Its the end of the world!!!(part 1)
Now that exams are over I have too much spare time, here is something I did after getting some inspiration from the 21 december 2012-end of the world...thread:
On average, life is just so mundane. People's daily routine usually consists of waking up, getting ready, working for 2 hours, wasting time for 6 hours and then coming home to watch some Eastenders on the telly. It is no wonder we long for something else, an event so great that it has the power to wipe out mankind.
There are religious and scientific reasons for why people believe in Doomsday. I'm not here to assess how feasible they are(well maybe a little) but rather to list 8 types of apocalypses I really like:
1-Meteor
Yah, its that thing we believe killed the dinosaurs. Obviously the people directly under and very close kick the bucket before they can finish saying “WHAT THE F...”
With the people far away its a more delicious matter. The impact of a really big meteor will alter the composition of the atmosphere, the air might become toxic and it may turn dark which is a plus for light sensitive people until they find out that plants need light to live so unless the skies clear quickly, chances are that we will starve to death.
Why people believe in this:
In a meteor shower, we see very small dots moving really quickly across the sky. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that really small far away things are the same as really near big things. It's also easy to understand that something moving really fast hits a lot harder than something going slow(try it: grab a bullet and chuck it at your friend with your hands, then do the same but shoot it from a pistol instead). Then when people connect the dots and try to think of what would happen if a really fast, really big thing like the one they just saw in the sky were to hit the earth; they begin to panic.
Another reason comes from movies like Armageddon or Deep end and lets not forget how scared we got during those months leading up to comet shoemaker levy 9's imminent collision with Jupiter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker-Levy_9
2- Super pandemic
Popular opinion is that viruses are killer parasites who would hold your grandma at gun point and rob your shoes if given the chance. The reality is that viruses lose when they kill too quickly because they need time to spread and enjoy themselves in someone else's body before moving to someone else when he/she dies. They do mutate quite quickly though so there is some chance that one species will get the ability to spread like wildfire and painfully kill everyone nearby.
Ever since we invented planes, everyone goes everywhere whenever. A super virus could infect an unsuspecting victim who would travel to an airport infecting everyone else there. The other people infected would then travel to different countries and before we know it, the virus is in every city of the world. Sure Gilligan, Skipper, Ginger and Mary Ann might never find out people are dying away from the island and sure some of us will turn out to be immune to it but that's not very encouraging to the 10 survivors of the 26000 people city.
Why people believe this:
Because it seems like it could totally happen tomorrow. We've had a few scares in the past with SARS and Bird Flu, why just a few years ago actual politicians here in the UK were practically saying that we were all doomed over the news.
Oh and lets not forget that little incident with the Spanish flu which nearly killed 100 million people back in 1918.
3- God(s)
Depending on who you ask there is one or many Gods, some Christians believe in revelation with the coming of the anti-christ and the judgement of all men by God. Zororoastrian's apocalypse involves a meteor called Gochihr and lots of lava. Norse mythology have Ragnarok which is IMO the most awesome apocalypse apart from the fact that only 2 people are scheduled to survive it. The Aztecs believed had a god called Nanahuatzin who sacrificed himself to become the sun(the 5th one) , they gave him daily sacrifices to keep the sun shining and since the sun always rose, it means it worked! Now that they have been wiped out, the sun might one day fizz out. In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu will become the Kalki(tenth incarnation) whom some believe will destroy the world.
Why people believe this:
Because its an important part of their respective religion and well its bound to happen I suppose.
4-Global scepticism
I'm not quite sure who came up with the head in a jar argument but I'm assuming he/she was a hippie and on LSD. The argument goes something like this: “Duuude, what if...like everything we see is just an illusion and we like...are really just brains in a vat”
When you look at it, its a perfectly reasonable possibility albeit one which we can never truly know the answer to. Maybe one day you will wake up and find out the last 16 years of your life was just a very long dream(bummer!).
Why people believe in this:
See reason for number 5 in part 2
On average, life is just so mundane. People's daily routine usually consists of waking up, getting ready, working for 2 hours, wasting time for 6 hours and then coming home to watch some Eastenders on the telly. It is no wonder we long for something else, an event so great that it has the power to wipe out mankind.
There are religious and scientific reasons for why people believe in Doomsday. I'm not here to assess how feasible they are(well maybe a little) but rather to list 8 types of apocalypses I really like:
1-Meteor
Yah, its that thing we believe killed the dinosaurs. Obviously the people directly under and very close kick the bucket before they can finish saying “WHAT THE F...”
With the people far away its a more delicious matter. The impact of a really big meteor will alter the composition of the atmosphere, the air might become toxic and it may turn dark which is a plus for light sensitive people until they find out that plants need light to live so unless the skies clear quickly, chances are that we will starve to death.
Why people believe in this:
In a meteor shower, we see very small dots moving really quickly across the sky. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that really small far away things are the same as really near big things. It's also easy to understand that something moving really fast hits a lot harder than something going slow(try it: grab a bullet and chuck it at your friend with your hands, then do the same but shoot it from a pistol instead). Then when people connect the dots and try to think of what would happen if a really fast, really big thing like the one they just saw in the sky were to hit the earth; they begin to panic.
Another reason comes from movies like Armageddon or Deep end and lets not forget how scared we got during those months leading up to comet shoemaker levy 9's imminent collision with Jupiter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker-Levy_9
2- Super pandemic
Popular opinion is that viruses are killer parasites who would hold your grandma at gun point and rob your shoes if given the chance. The reality is that viruses lose when they kill too quickly because they need time to spread and enjoy themselves in someone else's body before moving to someone else when he/she dies. They do mutate quite quickly though so there is some chance that one species will get the ability to spread like wildfire and painfully kill everyone nearby.
Ever since we invented planes, everyone goes everywhere whenever. A super virus could infect an unsuspecting victim who would travel to an airport infecting everyone else there. The other people infected would then travel to different countries and before we know it, the virus is in every city of the world. Sure Gilligan, Skipper, Ginger and Mary Ann might never find out people are dying away from the island and sure some of us will turn out to be immune to it but that's not very encouraging to the 10 survivors of the 26000 people city.
Why people believe this:
Because it seems like it could totally happen tomorrow. We've had a few scares in the past with SARS and Bird Flu, why just a few years ago actual politicians here in the UK were practically saying that we were all doomed over the news.
Oh and lets not forget that little incident with the Spanish flu which nearly killed 100 million people back in 1918.
3- God(s)
Depending on who you ask there is one or many Gods, some Christians believe in revelation with the coming of the anti-christ and the judgement of all men by God. Zororoastrian's apocalypse involves a meteor called Gochihr and lots of lava. Norse mythology have Ragnarok which is IMO the most awesome apocalypse apart from the fact that only 2 people are scheduled to survive it. The Aztecs believed had a god called Nanahuatzin who sacrificed himself to become the sun(the 5th one) , they gave him daily sacrifices to keep the sun shining and since the sun always rose, it means it worked! Now that they have been wiped out, the sun might one day fizz out. In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu will become the Kalki(tenth incarnation) whom some believe will destroy the world.
Why people believe this:
Because its an important part of their respective religion and well its bound to happen I suppose.
4-Global scepticism
I'm not quite sure who came up with the head in a jar argument but I'm assuming he/she was a hippie and on LSD. The argument goes something like this: “Duuude, what if...like everything we see is just an illusion and we like...are really just brains in a vat”
When you look at it, its a perfectly reasonable possibility albeit one which we can never truly know the answer to. Maybe one day you will wake up and find out the last 16 years of your life was just a very long dream(bummer!).
Why people believe in this:
See reason for number 5 in part 2
Total Comments 1
Comments
-
I think you are most right. You do have to much time on your hands
. Every so often someone comes up with a new reason for the end of time. Seems like they all have failed so far! 
Posted 07-06-2008 at 05:05 PM by Nomadicus
