The world is going to end in 2051. How soon does society go to pot?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Some scientists discover through SCIENCE!!! that there will be a massive instantaneous event that will destroy all life in the Sol System. They have precisely narrowed the time to July 23, 2051 14:55:07 BST. Although the actual SCIENCE!!! that led them to the conclusion was difficult and time consuming, now the’ve discovered it, there’s an easy way to verify it that your average high school physics teacher will have no problem setting up.

Although governments tried to keep it under wraps, it has leaked out, and now virtually everybody knows about it. There’s no plausible way to stop it or ameliorate its effects. It will not have any effect at all until the exact second that it kills everybody. When does society collapse?

2

The people who’d be thrown into chaos don’t trust SCIENCE!!! anyway. But society may collapse by then anyway, for other reasons.

3

Is there a link to this calculation that virtually everyone knows about and high school physics teachers can fathom? Kept under wraps by all governments, amazingly, acting in concert? I seem to have missed it – I didn’t even know about whatsapp until I read it few minutes ago in another thread in this forum, so a few of us are still out of the social media science loop.

I guess what society will do it go back to the depository and get out all those signs that say “The End Is Near” and walk through the streets with them. Again.

4

If people believe there is no tomorrow eventually there is no point in going to work. I could have two years of living expenses saved up in a decade so '45 or so I’d quit working and do whatever I wanted. Some people will save up faster and some slower so there will be a bell curve around that but by the end of the fourties I doubt that anyone will be working any more.

5

Society would send a band of plucky heroes to overthrow the evil sorcerer and save the world. Because what you’ve described is sorcery, not science.

6

If nobody’s working there will be nothing to buy so your money will be worthless.

I reckon society will see an initial partial breakdown which will be ruthlessly suppressed and then a return to near-normality as governments announce research programs to avert the disaster.

I think that most people would be hopeful that a solution would be found.

7

The world’s going to end. Hey, pass me a joint (like you weren’t thinking the same thing?)

8

How so? How is “enormous space rock heading in this direction” sorcery?

9

It weighs more than a duck. Now, who are we going to burn?

10

Why don’t the options start before 2016?

11

Because even if Trump is elected, he won’t take office until January.

12

How much damage would a duck travelling at near-as-dammit light-speed do?

13

I have a feeling we would keep it together until the very end. My hope would be that rather than some more general panic that we would go out more Mad Max over each other. Heck, if you know there isn’t going to be any tomorrow it could be the “Fun Option”.

14

Even in the most chaotic of situations, people form cohesive social groups. The Mad Max scenario makes a good movie, but ignores basic human nature.

15

Is it an African or European duck?

16

Australian, of course.

17

The OP doesn’t say it’s a big space rock. In fact it says that all life in the Solar System will be wiped out, which a big space rock won’t do.

lots (substitute “duck” for “baseball” and the answer doesn’t change)

18

Gamma-ray burst?

19

That’s actually interesting and useful since it means that the Earth would be entirely unscathed by such an object arriving from space.

20

Well, except for where the duck hits, which is going to have a major nuclear explosion. But note that speed was only .9c. Up the speed of duck and the explosion gets bigger. Keep upping it and eventually it’ll punch a hole through the Earth’s crust and then things get much more interesting.