I missed your last try on the theme. I have no idea what happened to deserve a lock, but I also have no idea how you expect to have a discussion about what little we know about Maya calendars without discussing religion. Their calendar systems were a fascinating integration of religious belief and astronomical observation.

Re the whole the-world-is-ending-now thing, that seems to be a recurring social phenomenon that is sometimes, but not always, connected to calendar systems. Mostly, it seems like people who live more than a couple-few decades can get very weary of (and/or worried about) change. Sufficient change = end of 'the world as I know it,' hence the ability of individual doomsayers to get crowds to join them in freaking out about how everything is so different that it all must be over soon.

The world will not end in 2012, because I had a vision that I will die at the age of 37, which means the world still exists at least to 2017.

(See what I did there?)

As for the Mayans, maybe they just ran out of space or got tired or writing? Simply enough, you can't expect them to make a calendar that goes on forever, they had to stop somewhere and so it happens to be 2012... a random, meaningless date.

I agree too.

Storm, a slight reference is one's religion is not forbidden I presume. Just delete the troll's posts, and that's all.

So let me express my views on the subject.

The world is not going to end in 2012, simply because you cant rely on an extinct civilization's calendar, who I admit, they were maybe, the greatest civilization and culture on the humankind history. But you cant say that simply because they didn't make a calendar that lasts forever, that the world will last as long as the calendar Thats ridiculous!

Lets just say, that I am an engineer, and I decide to build my own custom car. I use the best materials and alloys, and a Dodge Viper's engine. But unfortunately, I only have a speedometer of a Ford Mustang, and goes up until only 110 miles per hour.

"Bummer! oh well, I will use that, i got no other choice". So my car can go as fast as 200 miles per hour, but the meter can only show up to 110 mph. Does that mean that it cant reach a speed faster than 110 mph?

Oh course not.

There, I just proved that Maya's calendar doesn't define when the world ends. Unless people suggest that it is a magical calendar, that shows the future

But that's not the only reason, I reject the 2012 doomsday.

I am a skepticist myself, meaning that every "open-minded" theory I don't believe, until there is proof of it.

UFOs = non-existent for me (I have many reasons for this)

Ghosts = nonexistent

etc

What I think is this:

It is fact, that many international companies, like big shot Banks, and computer companies, possess a lot of the world's wealth. Now, every doomsday theory, that goes international wide spread known, is pretty good for all the rich in the world, including these companies. Why, you may ask?

Because when people truly believe that the world is going to end soon, they are living their lives as best as they can, meaning = spending money. Those with power (politicians and such), those with wealth (company owners), and the "strong" people of the world, want nothing more, than people spending their money.

The global wealth is like an old scales , when the poor lose money, it all goes UP, not down. And so the 1 side gets heavier and heavier with wealth, and that is why there is a global financial "crisis".

Its all a big, very well thought propaganda. I know, that you will say I am imagining schemes and plots, but these are my beliefs on the subject, and I am sure that some people in the world agree with me. All that someone needs to do, is start out a rumor, then "invent" some sort of "proof", like the Maya calendar, and then the rumor can turn into a big theory, that many people WILL believe, and every time this happens, some people WILL believe it, because there is something in all of us, that makes us create something fictional and exciting, scary but big and unique, like the end of the world for example.

All these movies that each show a soon-to-come end of the world? Some people thought of a story, the story turns into a movie, and the movie proves that human imagination can not be only wild (just think of the Greek Olympian Gods, very interesting and exciting Mythology), but also realistic and terrifying, like the end of the world, which is inevitable, but nobody can predict when it will come.

The earth is but a small little piece of a galaxy, and our galaxy is but a very small piece of the universe. We can be hit by a meteorite at any minute, yet this is so difficult and extremely rare to happen, that is like trying to hit a hair with a 9mm gun from 10 miles away. A lunatec may decide he wants the world to end, and somehow launch missiles to US and Russia, causing the typical, "Nobody knows where its coming from" theory, so the 2 most powerful nations in the world bomb each other with nukes, ending the world for good. The USA alone, has enough power to destroy the world many times over.

Yet all these events are so random and improbable to happen, that you can never know when the end of the world will come, unless scientists manage to catch a good look at an incoming meteorite, or the ecologists accurately predict when the global warmth destroys the ecosystem, and eventually end life. But still, these predictions, vary by years or even Decades.

Just think that the nearest galaxy is 2.5 million light years away!!! And we can see as far as a few hundred years away. So even if scientists can predict  when a meteorite will hit the earth (if this happened), it would be an estimate of X-Z years.

Besides my religion (christian orthodox) does not consider the Maya calendar as a valid one. That may be irrelevant of course, because we cant take religious things like that by letter, meaning that there may be many people in my religion, who might believe the 2012 theory. But I am just saying this as a reference.

That said, if somewhere in the Bible was mentioned that the world WILL end indeed in 2012, I would still not believe it because...of all the reasons I mentioned above. Nothing is absolute for me, I think I need both religion AND science. Some people want 1, for example being 100% religious, while others might not believe in anything and take science for granted, disregarding every religion there is. I am somewhere stuck in the middle, not too religious, but not the opposite either.

These are my thoughts on almost everything that has to do with doomsday theories, including the 2012 one.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are not asleep by now!!!

(He mentioned Christianity, he mentioned religion. OMG!!!! )  (Trolls, are you ready? OK. Ready, Set, GO!)

I knew someone would say that.

I am not absolute with the whole "don't believe things without proof" thing, meaning that something more...believable (couldnt find a better word for it) I may believe it, as a theory of course. I just find this to make a lot of sense to me, and explain many things that happen around the world.

Why do you think people say that the world is controlled by those with power?

p.s. I am surpised someone took the time to read my post. If I was bored, and saw someone post this, I wouldnt bothered to read it, lol. You know sometimes I get really extremely lazy. Now I feel I can write a book, LMAO.

Nice research Altaux Finally, something solid, besides theories. And scientists agree with this, or is it just the Maya?

I do physics in college so I have been researching the galaxy for a while, but i did not know our solar system would be moving into the Galactic equator until today ummm yesterday. Quite frankly while I remain on the side that says the world won't end I now understand why they say it. Galactic Equator is basically a beg rift in the galaxy spanning the entire galaxy. Its called the dark rift as it consists of the least stars.

The truth about the Mayan Callender is that it wasnt for spiritual reasons the calender ended, but at the same time it was. The dark rift is viewable from Earth, and the mayans were active astronomers. They were able to calculate when the Earth would move through the Rift. They believed passing through this rift will result in some drastic change spiritually in life hence they wouldn't be 'Mayans' so a mayan calender made no scence.

The rest of this is purely speculation.

While it is not know what exactly lies at the centre of the galaxy scientists know it is something very dense with a strong gravitational pull a light cant escape from it.( hence we cant view it) While Xer0 is the black hole expert on the forums i can only assume as the scientists has that it is a large black hole at the centre. What happens when pass through this rift is we may feel the full effects of the pull of this black hole un protected due to the lack of matter in the rift.

This is all very interesting RAWRRR

I didnt even know that the SM Black Hole was so close to our Solar System. I didnt read the stuff written here http://www.israelect.com/reference/Wesle… but I dont believe they met this "god". I assume that god was someone or something they saw as god?

Anyway, our world IS indeed changing, I agree with this, and it seems like we are in a transitional phase, but the question still stands:

How did people interpret the calendar of maya, as a prediction of that the world will end (2012)?

Yes, and that is why we have created many possible doomsday scenarios. From possible ones, like Armageddon, to nearly impossible ones, like being consumed by a SM black hole.

People not only fear the end of the world, but are also fascinated and awed by it.

Tha mayas did spoke of an anniversary of one of thier leaders (or Gods, don't recall) back when ther calendar was made.

That's in, in our time, the year 3000.  so no, the world won"t blow up, it'll just be the marking of an astrological moment than some world wide catastrophe.

But to play Devil's advocate, the calendar's good for 3000 years...and didn't Atlantis sunk some 3000 years ago?

Nothing much really...history began 35000 years ago (history as in, when Man "invented" writting as we know it, Mesopotamia and such, prehistory being before that)

Got to look that info up.

Still Atlantis sunk what now..5000 years ago?

Oh...well that sinks my idea then (har-har-har)

Well..what happend some 5125 years ago then, when the last long cycle began?..Or 25 000 years ago..got to look that up..later I"m at work now.

Just found 2 major disasters that match up to the 26,000 year cycle.....

Lake Taupo Eruption 26,500 years ago

Lake Toba eruption ..approximately 75,000 years ago... that one killed off 60% of human population.

So maybe there won't definitley be a world ending disaster but maybe when we are near this part of the cycle the chance of geological catastrophe is higher.

This is a little off topic but why do people choose to live below volcanos or near fault lines? If there is any gravitational effects due to the alignment, these places will feel the greatest effect. I am happy to live on the Great Canadian Shield and well above sea level. I might be thought of as an ass but will not feel much sympathy for California when it sinks. C'mon your living on a bomb and educated enough to know unlike some under developed countries where they are not educated and farm where farming is best.

One thing a global event might do is unite the human race or turn us into animals. I do hope it is unite. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as separate nations and more as a global village. What a united human race can accomplish is staggering. By ourselves we can't even make fire.