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Asked by bradleyduffy to Adam, Geoff, Rob, Sheila, Suzie on 18 Mar 2011 in Categories: General. This question was also asked by 5smith, ashl96, sufyantalib, emzbarker.
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Robert Simpson answered on 16 Mar 2011:
The world is no more likely to end in 2012 than any other year.
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Adam Tuff answered on 16 Mar 2011:
No! Nor can we prove that it will end! There is a lot of superstition about 2012 being a year that the world will end – people are generally worried about the Mayan Calendar which ends there…but think about…how far in the future do write your calendar? I bet the world won’t end on the 25th of December when your advent calendar runs out of chocolate!
The world is just as likely to end in 2012 as it is to end in 2013, 2014. Do not let it keep you up at night!
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Geoff McBride answered on 16 Mar 2011:
No. Proving events not happening in the future is not the way science works. We look at evidence and make predictions about the future and state the odds of them happening.
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Sheila Kanani answered on 18 Mar 2011:
Aw we kept getting asked about this 🙂
The thing is, no one can prove that the world won’t end right now really! We just don’t know for sure.
We are pretty sure the world won’t end for another 5 billion years though.
The whole 2012 thing comes from the Mayan calendar.
Their calendar finishes on the 21st December 2012, or the winter solstice 2012.
This is because all their calendars were based on what the Sun was doing, so it makes sense that a date that sticks out for them is the winter solstice.
Now the way they did their calendar system was by ‘calendar cycles’ and these were called K’atuns. A k’atun or k’atun-cycle is a unit of time in the Maya calendar equal to 20 ‘tuns’ or 7,200 days.
The end of the k’atun was marked by numerous ceremonies or the age of rulers. Those who lived to see four (or five) k’atuns would take the title 4-(or 5-)k’atun lord.
December 21st 2012 is the end of a k’atun cycle, but by no means is it the end of the world. When one k’atun ends, another starts.
The idea that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 has been taken up by ‘scare mongerers’ and they’ve twisted it to be ‘the end of the world’.
So you should do you homework and study hard, because the end of the world will not happen in 2012!! -
Suzie Sheehy answered on 18 Mar 2011:
Well here’s a funny one. My network blocked your question because it said it was “violent” and maybe it is! I emailed IT support though and they seem to be letting me through now, so I can answer.
I can’t prove that the world won’t end in 2012. No one can PROVE it! But I think it is really really *REALLY* unlikely that the world is going to end in 2012. People keep saying this because it’s the end of the Mayan ancient calendar, but think about it: they thought the world was flat. They thought everything revolved around the Earth. They thought lots of things that we know not to be true, so why should we think that just because their calendar runs out it’s the end of the world?
Besides, if the world does end we’ll never probably know about it anyway… so we needn’t worry 😉
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