People have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. I saw a Tweet the other day of predictions since about 1000 AD but I bet they go back much further. Predicting the end of the world is tricky: if you don't say WHEN it is all going to end, those who are alert can dismiss the prediction as useless. At any point in the future, the predictor can always say," Well, not yet. Just wait."
On the other hand, if you append a date, chances are very good that you will be in the same fix that several other predictors have been. The date approaches, the date passes, and what? Well, some failed predictors have said they got their math or feeling or something wrong and it will all be over by a new, future date. But that is embarrassing or worse. You could be in the mess the Millerites of the 1800's were in, having given away all your worldly goods, only to have to ask for them back.
But there are other problems. The end of the WORLD - what world? The entire universe? This galaxy? The solar system? No, better to just stay in the present. But then you discover that while being in the now as much as you can is helpful philosophically, there is no way to the present. By the time you even think THE PRESENT, it has already gone to some other present. Those pesky scientists point out that your thinking itself takes time: by the time you see the shooting star or your honey's smile, time has already moved on. The star is in the past where, for you, it is only a memory. Likewise, with that smile. You see the problem. I guess the psychologist/philosopher William James tried to set a short time, maybe 17 seconds, that could be considered the present, for practical purposes.
So, take all those doomsday predictions with doubt. Things may still go on for awhile. Whether there are droughts, or wars, or disease or all those kids texting in poor and opaque grammar, probably a good deal of the world will still go right on. That's my prediction.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
