is easy for these apocalyptic thoughts to spread rapidly around the world – but these sorts of ideas have often caused widespread hysteria even in the distant past. A colleague at NASA thinks that the Medieval ‘flagellant’ movement of 1259 AD may have sprung up after a large eruption in 1258 AD, which was followed by crop failure and famine across Europe. The flagellants roamed the countryside whipping themselves in the hope of atonement!

    • Photo: Luna Munoz

      Luna Munoz answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      I don’t think there is much weight in this theory. This is another doomsday prediction not entirely unlike the year 2000 end of the world, I think. There is a cool site on National Geographic that discusses some of the ‘myths’.

    • Photo: Melanie Stefan

      Melanie Stefan answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      2012 is going to happen, and it is going to be a year just like every other year.

      The belief that the world will end in 2012 comes from the fact that the Mayan long-count calendar ends in December 2012. But obviously, a calendar is just a description of time, just because a calendar ends, doesn’t mean the world ends (otherwise, judging by the calendars that I have at home, the world should end on the 31 of December of every given year).

      I’d be happy to bet quite a large sum of money on the fact that the world is not going to end. But then again, that’s easy for me to say, because if I lose my bet, I won’t have to pay 🙂

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