Click here (Economist) to read about the amazing persistence of apocalyptic beliefs across history and cultures... What kind of intellectual and/or spiritual components do you think help to produce such a resilient phenomenon?
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
This information is out there. It is pretty weird. A lot of people claim to think and they have interesting experiences. So when a person puts the two together weird myths/stories start.
I think that when people think too hard on the end times that they create all sort of interesting myths. The mark of the beast is mentioned in the bible however I don't think the new medical chip qualifies. The true mark will be required for people to do anything from purchase food to getting paid for work. The mark is not here yet.
Were apocalyptic events just religious in nature, I would simply presume that it's part and parcel of believing in the notion of divine judgment. However, the existence of secular doomsday scenarios, such as runaway anthroprogenic global warming and manmade catastrophes, and the fact that they share the same sky-is-falling predictions which are handed down by those "in the know" but without the religious influence. So if it isn't limited to cultural or religious influences, what might be the explanation? Could our fascination with end times be related to our nearly universal tendency to believe in God? I read in the Wall Street Journal, I think it was, that belief in a higher being may be genetically hardwired. If I recall correctly, even Darwin commented on something along the lines of belief in a higher power being a universally evolved trait. Perhaps it is simply that the same advanced intellect that allows us to see patterns in our world and use science to deduce their meaning, by necessity, enables us...nay, requires us...to seek patterns in the things we have yet to scientifically understand. Our brain won't stop seeing patterns just because we wish it to and nor should we desire such a thing. Our perpetual desire to ask "Why?" brought us unbelievable medicine, outrageous feats of technology, and unparalleled success. Consequently, when you know what makes the distant stars twinkle or the sun warm, the randomness of death and meaninglessness of destruction here on earth, where we could affect the outcome if only we had that one last answer, is even more confounding and frustrating. And so we rebel against our lack of understanding and the discomfort it brings by creating a theory of how the world will end hoping that the experiment fails and the theory can be discarded or, should the theory prove correct and the apocalypse DOES come, that we will have been able to glean enough information to survive it.
When apocalyptic narrative is broken down into its base components, it can provide a compelling reason for many beliefs, whether they are spiritually/religiously motivated or not.
The initial perfection of past provides an example of something better than the current situation to strive for. Further, the fall provides a reason for why the current situation is not that good. Finally, the last days and second coming provide hope that things will improve in the future.
It seems that the basic structure of apocalyptic narrative can be applied and provide meaning in a wide variety contexts. I found it interesting how the key features of apocalyptic narrative were related to communist theory, capitalism, and environmentalism.
A person can find a lot of different information on the internet and easily find people with common interests. Everyone interprets things differently. Whether you believe in the second coming of Christ or aliens, no one will know who's right until it happens.
5 comments:
This information is out there. It is pretty weird. A lot of people claim to think and they have interesting experiences. So when a person puts the two together weird myths/stories start.
Lisa
I think that when people think too hard on the end times that they create all sort of interesting myths. The mark of the beast is mentioned in the bible however I don't think the new medical chip qualifies. The true mark will be required for people to do anything from purchase food to getting paid for work. The mark is not here yet.
Bob
Were apocalyptic events just religious in nature, I would simply presume that it's part and parcel of believing in the notion of divine judgment. However, the existence of secular doomsday scenarios, such as runaway anthroprogenic global warming and manmade catastrophes, and the fact that they share the same sky-is-falling predictions which are handed down by those "in the know" but without the religious influence. So if it isn't limited to cultural or religious influences, what might be the explanation? Could our fascination with end times be related to our nearly universal tendency to believe in God? I read in the Wall Street Journal, I think it was, that belief in a higher being may be genetically hardwired. If I recall correctly, even Darwin commented on something along the lines of belief in a higher power being a universally evolved trait. Perhaps it is simply that the same advanced intellect that allows us to see patterns in our world and use science to deduce their meaning, by necessity, enables us...nay, requires us...to seek patterns in the things we have yet to scientifically understand. Our brain won't stop seeing patterns just because we wish it to and nor should we desire such a thing. Our perpetual desire to ask "Why?" brought us unbelievable medicine, outrageous feats of technology, and unparalleled success. Consequently, when you know what makes the distant stars twinkle or the sun warm, the randomness of death and meaninglessness of destruction here on earth, where we could affect the outcome if only we had that one last answer, is even more confounding and frustrating. And so we rebel against our lack of understanding and the discomfort it brings by creating a theory of how the world will end hoping that the experiment fails and the theory can be discarded or, should the theory prove correct and the apocalypse DOES come, that we will have been able to glean enough information to survive it.
Megan Allen
When apocalyptic narrative is broken down into its base components, it can provide a compelling reason for many beliefs, whether they are spiritually/religiously motivated or not.
The initial perfection of past provides an example of something better than the current situation to strive for. Further, the fall provides a reason for why the current situation is not that good. Finally, the last days and second coming provide hope that things will improve in the future.
It seems that the basic structure of apocalyptic narrative can be applied and provide meaning in a wide variety contexts. I found it interesting how the key features of apocalyptic narrative were related to communist theory, capitalism, and environmentalism.
Max Hesser-Knoll
A person can find a lot of different information on the internet and easily find people with common interests. Everyone interprets things differently. Whether you believe in the second coming of Christ or aliens, no one will know who's right until it happens.
-Taylor E.
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