# The world ending in 2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543 "2009-09-10T11:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/21 "2009-09-11T11:20:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It means what it always means. That humans think of themselves as the world. Anything that happens matters only if it happens to them. There are no time zones in this thinking, no science, no technology, no larger worldview. To paraphrase Tip O’Neill, all religion is local. That’s why it’s impossible to persuade believers of a particular religion that their beliefs shouldn’t be imposed on others and why it’s impossible to convince believers of other religions to credit them with the same import. > > The 2012 myth is a religious belief. It needs to be tucked away in the same corner as creationism. You can’t ask logical questions about it. You can only believe or disbelieve. I do not believe in any so called prophet, some make a lucky guess and then someone later thinks the person has supernatural powers. I am just interested in how the world could said to end on a certain date when the dates are different in different time zones. Nostrodomus was in European time and the Mayans in yet a different time zone. Even cities like New York and California are different so midnight on the 21st in New York wouldn’t yet be midnight in California etc.. The Mayan civilization dissapeared so that could be why their calendar ended at that particular time. As for their telling of all the Historical events that was said to be in the phrophies were after the facts, so what good it did makes me wonder. ---
**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 11, 2009, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/22 "2009-09-11T11:37:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s not even that - it’s a bookkeeping glitch. The Mayan themselves didn’t believe that anything special happens in 2012, other that their calender rebooting. It’s worse than we thought. I’ve got a “Cool Cars” calendar from my local GoodYear that foretells the end of the world on December 31, 2009. Better get ready. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/23 "2009-09-11T11:50:14Z")
> [@EhhMon](#): > > The pyramids, all these ancient stone temples was a place of refuse. A place for inhabitants of the planet to go deep into the chasms of these monuments as a place of refuse to escape the upcoming cleansing of the earth. That’s trash talk. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/24 "2009-09-11T12:34:27Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > As I understand it, it’s only the Mayan Time Zone that will be destroyed in 2012. In 2013, the world wil be like a giant orange spinning in space with one segment missing. But… but won’t magma drip on the turtle supporting the world ? ---
**Author:** ![thegoodolddays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@thegoodolddays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thegoodolddays)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/25 "2009-09-11T12:43:29Z")
Indian legends, Maya, and other sources were mentioned. They all coalesce at 12/21/2012. I think I saw somewhere perhaps on internet that it happens at 11am Greenwich Mean Time. Which probably puts it at around 4am Chicago - not totally sure on that. Planets aligned was a big influence, per TV. Even some scientists are starting to pay attention to it to. Who knows? Maybe ‘The Shadow’ ? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/26 "2009-09-11T12:48:04Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > But… but won’t magma drip on the turtle supporting the world ? Don’t be silly, it’s juice juice juice all the way down ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/27 "2009-09-11T13:30:56Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Fuck that, 2525. But it’ll be alright; you ain’t gonna need your teeth, ain’t gonna need your eyes. I know that in the year 2525, three women have the will to survive. Fighting for a brand new day, nothing’s going to stand in their way. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/28 "2009-09-11T13:38:02Z")
> [@thegoodolddays](#): > > Even some scientists are starting to pay attention to it to. Name them. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/29 "2009-09-11T15:42:53Z")
I always figured the Mayan calendar makers just ran out of rock. I mean, every rock is of finite size, right? Which means it has to end somewhere. It has to have borders. You use the biggest freakin flat piece of rock you can get and then when you get to the outside edge… you have to stop. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/30 "2009-09-11T16:02:07Z")
_Even some scientists are starting to pay attention to it to_. Maybe social scientists examining the stupidity of crowds and the gullible. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/31 "2009-09-11T16:07:51Z")
I checked with the seventh son of a seventh son, and the world will not come to an end until the sun blows up four billion years from now, and maybe not even then. > [@jackdavinci](#): > > The Long Count was established to record times longer than 52 years Does this mean that Gene Tunney was never heavyweight boxing champion? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/32 "2009-09-11T16:11:19Z")
> [@thegoodolddays](#): > > Even some scientists are starting to pay attention to it to. Let’s look at the ‘science’, then. An ancient civilisation sets up a calendar (well done chaps!). For some reason, they make a ‘limit’ lasting several thousand years, after which the numbering restarts. People who believe in fairies, Creationism and Nigerian bank transfers think there must be something to it. Sadly there is no **evidence** for scientists to examine. Those Mayans forgot to tell us how the World ends. They neglected to say how they worked out the precise date. Where on earth would a scientist get data to analyse?! ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/33 "2009-09-11T16:37:25Z")
Thanks to **jackdavinci** for a great and informative post! That’s what GQ should be all about, right there. And yet, after that there are still people wandering in, telling us about how the world is going to end because of something they heard about on the teevee that one time… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/34 "2009-09-11T16:50:13Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I know that in the year 2525, three women have the will to survive. Fighting for a brand new day, nothing’s going to stand in their way. It actually depends on if man is still alive, and if woman can survive. Then they’ll be able to figure _something_ out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/35 "2009-09-11T22:28:51Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > I always figured the Mayan calendar makers just ran out of rock. I mean, every rock is of finite size, right? Which means it has to end somewhere. It has to have borders. You use the biggest freakin flat piece of rock you can get and then when you get to the outside edge… you have to stop. Good point. I surmised they were just tired of doing arithmetic, but it could be that they ran out of scratch paper, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/36 "2009-09-12T00:26:43Z")
> [@thegoodolddays](#): > > Even some scientists are starting to pay attention to it to. Yeah, social scientists studying why people believe such rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/37 "2009-09-12T11:50:06Z")
I think we can all celebrate on the 22d maybe that will put an end to all the speculating and the other nonsense…Of course if we are not here we won’t know will we? 🙂 Of course if we follow Nostradamus’s time and Europe and other countries that are on an earlier time zone we will get a day’s notice if they should disappear, we could always fly to Hawaii and even have an extra day…almost? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/38 "2009-09-12T11:57:03Z")
> [@Dr.Woo](#): > > Good point. I surmised they were just tired of doing arithmetic, but it could be that they ran out of scratch paper, so to speak. They used circles and they were cut, and worked like gears, they had several ways of time, some were based on a gestation period of nine months some different and their time was correct, but their calendar was different than the Europeans, but I think the people who deciphered their calender put it in our time, (not time zone). They were not using BC, AD,or BCE. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/39 "2009-09-12T12:08:47Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Let’s look at the ‘science’, then. > > An ancient civilisation sets up a calendar (well done chaps!). > For some reason, they make a ‘limit’ lasting several thousand years, after which the numbering restarts. > People who believe in fairies, Creationism and Nigerian bank transfers think there must be something to it. > > Sadly there is no **evidence** for scientists to examine. > Those Mayans forgot to tell us how the World ends. > They neglected to say how they worked out the precise date. > Where on earth would a scientist get data to analyse?! I do not remember the precise time but they did use a time in their life period. It went back to I believe(could be wrong on the date) about 1,500 years, they used the stars etc. The Mayan civilization disappeared about the time their calander ended, and the time had not yet come as they had predicted. But Nostradomus just used his own physic powers! 🙂 There are people who truly believe they were abducted by aliens too. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543/40 "2009-09-12T12:12:19Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Human beings have a deep need to feel that they are important, Unless we are the most sentient life form in the universe, in which case we are, and that’s not just anthropomorphising. > [@Quercus](#): > > and part of that is a desire to feel that they are making History. But for humans, there’d be no “history”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-ending-in-2012/509543.md?page=3)