30 replies to this topic

[freetoroam]

Professor T, on 23 January 2013 - 11:39 PM, said:

Honestly.. Would it matter who delivered the message?

If Obama called a press conference and said "Hey guy's world will end in three days" Would everyone believe him?
Would the likes of Alex Jones or other 3rd party news sources support him in what he said? Within minutes.. no, seconds, his words would be rubished on the foums and in the news by every conspriacy theorist there is saying "No, no, this is a ploy to create commuter chaos and reduce population" or "Nah, false flag.. the hour will come, nothing will happen, then some GI joe   Lance Armstrong will claim he's saved the world!"

yes basically thats it...if some one told me the world would be ending because some ancient calender said so, (which the last one did not) then i would just sit back and read about it on forums like this.
if some god worshipping happy clappy guy said the world was ending soon because his gods told him so, then I would carry on as usual and book next years holiday.

If we saw some big glow in the distant night sky and NASA said it was heading towards us and was big enough to destroy our planet, then I would definately take that seriously.

[libstaK]

I voted no, basically thinking I it would mean less time in fear/terror.  But then the real fear would be suffering a lingering death so I'm kind of wishing I'd said yes, approaching it plastered sounds like a fair plan.

[Professor T]

White Unicorn, on 23 January 2013 - 11:58 PM, said:

If you had the choice I'd still say none of the above!

Yes, I would want to know the exact time and date.   Be very careful what you wish for you might get it!
It would be an awesome burden of knowing and who if any to share it.

No, I would not want to know till it happens
It doesn't  matter when it happens because we should live each day as if it is the last anyway.

Neither, Speculating & leading others into doom & gloom is fun
I can't really agree with that one either because too much doom and gloom is not fun.
Although I must admit I laugh at speculations some really believe and then seem upset it doesn't happen!

So in other words ignorance is bliss & you wouldn't want to know..

[pallidin]

Ok. Long story/short story....

Years ago I was aboad a jet that had a near fatal event at +30,000 ft.
Obviously I lived to tell the story.

Yeah, a few people were screaming, more like sobbing, I guess.
Lots of "gasps" . Anyway....

What I noticed about myself was than I went through just feeling terrified that "this is it" for me abount 2 seconds, because I thought death for all of us was inevitable.

Because of that, for some reason I quickly shifted fromj "fear" to "acceptance", like I said, in about 2 secs.

Anyway.... my fear completely went away, even as more people were "gasping" and sobbing.
Because I thought FOR SURE that we were all goner's.

Sorry for the long post.

I quess what I was trying to say is that, for me, a strong thought of certainty of death, in my weird head, causes me to believe in that "certainty" so much that I bypass most anxiety and go straight to a sureal state of "I don't care"
Total acceptance, I guess. Weird experience.

Edited by pallidin, 24 January 2013 - 08:24 PM.

[Professor T]

pallidin, on 24 January 2013 - 08:18 PM, said:

Ok. Long story/short story....

Years ago I was aboad a jet that had a near fatal event at +30,000 ft.
Obviously I lived to tell the story.

What a cool post Pallidin.

I quess this gives you a unique perspective on the whole end of the World thing..
So, would you want to know? Or not?

[White Unicorn]

pallidin, on 24 January 2013 - 08:18 PM, said:

Ok. Long story/short story....

Years ago I was aboad a jet that had a near fatal event at +30,000 ft.
Obviously I lived to tell the story.

Yeah, a few people were screaming, more like sobbing, I guess.
Lots of "gasps" . Anyway....

What I noticed about myself was than I went through just feeling terrified that "this is it" for me abount 2 seconds, because I thought death for all of us was inevitable.

Because of that, for some reason I quickly shifted fromj "fear" to "acceptance", like I said, in about 2 secs.

Anyway.... my fear completely went away, even as more people were "gasping" and sobbing.
Because I thought FOR SURE that we were all goner's.

Sorry for the long post.

I quess what I was trying to say is that, for me, a strong thought of certainty of death, in my weird head, causes me to believe in that "certainty" so much that I bypass most anxiety and go straight to a sureal state of "I don't care"
Total acceptance, I guess. Weird experience.

I've been through several things like that, I call it "living beyond my expiration date".
You live each day more abundantly focusing on what really matters in life.
I  think some people have a purpose to fulfill before they can go!
If it's not your time,  you aren't going to go no matter how you tempt fate!
It's like I get told you didn't do what you are meant to do yet...
when I do whatever it is, it will be finished and my body will be dust!

[pallidin]

Professor T, on 24 January 2013 - 11:22 PM, said:

What a cool post Pallidin.

I quess this gives you a unique perspective on the whole end of the World thing..
So, would you want to know? Or not?

That's a really good question, and I guess it totally depends on the person.

For myself, I found that "knowing" actually gave me "peace"
Weird, huh?

[Professor T]

I guess knowing a few minutes before the event would give a bit of peace..

But I wonder if knowing a few months from the event would have the safe effect?

If I knew the world would end in two months time... hmmmmmmmmmm, I'd be pretty annoyed to have two months of expectations to chew on.. Whereas knowing two minuites before the end would be, oh, bugger.. Umm, Errr, would it help if I go to the toilet first? Then bang!! the end..

[pallidin]

Professor T, on 25 January 2013 - 07:56 AM, said:

I guess knowing a few minutes before the event would give a bit of peace..

But I wonder if knowing a few months from the event would have the safe effect?

If I knew the world would end in two months time... hmmmmmmmmmm, I'd be pretty annoyed to have two months of expectations to chew on.. Whereas knowing two minuites before the end would be, oh, bugger.. Umm, Errr, would it help if I go to the toilet first? Then bang!! the end..

Exactly!
I think there is a distinct differance in "2-minutes till you die when all was just fine before" versus, say, months of agony from a terminal illness, a war-torn nation(not knowing whether you are going to live or die), etc...

The "emotional torture" of prolonged thoughts of death(perhaps for weeks, months or a few years) is traumatic, so say the least.

What I experienced on that jet was very sudden.

We went straight through a massive thunder-head. "Turbulance" would be an understatement.
There were thunder-clouds all around us from what I could see out my window seat. Not sure if our pilot had much of an option.

The jet was not just going up and down, the horrific part was that it was being slamed from the left side to the right, to the left side again, etc...

It actually truly felt that the jet was going to snap in half. It was VERY powerful.

No-one got truly scared until this one stewardess sobbed.
Then everyone got scared.

It was really bad. I talked to a different pilot about a week later, and he said that it was a very dangerous situation in his opinion.

But again, I was completely surprised at how quickly I became so very calm. I think I just accepted that we were going to die.

BTW, the jet landed safely in Salt Lake, Utah, originating from Texas.

I think a few minor passenger injuries, though nothing special. We were sealtbelted as we went through the thunder-head.

[Amalthe]

Actually the end of the world will be visible in advance to humans, they will have couple of days to prepare and meet the inevitable. And sure, alcohol will be hard sought commodity, although i don't see any viable way to profit from that information

[onereaderone]

death   is  over  rated ,  the  end  of  the  world   is  not  personal   ,  its  just  a matter  of  time .

knowing  would  not  change   my  plans  at  all ,  i  would  go  to  work  ,  pay  my  bills  and  not  likly   change   what  i  had  for  lunch .

more  likly  than  not the  greatest  change   would  be  in  dealing  with   the  people  around  me  .

the  people  who  have  never  lived  a  single  day  of  their  life  ,   and  must  now  live  a  life  time  in  what  time  they  have  left.

[Jeremiah65]

Nope, wouldn't want to know.  I also have no intentions of trying to stick around and scratch out a living in a post-cataclysm world...if you want to, go for it.  My wife and I have actually discussed this and we agree we would rather go out in the first flash than to struggle every day.  From my point of view, there is enough people that want to hang on, I will not be missed.

[Asadora]

Would I want to know when the world ends?

I would not want to know when it would end. I would rather enjoy the time living my life to the best of my ability and not do anything that I would not normally do during that time.  Everything has a beginning and an end. We are simply mortals that are powerless to prevent such an end. Our imagination compels us to want to see the 'beyond' however, it is that same imagination that delivers a sense of sciolism, superficial pretensions to knowledge.

Would we be better off knowing when the world was to end? Would that not in itself be the catalyst of an hysterical end? It is for this reason, as to why I would not want to know.

I accept that our planet will have its own end... some day... in perhaps a billion years. What I find difficult to accept is that the Human race could very well one day become extinct. We are a race of seekers, explorers and wonderers. We should seek to enjoy what we already have. Everyone of us has a opportunity to be remembered. I want to be remembered as I was living, not how I prepared for an end that was uncontrollable.

(The above I state in regards to a -natural- cosmic end. If the world was to end by Human hands, then I would want to gather, council and find refuge. Regarding a Human created end, that is something that we can actually prevent whereas a cosmic end there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it.)

---The planet’s survival has become so uncertain that any effort, any thought that presupposes an assured future amounts to a mad gamble.
Elias Canetti

Kind Regards.

[paperdyer]

I'd want to know.  I'm 550 miles from my family and would go back to PA and wait it out with them.

[rashore]

Unless it's an instant thing, I don't think I would have a choice in the matter. A lot of end of world scenarios have some sort of warning.

So, would I like that warning as early as possible? Sure. I'd rather know that a meteor is going to smack in a few years than not know till some big effing thing was in the sky. Or that plague X was breaking out when it first gets declared rather than find out after a ton of the population has been hit.

Would I want a prophet that is true to tell me correctly the exact time? Probably not. I'm cool with knowing my days are numbered, but I think it would flake me out a bit to know Friday at 3:45.