To quote from RationalWiki here... Ahem, this is gonna be a bit long:
To understand where this idea that the world will end comes from (or at least derive the date), we need to look at the three Mayan calendars that have inspired it. There are three Mayan calendars which are important here (we will ignore the Venus one):
* The 260 day long calendar called Tzolk'in, which is used for religious ceremonies and is divided into 20 weeks of 13 days. * The 365 day long calendar called Haab', which is used for planting crops. * The Long Count calendar.
Every 52 Haab', the Haab' and Tzolk'in begin on the same day. This is known as a "calendar round". The Maya named a day based on its position in both the Haab' and the Tzolk'in. As a result the Maya could only record dates for 18,980 days (about 52 years),[3] one for each day in the round, which should have seen the average Maya through most of their life. However, being extremely pedantic people, this wasn't enough days for the Maya, so they created the Long Count calendar.
The Long Count calendar counts the number of days since the creation as described by Mayan mythology on August 11, 3114 BCE, in base twenty, with two exceptions. The Maya were highly advanced mathematicians who used their toes when counting.
* August 11, 3114 BCE is 13.0.0.0.0 on the Long Count. * August 12, 3114 BCE is 13.0.0.0.1 * August 30, 3114 BCE is 13.0.0.0.19 * August 31, 3114 BCE is 13.0.0.1.0
The second number from the right, the uinal, only goes to 18. As 18 times 20 is 360 days, 0.0.1.0.0 or 1 tun represents approximately one year.[4] The fifth number or baktun, 1.0.0.0.0, is numbered 1 - 13 for no clearly obvious reason. Upon reaching 13.19.19.17.19, the calendar then ticks back over to 1.0.0.0.0.
The official use of this calendar began 7.13.0.0.0. December 20, 2012 CE will be 12.19.19.17.19 and December 21st 2012 CE will be (shock horror) 13.0.0.0.0 - the completion of one "Grand Cycle".
According to the Mayan creation myth, we are living in the "4th world". The third is said to have ended on 12.19.19.17.19, and likewise, according to the apocalyptomaniacs, will the fourth. This is the origin of the notion that something will end on this date.
The Maya themselves thought it was important enough to record events, such as eclipses, that would occur after December 21st 2012 CE, so they didn't seem worried. In fact, the Maya had a unit of time - the alautun - which corresponds to about 63 million years, or 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0 on the Long Count (told you they were pedantic). Other temple markings seem to indicate that this may be a short-hand version of the calendar, as at least one temple puts August 31, 3114 BCE as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0. If this number is days since the universe began, the Maya had a much higher estimate than what is currently agreed upon. (In case you haven't noticed yet, the Maya were dead keen on the numbers 13 and 20.)
Basically, if everything is fine on the morning of December 22nd, 2012, then we can finally put this nonsense to rest and go back to throwing wild parties. Interestingly enough, although not coincidentally, 11:11 December 21, 2012 UTC is when the Winter (or if you don't live on the Maya's side of the world, Summer) Solstice will occur; so you might want to have a quick look up at the sky at that point.
Ugh. Why this get's so much attention. The end of the world has been predicted over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. No one has been right. Surprise? Not really. Nothing is going to happen on December 21st 2012 except some idiots panicing.
2012 is also known as a date the singularity is going to happen. i.e. the time when all aspects of human development increase exponentially e.g. technology and social advancement etc
Personally... I will look forward to wait and see if we all die, if humans transcend our current state or if, like most birthdays, we all feel the darn same. Im not holding my breath.
Does anyone else see anything? I see a standard Icon (The AG shield with the stary backgroun) and 0 posts, with the name being an X for cannot place the img and a -, and I can see no previous comments as well.
i dont think anything will happen but i think many people will panic and do very unneceaary things. such as maybe kill themselves, or go hide somewhere idk but that seams very plausible
[quote]Yea, I don't believe in this nonsense at all. The Mayans got their **** ruined so they that cut off their culture. No calenders, no nothing.
yea they obviously werent smart enough to be around these days acept for a few people who have ancestors but the civilizations are gone so how could a civilization that wasnt even smart enough to survive predict something so complex?
yea they obviously werent smart enough to be around these days acept for a few people who have ancestors but the civilizations are gone so how could a civilization that wasnt even smart enough to survive predict something so complex?
Do you know nothing of history? They were wiped out mostly by sheer brute force - as for their intelligence? Many surviving examples of craftmanship (mostly ruins) suggest that they were exceedingly intelligent when it came to building things at least - not some primitive race.
