I have no debatable proposition, but I do have a debatable question: Why do we want the apocalypse?
We, regardless of if we are religious or not, seem to be fascinated by the idea of the “End of the World!”. Think about how popular the idea of zombies have been. The Walking Dead only works as a TV show because it is set after the apocalypse. Alien invasion movies and TV shows are the same way. The Day the Earth Stood Still touched on the end of us decades ago. We are fascinated by the end of our civilization. Why?
And before you answer, remember that you are somewhat fascinated, too. I know plenty of people who scoffed at y2k, I scoffed myself, but I don’t know anybody who didn’t entertain the thought that maybe…
Edited to add: It’s 2012: Mayans say it’s the end of the world. I’m getting my zombie kit ready. Are you?
Have you noticed that in every apocalyptic novel/film/TV show/episode of Sesame Street, there are still some humans left, often desperately fighting off the extinction of humanity? This is because much as in the associated science fiction genre, apocalyptic fiction seeks to explore the human condition by stripping it bare: putting humans in an extreme and/or highly unusual environment and seeing how they react.
We are also fascinated by this genre because many, if not most people wonder at one time or another what life would be like if everything went completely to hell.
That’s pretty much the crux of my question. Why, though?
Most of it is, “could I survive a Roland Emmerich movie?”, that’s true. But my question is a little deeper than that. Why does the world have to go to shit? In these fantastical scenarios it does, but why?
My nearest guess is that it is an extremely selfish daydream. If everybody else is dead, then I can shine.
Well you’ll notice in most post-apoc fiction the protagonists not only did not cause the end of the world, but they are usually not even part of the ruling or powerful class that did. I don’t think seflishness enters into it.
I suppose at least a few Christians “want” it, because it would prove, once and for all, that their religion was correct, true, and proper.
(Although that’s a little like a global climate change scientist “wanting” massive sea-level rises! Getting to say, “See, I told you so!” is a damn paltry reward, sometimes.)
Well, I at least don’t want the apocalypse, and I’m not fascinated by it. I can’t stand dystopian fiction, which seems to be so much in vogue nowadays. Why would we want to imagine a horrible future?
I’ll (for once) go easy on humankind and say that scenario-mapping is a hardwired survival strategy. Preparing for the extreme worst increases your chances of passing on your genetic material by some nonzero amount. Apocalyptic fiction is a way of allowing our minds to game out such scenarios (“What would I do if every restaurant was Taco Bell?”).
In my opinion is that it would not be boring. And secondly, all the beaurcratic bullshit you have to put up with day in and day out would disappear. I can see the appeal.
Our culture is based on the idea of narratives. We’ve been enculturated in the idea that stories have beginnings and endings. (Admittedly, the individual experience of birth and death reinforces this idea.) So we invent stories about how the universe/the world/mankind began and how they will end.
Even though my life is comfortable, it’s boring. It’s predictable. Sometimes I don’t feel like anything is real; I’m just going through the motions of an elaborate computer program. I’m just a pixel in a giant image…one that is barely moving.
The end of the world? Society crumbling around me? You mean I don’t have to shave my legs anymore or wear deodorant? Where do I sign up!
Of course, I know intellectually it would not be fun at all to live during the endtimes. I am no Serena from 28 Days Later or Tina Turner from Mad Max. My sister and I worked it out one day. We estimated that it would take one week of no electricity and no government for people to turn into raping and pillaging monsters. We both want to be dead when that moment comes.
Tomorrow, you will have to get up before you want to and deal with your usual morning-chores and then drive in rush-hour traffic to work at some job you got sick of years ago to earn not quite enough money to cover your rent/mortgage/bills. And then spend the weekend recuperating with dull, industry-canned “pleasures”. And then start the same thing over again on Monday.
Unless some apocalyptic disaster happens.
And no matter how horrible it is, and even if you have no realistic hope of living through it yourself, some little part of you will be going, “Oh, thank God!”
The Mayans made no such claims. The current Mayan Long Count resets at the end of this calendar year. In turn, that has been exploited to mean the Long Count actually ends. That is being further interpreted and exploited as meaning the end of the world.
For me, it’s the idea that in an apocalypse scenario, the disaster affects everyone. In my everyday life, my problems are my own. I can tell other people about them, but it’s still ultimately my own responsibility to deal with them. In an apocalypse, everyone can band together to face a common threat. For me, it’s the idea of everyone banding together that I like.
But that’s the thing, though. Why is the apocalypse so fascinating as a frontier? I daydream about it myself. I would kill the fuck out of some zombies. But I wonder… Shouldn’t I be daydreaming about walking on Mars?
The removal of societal contraints, the end of cubical purgatory, the fall of the rich and powerfull, redemption in the eyes of kids/ex’s/SO’s; you don’t see it till the 3rd reel, but it’s usually there.
There is a significant and growing subset of Christianity that has the ‘End Times’ as its focus.
Do not forget how many copies of the ‘Left Behind’ series have been sold.
To some people, the idea that these modern (evil) days are a sign of the return of Jesus is a good and satisfying belief. There are some who believe very devoutly that when the Rapture occurs, that they will not die but be ‘translated’ into their spirit forms. The idea of being on the winning side AND not having to die is a pretty powerful combination.