Why do some people think the end is near?

this

or possibly

2012

People have always thought that.

I dunno. I don’t think it is.

Yea but it makes me sick always to hear about the end or some relegous nut tries to convince me that doomsday is on it’s way.

Well, some folks just like to believe the glass is not only half empty but almost completely dry.

If you truly believe the end is near it certainly takes your worries away about things such as retirement, college savings, and nursing home care.

Because it is tax time?

It seems to be a obsession amongst a number of humans for centuries.

I don’t really think the end is near, but what’s with the whole mass shootings on the rise and all these plane crashes and the worsening economy? Sometimes when people combine all of those things they’re convinced the “world is ending”.

2012 ZOMGS

Will we ever see an END to these doomsday questions? :P

I have some friends who are pretty hardcore 2012 believers…

@KrystaElyse december 22nd 2012. Just like Jan 1st 2000 when the world didnt end then either. I wonder what the next big thing will be after this…

I’m not much for 2012, but isn’t there a lot more history behind it than Y2K? I mean that was sort of a last-minute freak out…

@aviona

Depends on what you mean by “history.” There was an actual, scientifically verifiable reason for the Y2K scare, which just got blown out of proportion. The 2012 nonsense is based entirely on mythology- not science.

Every generation has been faced with this question, during Pearl Harbor my father probably felt it was the end for America; my 1st generation German grandfather probably thought about it while fighting his distant relatives in France during the Great War.
Then, in my lifetime it has been the nuclear arms race, comets or asteroids, y2k, etc.
I definitely do think things are going to get painfully worse at an increasing rate for a lot of people, but I don’t think mankind is going to be extinguished.

Because it is! You are doomed! Cower, mortal, for you have sinned! And since you won’t be needing it, would you mind signing over all of your earthly goods, care of the all-knowing Jayne, P.O. box 11057?

The Rapture already happened, way back in 1986. You still here? Well, I guess that tells us what Jesus thinks of you, hunh?! explains the 90’s though, doesn’t it? ;-)

Possibly a natural pessimism at the state of mankind

That would be one bad b-day for me-December 22, 2012.

Well don’t worry @Garebo because it’s December 21.

The 2012 thing is especially stupid. The Maya didn’t even believe the world was going to end in 2012. They just didn’t bother making calendars for longer than that.

Actually, it’s basically the same deal as early computer programmers not bothering to leave space for beyond 99.

@Qingu lurve. I think that’s the most straightforward, no bullshit answer/comparison I’ve heard thus far (Fluther/IRL).

the end is near? give me a break, the end has been near so many times and nothing has happened, and this time… guess what… nothing will happen… there’s a lot of people out there who likes to worry, that’s all…

Ya know what the best part about all this is. Say we’re wrong and the world does end. At least we wont have to listen to all the doom sayers telling us “i told ya so” :P

Maybe she’s depressed? Suicide threat and desperate cry for attention

Okay, Stop!
The Mayan Calendar stops on Dec 21, 2012, because at that time the Sun and Earth will pass from the lower portion of the milky way to the top portion. The stars flow in the Galaxy like water, and we are riding that wave. It won’t change anything, and we will still be here. The Mayans just figured, after that day, a new Calendar would begin.
And that Zeitgeist crap couldn’t be more full of holes. It angers me just to hear people support that crap.
I did study Nostrodamas years ago, and while I don’t buy into his predictions, I must say that even he saw another 1000 years after this.

I will add that Nostrodamas did see the end of the Catholic church after the next pope.

I don’t believe the end is near. I have to much to do yet in this lifetime. My schedule is booked full way after 2012 will have come and gone so that’s not accurate either.

I hate thinking about this crap. I don’t care if it’s not true, the thought of my children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren having to deal with anything awful makes me sad :(

I don’t know. It’s really scary! Some people believe that doomsday will be 2012. (So soon) I don’t believe that but it does seem that I’ve been having a lot of bad luck…

It could also be that people are very religious. Who knows?

Two reasons:

1) Some people just love conspiracy theories and superstition and irrational thinking
2) Because history tells us there’s a very small chance for cataclysmic events

Is the end near? Here’s my answer: the probability for that to happen between today and say 2013 (to include the Mayan superstition) is 0.0001 percent.

This still means there might be local large scale disasters like another tsunami, earthquake or volcanic eruption.

You know, somebody could just end all this 2012 nonsense by using the calendar round to calculate beyond 13.0.0.0.0

Plus, what with leap years and Gregorian/lunar differences, I think it’s ending is really somewhere around August, 2011. But I could be wrong on that

Besides, let’s not forget about the Hopis and the Blue Sky Kachina if we’re going to get all concerned about entering a new age. That one is far more apocalyptic than the Mayan idea of cycles.

@fireside – I’m still greatly puzzled that the world didn’t end at the beginning of the year 2000. I’m losing sleep over this. I mean how could be an old and wise planet like Earth simply ignore such an important date. And how could a comet pick a boring date like July 16, 1994 to create an apocalyptic event on Jupiter? What happened to the significance of mystic numbers? This sheer randomness can drive you crazy. Imagine the disappointment when the Earth survives 2012 unscathed.

@mattbrowne – No worries, haven’t you heard about the comet of 2042 yet?

@fireside – This type of news appears rather frequently (done deliberately). Very often follow-up observations come to somewhat different conclusions and we can all relax. In general the threat is very real of course. It’s a good thing that scientists scare politicians just a little bit too much, so the funding won’t get cut.

This news is from February 7th, 2009 which is too new. I would get more worried if there’s more news about the very same comet in 2010 and 2011 and 2012. Then people would finally get their long-desired 2012 doom prediction.

Well, I have it on good authority from Chicken Little that…shhh, here he comes now!

So if the world may end in 2012, think about the bright side I don’t have a home bond to worry about. The comet thing may be a good chance for the end, so let’s hope NASA or some group will blow that thing up or something.

Note: some Christians, called preterists, believe the world did end already, basically. They think that the stuff in Revelation already came true and that we’re all living in some kind of post-Rapture who knows what.

It’s actually a pretty honest interpretation of Revelation, which was clearly about ancient Rome.

And is that why Jesus is coming to save us all?
or at least those good Christians?

@aviona – If the Rapture has already happened, then he has already come twice and isn’t coming back a third time. We are all doomed.

@Qingu – Yes, and there’s also the Flat Earth Society. Some people are weird and they just can’t help it. I think we can handle it ;-)

the rapture has no happend i know a couple hard core chirstians that i would be relived to be gone..

The end is closer than it has ever been!