Thread: 2012

According to the ancient Maya culture, there is an important celestial cycle that runs 1,872,000 days (or roughly 25,625 years). This cycle was so central to their timekeeking that their Long Count calender in fact corresponds to the last fifth of it's period, the last day being December 21, 2012. There has been a lot of speculation about the significance of the cycle, but most likely it corresponds to the solar system's crossing through the plane of the galactic equator. The Mayans made several references to a 'spike of energy' originating from the center of the galaxy at this apex (interestingly, they were somehow aware of the fact that we orbit the Milky Way!), which could cause the sun to glow brighter, among other things. It's possible, I suppose, but then considering the shear magnitude of the galaxy, we are already so close to the juncture that we would probably be able to detect to some degree these changes already, wouldn't we? What do you think?

Originally Posted by Sebastiani

(interestingly, they were somehow aware of the fact that we orbit the Milky Way

Yeah, the aliens explained a lot to us while they were building the pyramids among other things.

My opinion is that we don't understand nearly as much as we think we do. Like those centuries before us who thought they had it all figured out and thought they had the proof to back it up... we can be wrong about almost everything we think we understand. All you need is something wrong in the foundation and then everything that's evolved from that would have to make sense.

2012 is a bunch of fiction.

The year 2012 will simply be the end of the current baktun in the Mayan calendar, and the start of a new baktun. This happens roughly every 400 years (394.3 to be exact). It's essentially like a Mayan new years celebration event except it's a new-400-years event.

Originally Posted by DavidP

The year 2012 will simply be the end of the current baktun in the Mayan calendar, and the start of a new baktun. This happens roughly every 400 years (394.3 to be exact). It's essentially like a Mayan new years celebration event except it's a new-400-years event.

We're gonna get soooo wasted.

That's nothing to get excited about. It's not like when the UNIX timestamp reached 123456789 or anything.

Nah, the Vermanii fleet arrives in 2011, not 2012. By 2012 they will have cleansed orbital object 23R-4782 and it will be ready for seeding with new biomes.

BTW I got my CDL permit today, I'm getting my hazmat endorsement tomorrow Imagine me driving a 40 ton death machine filled with lethal chemicals down the highways of america, YEEEEHAWWWWWW!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnRwQjTYfGI

Originally Posted by cpjust

That's nothing to get excited about. It's not like when the UNIX timestamp reached 123456789 or anything.

It reached 1234567890.

Originally Posted by Bubba

I think most of us are so bored that many of us sit around thinking up new ways that civilization will destroy itself.

I say its 100% bogus. Like I'm gonna listen to some ancient culture that practiced human sacrifice and did not have half the mathematics we have today. Complete and utter nonsense propogated by television channels that are more concerned with making a buck on hype and fear than broadcasting true scientific programs. Real science, if I recall, is far less dramatic than television.

Yeah.

I totally freaked out and forgot 2012 when I found out the polarity of the earth is reversing soon:
Grand Unification: Earth's Flipping Magnetic Polarity
NOVA | Magnetic Storm | When Compasses Point South | PBS
Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field
Sometime duration the transition we may lose our main sheild from cosmic radiation for a while -- now is the time to invest in solar power.

Originally Posted by Bubba

I think most of us are so bored that many of us sit around thinking up new ways that civilization will destroy itself.

I say its 100% bogus. Like I'm gonna listen to some ancient culture that practiced human sacrifice and did not have half the mathematics we have today. Complete and utter nonsense propogated by television channels that are more concerned with making a buck on hype and fear than broadcasting true scientific programs. Real science, if I recall, is far less dramatic than television.

Typical cultural arrogance. The Mayans were neither barbarians nor mathematically illiterate. Their society was and is quite sophisticated, in fact. My first girlfriend was Mayan and her family still practiced many of the traditions (except sacrifice, I think). I gained some perspective in the workings of the culture and was actually very impressed with their level of social grace and refinement. Their mathematics may not have been quite as sophisticated as ours is today, but was hardly primitive. Using simple methods (that could be taught to a preschooler, by the way) they were able to manipulate extremely large numbers quite easily. Their astronomical knowledge was extensive. They understood that the earth was a sphere and that it circled the sun, that the sun was a star, and many celestial cycles to a high degree of precision. As a people, they seem to be embrace a peaceful, joyful, and helpful attitude, as a whole, which I find quite refreshing. Another interesting thing (if not unnerving to my European sensibilities) is how much freedom their children are given. For example, it isn't uncommon to see a 6 year old helping out in the kitchen with the job of cutting the vegetables (with a very sharp knife)!

I wan't implying an end-of-the-world scenario, either - just that there may be some cosmic significance to the cycle. But yeah, the more I research it, the more it seems that some of the claims may have been fabricated by New Age wierdos.

> I wan't implying an end-of-the-world scenario, either - just that there may be some cosmic significance to the cycle.
Nope. Still a big crock, sorry!

> They understood that the earth was a sphere and that it circled the sun, that the sun was a star, and many celestial cycles to a high degree of precision.
And NASA still gets it wrong, even with their trillions of dollars of stuff.

Speaking of which, I wonder how zacs7 is doing on counter earth.

Typical cultural arrogance....I gained some perspective in the workings of the culture and was actually very impressed with their level of social grace and refinement.

Comparing the modern Maya culture to the one we are talking about is ignorance.

Using simple methods (that could be taught to a preschooler, by the way) they were able to manipulate extremely large numbers quite easily.

I doubt pre-school math would help you create a calendar and even if it did I'm not going believe pre-school math when it comes to the end of the world. Predicting cycles based on what you
observe over a few years is not rocket science but predicting those cycles far into the future means that even a small error becomes enormous when stretched over time.

So since you equated the math of the day to our current pre-school math and since said math predicts the end of the world then you are saying that a pre-schooler could predict the end of the world. Nice. Also one more reason not to believe the calendar is you said that it essentially boils down to math that a pre-schooler could understand so you just by your own admission stated that the Mayan calendar was not all that advanced compared to modern day calendars.

There are also those studying the calendar that say the end is not predicted by the calendar but that was simply where the calendar ended which was taken by others to mean the end of time itself when in reality it was probably something far less nefarious.