One of the students at the college where I work is convinced bad things are about to happen - soon!
He is heading off for Colorado this December.
Oh, the tales he can tell - did you know there were trains full of tanks and weapons and all kinds of US military hardware all being sent inland, knowing all coastal areas will be toast? As he said, “Just Google it!” (Because, as we all know, info from Google is ALWAYS correct…)
Did you know that the Web Bot has proven, without a doubt, that we are in for a huge catastrophe from December 2012 until at least March 2013 (or maybe even May 2013)?
He has secret info that NASA is in on it - they know what is going to happen! It might possibly be a huge meteor that will hit, causing a 5000 foot tidal wave, going over 200 miles per hour, that - yes - will destroy even Las Vegas! Get thee to higher ground! He seems to think Aspen is a good location, although I did mention it might be a tad pricey in ski season.
This guy is deadly serious - and I actually had fun listening to his dire predictions.
Just thought I would pass this along, in case any of you wish to gather your family, friends and belongings in a U-Haul and head to higher elevations this December. I figure you might make some extra money by designing feather down-lined tin foil hats for the others (it gets cold up there in December).
So, feel free to max out those credit cards - soon there ain’t gonna be any computers working to track you down for past-due payments. Get those Christmas gifts early and surprise the family with a winter holiday in the mountains, watching the Apocalypse with a nice mug of eggnog.
I don’t think that is within the realm of possibility. Any oceanographers can calculate that out for me? I have absolutely no idea how to do the math for something like that …
Our place is at 300 feet above sea level, and on the back side of the 3d or 4th set of hills away from the ocean. We are something like 35 miles inland, so from normal stuff we are pretty insulated. I think we actually calculated that if we huddled in the back corner of the bermed in section of our barn we would actually be fairly safe from the pressure wave of a bomb going off at the sub base for most things except the tsar bomba. Anybody have a link to the bomb calculator? I found this one but the math seems off.
Shouldn’t you have at least of titch of concern for this young man’s mental health? Were he my son, off at college, I would like to think someone would care enough to at least have pause.
Is there any way you can keep in contact with him, and tell us how he reacts when nothing happens? I’ve always wondered how these kinds of nuts explain themselves a year or so later. It seems like it would be awfully embarrassing.
Probably Nibiru. It’s one of the whackjob 2012 apocalypse beliefs.
BTW, I have to agree with the mention that you might want to check on how he’s doing. College/young adulthood is a very common time for schizophrenia to manifest itself, and stuff like this may well be a symptom of paranoia. (Either that or it’s a stunning lack of critical thinking skills, which is also worrisome but for other reasons.)
Agreed. While it can be amusing when someone says such ridiculous things, these kinds of comments could be a sign that this young man is descending into serious mental illness and needs help. If nothing else, I’d definitely contact the on-campus mental health services to let them know the kind of things he’s saying and see if they think they can do anything for him.
Before we get off on a tangent of this student being some young, un-diagnosed schitzophrenic…
I am guessing he is in his mid-30’s.
He was in the military (Army?). He does get VA benefits.
He is also (surprise, surprise) a staunch Republican who firmly believes Obama is the worst thing to ever happen to America.
So, he is no more/less of a nutcase than many a Tea Party member.
When he is not on his soapbox, wearing his tin foil hat, he is actually quite talented and funny…but then again, there is that slight tendency to be a heavy-duty conspiracy/doomsday theorist.
We’re having an Apocalypse Party in December to celebrate. I’m still gathering ideas for food/drink and costume ideas and appropriate post-apocalyptic films to watch. (Two items definitely on the list are a Mayan Temple Jello mold, and America 3000.)
Thanks for this. I get so sick of the cries of mental illness every time someone mentions crackpot theories around here. Heck, you wouldn’t believe the number of people who believe there is a magical, omnipotent long haired white guy who lives in the sky and lolls around on a throne in a city made of gold. Kinda makes the big wave seem almost plausible.
But you also hear cries of “Why didn’t anyone do anything?!” “Why didn’t anyone see the warning signs?!” when someone who is mentally ill does end up doing something violent. There’s also the far more common scenario of someone mentally ill hurting themselves either through suicide or not thinking clearly enough to take care of themselves - but generally people aren’t as outraged about that as they do about a mentally ill person shooting up a political rally/college campus/movie theater.
Sure, there are people out there who have odd beliefs yet are harmless and function normally, but there are plenty of mentally ill people out there too. When someone is acting strangely, it warrants some concern and investigation.
if there are mathematical calculations involved the bad prediction always gets explained by a rounding error and a new prediction is made for the future. why don’t rounding errors ever lead to past dates?
Someone thinks Obama is a Muslim? Yeah, that’s dumb. Not paranoid or delusional, just ignorant. Most people in mental health would also make a distinction for “strange” beliefs that are widely embraced in the person’s culture or community (hence why someone can have weird religious beliefs without being mentally ill).
Someone thinks NASA is involved in a conspiracy and is so convinced the world is going to end that they’re making life plans based on it? That’s getting into delusional territory. I doubt you’ll find that it is a normal belief even among many “Tea Party” people.
It’s possible that he is otherwise completely normal and healthy, but there’s a good chance that there is something wrong with the brain of someone who thinks that way, and it’s arguably cruel to make fun of someone who might be ill.
If anything, finding out he is a veteran makes me more concerned that he might have untreated mental health issues. Take a look at the statistics on military suicides, or try talking to a military psychiatrist about the pressures they have faced to keep guys in combat even when they were mentally on the edge. The trauma and stress of active duty military service could quite possibly contribute to pushing someone over the edge.
:dubious:
