The headline caught my eye in the supermarket today (I can't recall having read The Economist, I don't understand economics):
Why do end-of-time beliefs endure? No mention of Planet X, but history repeating - and mention of Rael and Martin Rees!
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The headline caught my eye in the supermarket today (I can't recall having read The Economist, I don't understand economics):
Why do end-of-time beliefs endure? No mention of Planet X, but history repeating - and mention of Rael and Martin Rees!
Established Member
My personal take?
People need closure. They need to feel like everything has a beginning, middle and end. Including the world itself. After all, if things just keep going forever, what was the point of their life?
An EotW scenario provides a certain finality to everything. Plus, for many, it gives them a reason for being. They get to warn people about incoming doom, and feel better about themselves for "knowing the truth." Such scenarios help people believe that their lives have meaning and that they're special for playing a part in the world's final moments.
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On the flip side, there are all those children of millenialist families who have been totally screwed up by such ideas and have hopeless outlooks on their future.
"Welcome to the world, Johnny. Study hard and learn good habits so you may have a successful future. Oh by the way, the world's going to end next week."
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There was a trio of research scientists, two male and one female, that became lost in the jungle's of South America. Per Lord of the Flies, they sifted into a pecking order with the strongest man assaulting his male colleage for no apparent reason and then later made an forcible advance on the female. When they were rescued after a mere month, everyone just kind of snapped back into their old reality.
Instead of worrying about the world blowing up, I think we all need to realize that our lives can end at any time and act accordingly. Many people who are really into end times thinking have nothing to look forward to and all this focus on crazy calamities gives them some kind of catharsis. I remember James Randi saying that UFO'ers were the most boring people he'd ever met. They don't do anything but fantasize about weird things and don't have lives. This is all the same kind of psychology.
One very plausible event is end of the world as we know it. History is full of this type of tragedy. Governments and nations can slide headlong into tyranny and horror just because people sit back and ignore the warning signs and shirk the resultant civic duty to act. Bastiat put it concisely, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
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Many of the "apocalyptics" seem so unhappy with the world as it is that they profess a preference for one of chaos and destruction where billions have died. It makes little sense to me.Originally Posted by philojones
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
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Usually these "apocalyptics" also consider themselves to be among the one group "chosen" (by divine or other methods) to be either "saved" in spirit or the "sole survivors" who inherit the "new" earth. The billions who are "toast" are either inconsequential or deserving of their fate. :roll:Many of the "apocalyptics" seem so unhappy with the world as it is that they profess a preference for one of chaos and destruction where billions have died. It makes little sense to me.
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It is "curious" that the apocalyptics always predict that they will be among the chosen few. The giant space aliens never anounce to them, nope, you're among the dead, just giving you time to get your affairs in order.Usually these "apocalyptics" also consider themselves to be among the one group "chosen" (by divine or other methods) to be either "saved" in spirit or the "sole survivors" who inherit the "new" earth. The billions who are "toast" are either inconsequential or deserving of their fate. :roll:Many of the "apocalyptics" seem so unhappy with the world as it is that they profess a preference for one of chaos and destruction where billions have died. It makes little sense to me.
Wait, I'm getting a vision, uuuuummmmmmm. The space hamsters are coming to save the few and smite the rest. The chosen people are bearded solid-state chemists with interests in model railroading and natural history and the women they find most beautiful. #-o
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I, for one, welcome our new space hamster overlords!
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Established Member
And as a young, plyable mind, I encourage them to recognize me as a valuable asset in doing their bidding without question or backtalk.
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Is Dr. Hämsterviel one of the overlords?
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Eee Gads! Hamster Overlords! Here they come!
Vulcan Administrator
In the immortal words of Esther Friesner: "Cry 'Cheeble' and let loose the hamsters of war!"
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Established Member
We even know who their leader is...
It's Hamster Huey!
Established Member
Is that real? I always thought it was a Bill Watterson creation for Calvin and Hobbes.
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