So it is 2012. Well, has been for just over a month anyway. According to translation the Mayan Calendar ends this year. That has lead people to assume everything from "Well, they must have just figured that would be a good stopping point on the calendar" to "OH MY GAWD THE WORLD IS GONNA END IN DECEMBER!" I must admit, I'm somewhere in the middle with the "I don't really know what the hell it all means" group.
Here's the facts: The Mayans were a very sophisticated culture who created a 5,125 year calendar that ends on our December 21, 2012 (their calendar and what we think of as a calendar now were organized very differently). It is believed that they based theirs around the movement of celestial bodies (i.e. sun, moon, planets, stars, etc) and the end point marks some specific alignment or configuration.
We, as humans, took that information and came up with the most self-centered conclusion possible... the entire universe is just a big clock counting down to Earth's destruction. Now there are theories that there may be a 2nd Big Bang or something universally catastrophic but most theories revolve around Earth's doom. A planet destroying comet/meteor/gamma ray or collision with another planet or being eaten by a black hole. 7% of people asked in a recent survey even thought we could be living in Planet of the Apes in LESS THAN 25 YEARS!
I myself fall into the "not sure" category. A recent study actually found that 27% of people think SOMETHING will happen. I think something will happen but not from mystical magical forces. I think PEOPLE will happen.
The human race is prone to mass hysteria when "imminent doom" is approaching (anybody remember Y2K?). I hope I'm wrong but I'm expecting a good percentage of people will start to act crazier as the date approaches. Living in bomb shelters, looting and riots, etc.
Whether any world changing or ending event happens, I am more worried about what the world's reaction leading up to that will be.
