http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33261483/ns/te...science/page/2/

OK we all know what's reall going to happen in 2012 but I found this on MSNBC which is tryinmg to defuse potential panic, mostly brought on by the emrich movie previews.

Apparnetly the Maya in the know are getting tired of all the hype

I admit...I would find it hysterical if we really *DID* get a Return of Magic on December 21st, 2012..
And then, the Geeks like us would rule, because we would not be caught completely clueless like the
rest of the world, but would actually already be used to thinking about a world like we would get..

We'd even know how the mechanics for magic work already

My prediction? Nothing at all happens. Of course if it is the end of the world theory that comes true no one will know I was wrong, so it's a fairly safe bet. I should go make some big bets that the world won't end on 21 dec 2012. If I'm right I get a bunch of money, if I'm wrong... well the world ended, so who cares, right

We wouldn't rule we're skeptics....it'd be the people that practice ancient religious rituals and believe the world is about to end that wind up knowing how magic works......we are gonna wind up being the l33t hax0rs of the new world

theough something is going to happen the planetary eclipse that happens every 26,000 years which the mayans stumbled upon and realized was so rare it could only mean the return of their favorite god $$that makes sense right?$$ to usher in a new era and end the old era of suffering (which many have misntepreted as the end of the world...you now know everything the mayans did..............

All depends on the nature of magic, in the Sixth World, the "ancient rites" are no more useful than someone who believes that he is a Jedi Master and everyone should fear that insane dude who believes he is the wrath of God.

As for the actual Mayan 2012, my understanding is that the were predicting a major social shift, and that they gave themsevles a decade of leeway.

I'm so waiting for 2013 so I don't have to hear about all this end of the world 2012 crap that's been all over tv.

I agree. And the opening to the above article immediately has a scientific inaccuracy: the every 25,800 bit is ridiculously inaccurate. Everyone knows that a gyroscope will right itself, usually onto a new axis when struck by an object. There is a limiting factor for the Earth's wobble, and it's nearly done wobbling. Mathematics can actually figure out when the Earth was hit and how much force it was hit with.

Not to mention the magnetic reversals that was hinted at. What bologna.

And then people will look for the next doomsday expectantly.

Much ado about nothing. Like Y2k. Apocalypse. And it never happened. The world stood still for a moment and realized January 1 2000 was another crappy day.

I don't know that there is another big one that is so nicely dated like the Myan one. I mean not counting SR I've known about it since... about 2000.

I do know that there are several other theories that just happen to coincide with the Myan one.

One is a computer program which predicted 9/11 and a bunch of other stuff, but most people figure it is just picking up on the Myan thing.

Another is a look at an ancient Chinese fortune telling things, which when charted properly happens to coencide with things like the black death. The problem is that it uses vague and/or estimated dates (Like the day it was created, which no one know) and somehow manages to predict that it will end on exactly the same day as the Myan's predicted. Maybe he has the right century, but I doubt with all the vague guesses involved he can really get such an accurate date.

Then there is something from that legendary prediction guy... umm... who's name escapes me... But he -always- comes up in doomsday predictions and the like. Wrote a book or some books, keep thinking Nosferatu... something close to that. Anyway, one interpretation of his writing also supposedly points to the same day as the Myan thing.

So yeah, four things that all point to the same day. One of which actually points to that day, another of which is likely just picking up on the first, another of which is likely just picking that date because it happens to coincide with other things because it is too vague, and finally one which has about a billion interpretations.

Maybe I'll hold a 'What do you know, we didn't die' party on the day after or something. Funded with my winning from betting on us not dying.

Good morning world, Welcome back. Play nice.

Nostradamus?

That guy's vagueries gets attributed to everything. Frankly, I think he was just a poet and a bad one, and they just don't know it.

I found the article linked about what we can learn from chimps to be more informative. And cooler, because hey, monkeys!

I'm rolling an Elf Mage on Dec 12 2012.

Yeah, that's the guy. Yeah, there is also strong evidence that alot of his work was also done by his son/nephew/apprentice/something that I can't remember because I have poor memory.

Hmmm... I'm going to predict that.... something big will happen before the end of the month... and now I play the waiting game.

Edgar Cayce was another one. Problem is, fact checking of much of what he said / did actually proved him right.

Science hasn't been able to explain that yet. I'm okay with that. Some things should defy our understanding so we have to work harder to better understand our universe.

Well, most psychics tend to be proved right about their predictions. Why? Because they make very vague statements which can be interpreted in tons and tons of ways, and when actual information is found, it can be retroactively fitted to the prediction. They also make 'safe bets' which means that there are certain things they can say and -always- be right. For example, crime psychics will always claim to see water. Why? Because water is bloody everywhere. If they are found in the bathroom, wow, water, kitchen? Water. Not far but not particularly close to a creek? Water.

Humans are pattern finding creatures.

We can take elements and attribute them certain values, while ignoring other elements which remain valueless.

Something big will happen in your near future.

Something sad will happen in your near future.

As for the Maya. They attribued something momentous, but more likely the problem of having to come up with a new calendar. They did the math and found the calendar would be off. The end of the world was not what they predicted, but an end of time. In the more banal form, it means at least by December 2011 they will have to see about fixing the Y2K bug in their calendar.

Have you ever heard of Agnes Nutter? She was the best fortune teller EVER She was never wrong about her predictions, she just never predicted important stuff (well, except for the end of the world, which she detailed it very nice. It will happen on a Friday by the way.

The Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter? (Good Omens is a great book btw.)

As I recall, Cayce was pretty specific about certain things.

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, yes, that's the one.

On December 21, 2012 I plan to go visit Daniel Coleman and ask him about what it was like leading his people out of the Abilene Reeducation Centre last year.

I used to be a member of the tinfoil-hat brigade. I love antipsychotics. Now I realize that A: The M's are gonna make the series multiple times in succession before any proclamation of world-enditude ever pans out, and B: Even if the world is going to end...so what? The past has shown us that we cannot predict it, and the present demands our attention. I feel it is pointless to dread something that we cannot predict or control. Anyways that is just my 0.02

Fearing the unknown is humanity's oldest pastime. Making money off it is the second oldest.

AKA death and religion

Now, religion is something different than "ripping people off with stories", isn't it?

Worked as a bookseller last year. Gods... our Esoterics section was flooded with 2012-crap. I jokingly recommended to discard those books and instead invest in some real literature on the subject... like... Shadowrun books.

If you're religious, then yes, it is much more than that. If you're not religious, then that is basically what it amounts to

Of course, the same can be said of anything, if you are a member of the group, than 'X' is worth it, and if not, then it isn't.