12.21.12: End of Days?

I attended Dr. Edwin Barnhart's lecture about the misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar.

His first slide began with the statement, "everybody loves an apocalypse."

He explained that every generation has predicted the coming of the end of the world. This tablet shows that the end was predicted in 2800 BC, but it still has not happened. So what would make 2012 the special year?

He debunked the common theories of how the earth is going to end. The most common theory I have heard, is the flipping of the magnetic poles that will cause the earth to flip upside down. Dr. Barnhart explained that the poles have switched before and will switch again, however, it does not flip the earth, only the magnetic fields. If the poles were going to switch it would be a gradual event. He also discussed solar flares. There has been proof that solar flares can affect our electronics. He discussed other various theories. He concluded by stating that everything would have to be just the right circumstances happening at all the same time to cause any real cataclysmic event.

Only one Mayan tablet even has the year 2012 in it. This tablet was written by a boy who was basically playing a numerical coincidence game. The tablet was corroded on the edges, so the only tablet that contains the year 2012 is illegible on some parts. In addition this tablet was sold from a museum to a private seller. No one knows who has the tablet or where it's at.

 The Mayan calendar cycles were really confusing. I learned that the Mayan people were great numerologists. They had cycles for the planets, the seasons, and other various things. I learned about bak'tuns, which is 400 years. Every 13 bak'tuns the Mayan calendar flips, and the Maya would move or disappear. The 13th bak'tun falls on 12/21/12. Many people have published books about the world ending on 12/21/12 without any scientific research. Archeologist's are not even sure the calendar flips at 13, it could possibly flip at 20, which would be many centuries from now.

There is no real proof that the end of the world is on 12/21/12.

I found it quite interesting that in the last couple of years attendance to this lecture has risen. Dr. Barnhart said that an average of 12 people would come to his lecture and in the past couple of years he has seen attendance reach well over a thousand people at some locations. I feel like the Mayan calendar systems are very different from our culture, but I feel that the idea of 12/21/12 being the end of the world is part of our culture as well. We've incorporated it into our movies, books and discussions. It is a topic that a lot of people are interested in, why? Perhaps everyone does love an apocalypse. I expected there to be a lot of evidence showing that there was in fact something happening on 12/21/12, but there wasn't. With everything that has been said and published, I thought for sure their work was based on some clear factual evidence. I believe the main anthropological idea I received from this lecture was that different cultures have different concepts of time. It's hard to imagine a culture that doesn't follow our calendar system, it's even more complicated to have ten or more regular calendars. Everyone and every culture is different in some way.