There are numerous theories floating around about the date December 21st, 2012 A.D., which the Ancient Mayans chose as the end of their Long Count calendar. Ancient Mesoameri people were skywatchers and they were able to pinpoint a winter solstice far off into the future, December 21st 2012 could it be the end of the world as we know it, or just another hoax? Can i hear some thoughts, Peace in the middle east
How about this. It is a significant astronomical event, when the sun lines up with the center of the galaxy at midday for the first time in millenia. It is a good stopping point for a calendar.
Why would you consider some ancient Mayan theories in the same league as modern science? There's no scientific reason to believe that the earth, or life on it, will be destroyed anytime in the next billion years, let alone the next ten. If we humans become extinct, it'll be because of our own technology, not because of a Mayan theory. No, the world will not end on December 21, 2012. I'll give you 1,000,000 to 1 odds on that. But I guess you wouldn't be around to collect if you're right.
One reason might be that when the Mayan calculation of the mean distance between the earth and moon was first deciphered in the 60's, scientists were amazed how close it was to ours. In the 70's when we put a reflector on the moon and bounced a laser off it, lo and behold, they were closer than we were.
I'm the first to admit that the Mayans had good science...but it just can't compete with what we know today. Remember, that just because they succeeded on measuring the distance from the earth to moon doesn't mean that they're any more intelligent or capable than anyone else. Albert Einstein revolutionized the scientific world, but it would be silly to accept everything he said as gospel. The same applies for the Mayans.
I would never accept everything they wrote as gospel? What led you to thinking I did. Their knowledge is mostly a lost mystery. We have very little of their texts left, since the conquest of central america included burning most of the books. But, their 13 month calendar is more efficient and practical than ours is, and the little bits we do have show that they were very astronomically advanced. I also never said they are more intelligent than anyone, and even if they were, remember Hitler was a genius level IQ, so intelligence counts for little to me. The most interesting thing to me, about the Mayans, Olmecs, the Egyptian Pyramids, the Peruvian monoliths, etc. is that the ones that are the oldest show they were at there highest technological level at the start. Does that make sense to anyone here? To me, it only does if they were the culmination and final accomplishments of a lost civilization. And I feel we are getting very close to learning how they did it. Ed Leedskalnin figured it out, so we should be able to.
Do you honestly think the leading scientist would be like "Well, we're all gunna die in 2012." That wouldn't give anyone much incentive to obey the law. There would be chaos. So yea, you go ahead and believe scientists would tell everyone we only have 8 years left.
or how about terence mckenna who calculated the exact same date using the I-ching? which was developed on the other side of the world as the mayans, I don't know what year the mayans developed there calender but I believe the Iching was something like 2500 years ago.......
What? Since when is it the job of scientists to get people to obey the law? That post made no sense whatsoever.
I don't know if you were replying to my post, but mine is the one right before yours, so I am assuming that you were. I don't believe we have 8 years left at all, just that we are nearing some major change in our reality globally. It is just in time, if it does happen, and I also don't think scientists are purposefully hiding anything. They just do not believe the same as I do, and do not see the evidence the same way as me.
The Mayans likely adopted their calendar from an earlier civilization, of which we know virtually zip. The start date of the calendar is August 31, 3113 BC, I believe, but could be wrong. It does not surprise me if the IChing can also produce that date, since I have seen thousands of pages of evidence of a prehistoric planet wide advanced civilization.
i thought 2012 was a turning point in the world, sordove like a great awakening, i'm not very informed on the subject though
Ypu can say alot about the Maya, but you've got to hand it to them: they knew a hell of a lot about stars. For instance, they calculated the exact duration of a year to a thousandth of a decimal point, much more precise than any Greek or enlightened philosopher ever did. Also, they were able to predict every solar and lunar eclipse until this day. And obviously, they knew where the galactic equinox and the exact middle of the Milky Way lay: they called this crossing `the Sacred Tree'.More disturbing, the Maya's were awfully good at astrology, too. Mysteriously, they predicted in what year their civilization would be overrun by foreigners coming from over the seas. Legend has it they even predicted the world wars. So if a Maya tells you the world will end in 2012, you'd better take it seriously. But Actually the Maya's never predicted anything concrete about 2012. That may have something to do with our ill knowledge about Maya culture: when the Spanish ransacked the land, they burnt literally every Maya book they could find. Only a handful of scriptures survived. And in them, there's no clue about what happens when the Maya calendar ends. So what awaits us in 2012 basically is an open question. And as with so many open questions, countless doom preachers, semi-prophets and other crackpots pop up to provide an answer. The interpretation you hear most: 2012 will mark the coming of a new, glorious age of wisdom and peace. It will be Age Of Aquarius at last, with a world full of peace, love and understanding. The reasoning behind this is not that stupid, though. The Maya's didn't really believed in endings: their conception of time was circular, with every end being the beginning of something new. So, 2012 won't be an exception. Also, the Maya's had a highly developed philosophy of the cosmos. They saw the cosmos as the true mother of things. Consequently, the Maya's thought the cosmos is all around us, and within us. Every plant, every animal, every man is sheer Cosmos. So New Age philospers said, December 21st 2012 will be the day on which this inner cosmos is reconnected to the divine outer cosmos. The Sun will mount its unique position to form a `gateway' between the Universe and the souls of every living creature on Earth. Our linear conception of time will crumble, and with it, fear and hatred will vanish. It will be purification at it's very best, when everyone is soaked in cosmic understanding and divine love.
Heh, I bet if the guy who wrote the Mayan calander could be asked why it ended where it does, he'd just be like "Well shit, it was thousands of years ahead of us, and and I was tired of counting, goddam it! I figured someone else could continue it in the future. I mean, hey, I have a family to support, crops to tend to. It just seemed like a good time to stop."
*crowd is silent, everyone looks around at each other doubtfully* "ahem...uh...and, weed and booze for all!" *crowd roars in joy*
Saying "it was aliens" devalues the intelligence of the people who did these things. Why shouldn't they be able to do calculations, or move rocks, on their own? Even 5,000 years ago, humans were humans, with the same capacity for intelligence, reason, and creative thinking that we all have today. Just because they weren't dependent on technology doesn't mean they were stupid.
