Other stories

Other stories predicting disaster in 2012 says that the new planet, many described as Planet X, a planet / comet (unreasonable), or the planet "Nibiru" will pass close to Earth causing earthquakes and tidal waves and all sorts of destruction , perhaps even turning the earth completely reversed. These are urban legends that have been around for a long time, but for most of the stories of history, this should be happening in the month of May 2003, as any Internet search for "Planet X" will reveal. Apparently what happens is that Planet X supporters, perhaps ashamed or disappointed that 2003 passed without incident, heard about a much more popular story of the Mayan calendar, and decided that 2012 is close enough to 2003 that have the correct date and that the destruction of Planet X Maya may be what is predicted. Legend of the Planet X begins by misinterpretation of astronomical observations, combined with the ancient Sumerian carvings that have been mistakenly interpreted to describe a solar system with ten planets. Why the craftsmen who make carvings on the ancient Sumerian should be considered to have knowledge of the planets are superior to modern astronomy is not convincingly argued. If you are interested in any real science behind the Planet X story, there's no better resource than Phil Plaits's "Bad Astronomy" blog, which went into all the facts, rumors, and sources in detail.

This is one reason people are afraid of 2012. Around 500 years ago, Copernicus Hipparchus confirmed what has been observed in 2200 BC: the axis of the Earth, which rested on the 23.5 °, to complete a full rotation every 25,765 years. This means that in 12,000 years, Christmas will come to Australia in the winter and the northern hemisphere would describe Santa in Bermuda shorts. Astrologers call this period the Great Year, and they were divided into 12 of the month or astrological "old", each about 2147 years old. Every day in accordance with one of the signs of the zodiac. We are in the Age of Pisces, and like the song says, we will soon enter the Age of Aquarius. According to the official delineations from the edge of the modern constellations, we will move into a new era in the year 2600. But there are some disagreements, and some places it on the astrologer in 2595, 2654, or 2638. Some put it much earlier, soon after 2150 or even 2062. However, after news broke about the Mayan calendar, the majority of people leaving the constellation astrology official definition and stated that the Age of Aquarius will begin in the year 2012. So, you can call this the three main reasons why the world will end in 2012, but you have horrible loose with astrology, and you also have to think of several reasons why the dawn of the Age of Aquarius may be brought at the end of the world. I have not found any plausible claim to what may have this effect.

So that's a lot of reasons, weak, though they may be, to predict that we will all die in the year 2012. However, there is one important fact that all the doomsayers seem to forget 2012: Despite all 2012-ish variety of predictions for the end of the world, there are far more stories of doom with a different date. For example, the popular interpretation of Nostradamus to find predictions for the end of the world in July 1999, December 1999, June 2002, and October 2005. This also has said that his writing could mean dead will rise from their graves in the 2000, 2007, or 7000 years. Nostradamus never said anything about 2012.

Many Protestant Christians believe that the end of the world will come in the form of what they call the Rapture, when the righteous will all be taken to heaven. Shaker believe the Rapture will come in the year 1792. Seventh Day Adventist first calculated it would happen in 1843, then when nothing happened, they found errors in their calculations and corrected to 1844. Jehovah's Witnesses make firm predictions for the years 1918, 1925, 1941, 1975, 1984, and 1994. A book was published in 1988 called 88 Reasons the Rapture is in 1988. Some biblical scholars found firm evidence that the biblical Rapture will occur in October 2005. Thousands of Koreans gave all the money and their possessions in preparation for the Rapture on October 28, 1992. Even Sir Isaac Newton made the calculation based on the Scriptures that show the Rapture can not occur before 2060. Some Jewish scholars place the "end of days" through Armageddon in the year 2240. I can not find the 2012 mentioned in this story.

In fact, James Randi's magnum opus publication of An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural lists 44 different end of the world predictions that all came and went was not satisfied. Why do we have to think that the legend of 2012 different? Any examination of the science behind each story, even glib examination, revealed a complete logical foundation. Planet X is only a story, which is the most easily faked as concrete depend on astronomical observations that proved false, the proposed mechanism offers to exactly how this "end of the world" to be achieved, the suspect gravitational collapse. Both the Mayan calendar, or the Age of Aquarius people, has offered any claims to how or why the world will end, only that their particular legend points to a rollover in some ancient calendar. My calendar rolls over every time the ball dropped in New York, and I have not seen this planet of natural disaster, except those who have to mop out drunk at the NYPD's.

Many people tend to put more faith in the ancient neolithic tradition than in the observations of modern science. There is nothing wrong with learning and respect for our predecessors' history for what it is, but when you turn things over and began to believe that scientific knowledge is only decreased the natural world from time to time, you're not doing anyone favors.