# Do you believe the world will end in 2012? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020 "2011-09-29T15:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/21 "2011-09-29T17:13:24Z")
You mean on May 27th or December 21st? There’s two current end-of-the-world predictions for 2012 according to [this probably incomplete list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_predicted_dates_of_the_end_of_the_world_or_similar_events), also one’s still scheduled for later this year (October 21st). You gotta be more precise if you want to get accurate answers! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/22 "2011-09-29T17:23:28Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > OBVIOUSLY, nobody who’s a regular on the SDMB believes the world will end next year. That shouldn’t surprise anybody. > > What WOULD surprise countless SDMB regulars is how few devout Christians are worrying about the End. > > I sometimes wonder if apocalyptic nuts attract more attention from atheists who want to mock them than from the Christians the doomsayers are supposedly trying to appeal to. Well, it would really surprise me if devout Christians believed that the world was going to end based on a Mayan calendar… ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/23 "2011-09-29T17:27:58Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > What WOULD surprise countless SDMB regulars is how few devout Christians are worrying about the End. I spent a lot of time making a long drive through N. FL a few years ago to visit my gf every other weekend. There isn’t much on the radio besides NPR and varoius religious stations, so I listened to a decent amount of Christian radio, and a pretty sizable fraction of that was devoted to predictions about, speculation regarding and advice to prepare for a relatively imminent apocalypse. So while I’m sure its not a majority of Christians, there’s certainly a pretty sizable chunk that are fascinated with the rapture, Revelations, etc. Its not just athiests drawing attention to a couple fringe wackos. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/24 "2011-09-29T17:51:21Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You have been alive long enough to know a question with essentially a yes or no answer belongs in questions. Since when? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/25 "2011-09-29T18:05:32Z")
When the premise is faulty, so are the conclusions. It’s all bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/26 "2011-09-29T18:20:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > When the premise is faulty, so are the conclusions. It’s all bullshit. Unfortunately the bullshit won’t end in 2012, either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/27 "2011-09-29T18:20:45Z")
My understanding is that, much like the rapture movement among evangelical Christians, the notion of the world ending in 2012 isn’t even accurately stated as a prophecy, much less accompanied by anything resembling believable supporting information. I’ll stick with the conventional ‘swallowed by the sun when it becomes a red giant’ theory, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/28 "2011-09-29T18:24:55Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > You mean on May 27th or December 21st? … also one’s still scheduled for later this year (October 21st). October 21, 2011 and December 21, 2012 are both Fridays. Give me May 27, a Sunday, so I can at least enjoy the weekend before getting blown into oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/29 "2011-09-29T18:52:51Z")
I believe that this thread will be moved to IMHO before 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/30 "2011-09-29T19:01:22Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You have been alive long enough to know a question with essentially a yes or no answer belongs in questions. > It may be a poll question. From the description of In My Humble Opinion: “What’s your favorite …?” For frank exchanges of views on less-than-cosmic topics. **This is also the place for polling** Bolding added by me. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/31 "2011-09-29T19:21:49Z")
[bitchyangrymood] God, I hope so! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/32 "2011-09-29T19:48:22Z")
Nope…it’s not going to end in 2012. Coincidentally, I’ll be taking a long trip to the Himalaya’s for a nice boat trip next year, but it really has nothing to do with the supposed end of the world. [Charlie Frost](http://www.thisistheend.com/) is a nut…don’t listen to him… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/33 "2011-09-29T20:07:21Z")
The only person I know who’s convinced the world will end Dec. 21, 2012 also believes President Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii. Personally, I think there’s a bit of untranslated text at the bottom of the Mayan calendar that means “lather, rinse, repeat”. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/34 "2011-09-29T20:20:22Z")
Wait…are you saying that President Obama WAS born in Hawaii??? :eek: [QUOTE=Bri2k] Personally, I think there’s a bit of untranslated text at the bottom of the Mayan calendar that means “lather, rinse, repeat”. [/QUOTE] They thought of their calendar like an odometer…part of it is merely going to roll over in 2012. That should reset things to the first age and start the cycle again (like a lot of ancient peoples they saw time as cyclical). Or, perhaps ole Charlie has it right (interestingly enough, I was going to link to YouTube’s Charlie Frost animation, as I usually do in these threads…but every Charlie Frost link in YouTube seems suddenly to be broken. Coincidence??? :eek:) -XT ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/35 "2011-09-29T20:21:59Z")
Yes. Yes, it totally is going to end in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/36 "2011-09-29T20:28:42Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Does anybody buy this shit? I’m posting from the heart of Mayan civilization: They don’t. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/37 "2011-09-29T20:56:04Z")
This is no more ridiculous than the belief in God, angels, heaven, hell, miracles, original sin, and a whole lot of other things so-called “normal” people believe in every day. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/38 "2011-09-29T21:15:46Z")
[moderating] Thread moved to IMHO [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/39 "2011-09-29T21:19:00Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Pretty simple. The TV is full of TV shows from Mayan Calendars to shows that claim ancient prophets saying the world will have a cataclysmic end next year. > Does anybody buy this shit? Is someone on the DOPE running scared? I think I speak for the overwhelming majority of Dopers when I answer your question with [this cartoon](http://www.manyofone.com/mediac/400_0/media/Mayan~Calendar~Cartoon.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020/40 "2011-09-29T21:26:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I believe that this thread will be moved to IMHO before 2012. [Quote=Gary “Wombat” Robinson] [moderating] Thread moved to IMHO [/moderating] [/quote] _Prostrates self in awe and terror_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-the-world-will-end-in-2012/598020.md?page=3)