What do you people believe will happen December 21, 2012? And I don't mean whether or not the world will end. I'm talking about how do you think people in general would react? Would it be chaotic? Mass hysteria? Would it be like the Y2K scare where people stock up on water, non-perishable food sources, and invest in generators/batteries/power sources?

I don't really have a standpoint on that date really, what happens happens and I don't believe we can do anything to change that. But I'm interested in hearing what you have to say about the human population in general on that day.

Maybe the prophecies are all self fulfilling, and some power-drunk warlord will go crazy and unleash his cache of nukes.

How about in 2012 the human race simply gets its first undoubtable evidence of extra dimensions

Really though we dont have much to be scared of in my own opinion, there is nothing really concrete you can point to in mayan history or myth that suggests its going to be the end of the world, really its just the end of that calender. I believe its more the vagueness of what could happen that allows people fill in some kind of end of the world senario. The universe is such a harsh and fightening place, we don't need the mayans to give us a date when the world will end, it can end at any moment at all. Hell, we may not even make it to 2012, a solar flare could wipe us off this planet tommorrow, chances are it won't but really when your talking about the exstinction of our species any number of things could wipe us out at any moment.

Im a firm believer though that all Americans should have a supply of survival gear, water and food for atleast 6 month for your whole family. It doesn't need to be the apocalypes for those things to come in handy. Just like of what damage Katrina did, imagine if more of those people were prepared with there own supplies, I bet it would have saved many lives.

As they react every year, the great majority will be slighty too drunk to react and the rest are going to be disappointed that it was just another normal year...

True. I'm always just curious as to how humans react to certain things. I was surprised how Canadians reacted to September 11. I was in high school and all the high schools in my area were evacuated and businesses in the downtown core were shut down for the day. People went out and bought food supplies and generators where I live.
Ever since then I've just been interested in the masses and reactions to events.

When Dec 21, 2012 approaches..all most all of these conspiracy theory nuts would have faormed their own cults and would have gathered stupid followers and do one of these things

a. perform a mass suicide like the Heaven's Gate Cult
b. conduct a mass orgy (????)
c. Go on a rampage to kill as many as poeple as they can, before they die

As for me, i would get Drunk, get L..d, and Smoke a few Ciggies and wait for death....(if the world ends!!!) else i would get up the next morning with a hangover, be late for work.

Hmmm...December 21st? I'm going to open my Christmas presents early, just in case...
But on the more serious note, I'm not sure how people will react. I suppose it really depends on what happens. Like Cradle of Fish said, it may be self fulfilling.

I think its actually going to be a pretty normal day, most of the people i know and talk to just dont belive anything is going to happen, and tell me to shut up and stop worrying about stupid stuff. And i think only crazy people are gona be freaking out on that day, and lifes just gonna be normal for most of the world. But when december 21st passes im gonna be sooooo relieved, but then say hello to 1236 when the astroid is gonna come hit us, its always something

Is that when it supposedly happens? 21st December 2012? Why couldn't it be the 12th December, that would make it 12-12-12 instead of 12-21-12 (or 21-12-12).

Personally, I do not think anyone knows the time nor the date, it will come as a "thief in the night".



Interesting concept! Perhaps the dimensions will split, some people going one way, the rest another - but if this "split" occurred, it would look like people died but in actual fact they were veering off into different dimensions.

Depends really. Only a small portion of the human population knows about the prophecies of 2012. So small, that I dont think MASS HYSTERIA can happen. However, if it were to get big enough, I could see people panicking by readying just about anything.

I like the 12-12-12 idea. Kind of like the 07-07-07 thing that went on this summer. Nothing happened then either.

but with 777 and even 666 it wasnt really either... it was 07-07-07 and 06-06-06 and even then it was 07-07-2007 and 06-06-2006 but it would be interesting to see what happens either way :-)

Actually when the time arrives that certain date I think it'll start being said on the news. People might start panicking just because a random civilization's calender had to end somewhere. But I doubt I'll do anything that day.. Just a normal day.

I'm definitely stocking up on 12 year old scotch. In fact, I think I'll start now.

yay i'll pick letter B. for that!!!!!!!
yup same here

hopefully after the anti-climax of y2k people will not get exited, that is if they remember that prior to y2k everyone got hysterical about nothing.

I LOVE that idea! Parallel universes! I think I may also open my Christmas presents early...and take the day off work

Time! date!

Seriously, I hate to say it, but most people aren't too perceptive and don't really value or respect Indigenous People's teachings beyond the "noble savage" or "Dances with Wolves" ideologies to actually study it. Informed ones do, but we're talking niche here. The majority of the world's people still think that Indigenous people (and their values) are simply modern remnants of a primitive and less informed and civilized era. I don't, and possibly many people in this forum don't, but the masses certainly do.

Of course, Hollywood could change all that with one single movie, which I'm sure it will do as the date approaches.

Beyond that, the actual date is simply 'The end of time'. Well, what IS time? The actual passage of time is absolute, though completely nonmeasurable since everything that is Earth time related (light years, atomic clocks, the gregorian and other calendars etc) only exist due to the physical revolution and rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

So, no time = no rotation of the Earth?

2012 could possibly mean a pole shift. I'm hoping for a far more peaceful scenario though.

I don't believe that there will be any major reaction. I saw one show where the narrator claimed that December 21, 2012 is supposed to be when man's technologies will turn on him. Supposedly on this show, they also said that this had happened once before in Mayan history. If anyone knows the name of the show, please mention it. It's been several years ago since I'd first seen it.

That aside, you can bet that news outlets will be carrying the story of the "day of doom" prior to the date. No doubt, if for no other reason than to be able to jump on the air as the world is ending to say, "You heard it here first", before lights out. I still don't think that this will cause mass hysteria. You have all of these religions in the world, and many people adhere to said religions. The majority of these people are going to believe their own sacred texts before the ending of a mayan calendar. That is not to say, as has been mentioned previously, that there won't be cults popping up, who will be readying themselves for the end. You will have some who will be nervous over it, of course. There may be some stock-piling, etc., but then again, it depends on a person's school of thought. For instance, the ones who believe that this will be the start of technology taking over may very well get rid of all major appliances, televisions, computers, etc. beforehand. This is obviously an extreme, but you get what I mean.

I am concerned about how the news will handle it come that time.

Mostly, Christmas shopping, I'd imagine.

It'll come and go, the same as every other date for world destruction has done. 7/7/7 anyone?

I predict that a week prior to this event, people will go see End of Days 2, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he goes back in time kicking mayans butt.

I predict that he'll fight his way through hordes of nunchaku-wielding Mayan ninja warriors and, after every last of them lies still and lifeless, he makes their calendar go on for another million years. In the final scene we see "doomsday 2012" themed books, documentaries, websites and forum posts somehow crumbling to dust. Then the money spent on these things flies out of the authors' pockets and back into the wallets of the faithful. Roll credits.

I don't think the "masses" will care at all.

i'm pretty that if it stays as low key as it is now, i'll simply forget the date, i'm not much of a calender person. In my oppinion nothing is going to happen both in terms of mass hysteria or end of the world, and not because i think that mayans are savages but simply because i don't think that the end of the calender signafies the end of the world as we know it

My guess would be that the massess will be busy buying last minute xmas presents and spending more money than they planned. 2013 will come and there will be no difference; these dates come and go all of the time, and for some reason the world keeps falling for it.

It is just another day, only a select few will be worried about it; most of the world doesn't know, and doesn't care about the 2012 calendar issue. I guess just like the millennium, people will sell a lot of books about the topic, some people will go out and buy a pallet of water and beef jerky as they did for y2k...

I think that maybe you have to be a bit older and have seen a bunch of these dates come and go before you get cynical about them...

You aren't tired of this stuff?? its all the same.

There isn't more to discuss.

yeah.it never got me really "high". New millenium spoiled it.

I dunno about the rest of the world, but here is how 2012 will play in the UK.

There will be a great groaning and gnashing of teeth. A great city (London) will be laid bare, and it's people driven to distraction. Great financial institutions will stagger, politicians and newt-lovers will be kicked out of office, and the streets will throng with a million voices and a hundred languages. Traffic will stop. The underground will grind to a halt. People across the land will shout at their televisions and rent their hair assunder. A vast tract of East London will be rendered uninhabitable.

Then the 2012 London Olympics will finish, and life will continue as before.

Meow Purr.

Only everybody will be complaining about the money spend for the Olympics

And complaining about how terrorists passed through the security

I thought a vast tract of East London is already uninhabitable?

Bringing up what someone else remarked about...the fact that man's technoligies will turn on him.If you think about it,it does make sense.Im not talking about yer toaster coming alive and trying to eat you,im refering to what i like to call THE TERMINATOR SYNDROME.If the Army and DOD continue(and they will) toward making a mechanized army,imagine what would happen if these self aware 'bot's determined the real threat was humans?(THEY are you know) the robots could then reprogram thier main objective to kill all humans.ALL HUMANS.By the time 2012 rolls around,we will have more than intelligent bots,we will have bots capable of indepedent thought,threat assesment,and termination.By the time all this comes into play,well, i guess i'll just keep doing what im doing.Target practice,stay in shape,and buy more and larger weapons.And lot's of ammo.Here's a lil video of what im saying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4nXjuOZ1dE and this one is the army right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjsychklJBg

to answer the question:

considering that 99.9% of the worlds population have never heard of the idea of the world ending in 2012, they'll probably just wake up and go about their business in perfect ignorance.

And the other 0.1% will be storming the bookshops demanding a refund

As Barnum said, there's a sucker born ever day. 2012 must be one of the biggest 'new age' scams going .....

I don't think anything will happen. The reasons are :

1. I don't think that the date of 12/21/2012 means anything. It's just another date... It's my mothers birthday, but other than that nothing spectacular.
2. It's not a widespread of a piece of knowledge as the Y2K bug - and Y2K didn't lead to widespread panic either.

I didn't ask whether or not it will happen.
I'm more interested in the thoughts and opinions about how people would react to that date, more importantly how news and the media will handle that day (what they did for Y2K, 06/06/06 and even 07/07/07 were highly talked about in the news).

I'm not trying to be ugly, but please tell me you're joking.

Ok,...you're joking....

i can imagine a few possibilities,
1. a meteor.
2. some person with a lot of power goes insane,
3. nuclear explosion causes a chain reaction of them,
4. well the earth just falls apart,
5. nothing,
6. nothing and then it happens a few years later because our years and dates werent accurate from the beginning,
7. it happens before it due to years and dates being wrong,
8. the second coming of a saviour and we have the chance to go to heaven,
9. the world is plunged into chaos and demons roam the earch and kill and destroy all life,
10. aliens decide to take over,
11. a rip in the universe opens up and sucks up everything,
12. a star explodes and causes a black hole,
13. technology gets too dangerous and either takes over or blows the world,
14. the sun burns out,
15. war between everyone,
16. the earth implodes
17. the battle in heaven end up taking place on earth,
18. everybody gets possessed by demons,
19. someone acsends like Jesus and turns evil
20(lucky last). everyone commits suicide or goes insane before it so they dont have to live in fear ( not the recommended outcome)

and so ends my list of the most bizzare things that could happen

as long as they dont equip them with wireless broadband technology we will be fine

Show me one example of 06/06/06 or 07/07/07 being mentioned in a proper news channel (ie BBC, Reuters etc) and I'll be very very suprised.

The only reason Y2k was talked about was a technological flaw with computers not recognising the shift in date.

On the 21st December 2012 a mutant space goat will eat the sun. To escape from this horrific event we have constructed 3 'space arks'. Being a kind and generous leadership, we have decided that those who are most concerned about the events of 2012 may board the first ark to depart for our new home. This is designated the 'B' Ark .......

Why are you saying not so many ppl know about it? I mean.. anyone who is even slightly interested about ancient history knows about it and even those who never reads anything but watches the documents about ancient cultures knows about it.. atleast here in scandinavia. Almost every one I know knows about it. Everyone likes ancient history and mythology.. exept little-pink-glittering-all-over-the-place-party-girls-n-boys. Thank goodness we don't have so many of those here.

I think a lot of ppl here in north stock up on food for a couple of months instead of the one or two months and alot of discussion of ragnarök and global warming and pole shifting will fly around, but nothing big will hardly happen. Atleast not in Finland where I live (though by that time I should be living in Romania which is interesting cause old ppl there still believe in all kinds of werewolves and vampires too and have garlic around.. might make a good show.. need to remind myself to buy a quality cam recorder).

I know that I will stock up on food, keep my cam near me for snapping pics or some possible crazy ppl or so called dooms day clouds (any cool thunder cloud will do) and make a huge bunch of protective amulets with all sorts of runes n stuff to sell to the kinds of ppl who buy them

I'm quite surprised you said this, and I can only assume you do not live in the same country as me. When 06/06/06 occured the televised news stations reported on this day like it was Christmas! The same for 07/07/07, news reports on special evens (weddings, lottery winnings, 'lucky' events happening) were broadcast hourly!

And because of that reason, it made me courious as to 12/21/2012.

Surely you mean Cradle of Filth?
There is also the some stuff predicted for 2012 (and/or 2014) in the Biblbe Codes which apperantly describes the end of the world.
And yes, not many people know about all the supposed "hype" but in the year or so prior to the date the media will be starving for sh** to talk about and abviously bring this up just for ratings *caugh* Y2K *caugh*

if it happens i wont worry at all, honestly i think nothing will happen but if something bad happens i wont sweet it cause i know EVERYone is in the same situation, i would just calm all my friends family down and enjoy each others company while we wait for the end

it could be just that 2012 was probbaly the farthest they could think of during the creation of the calender ....imagine a Calender on a fridge now imagine it being like 400 pages of years..thats 400 years, and thats like ok in 400 years if our Civlization is still up will will update it, now imagine in 399 years the new civilization is probably sweating that our calender stoped 400 years from 2007

just an idea

by all the pot i can and smoke it

People will be out Christmas shopping and/or doing whatever else they did on December 21, 2007. The world will not end. Even if a big ass rock smacks the Earth, it will probably still be here, people, plants and animals will probably not be but the Earth will.

Now what exactly is supposed to happen in 2012 and who said so?


Hitman

The OP is referring to the fact that the Mayan calendar is reported to end abruptly on December 21, 2012. So, naturally, people are thinking that the Mayans had some insight into when the world will come to an end. Though, some say it is meant that it will be the end of the world as we know it, which could mean a change for all of humanity, like a spiritual awakening, changes in technology, or natural disasters which will completely change our ways of living.

People have been theorizing on what the "end" means, and what will be mankind's "undoing", etc. There have been many books and sites devoted to this topic.

The OP here, however, is wondering how mankind will react to the impending date, whether they will go crazy and freak out or if people will just treat it as they would any other day.