Click here (Reuters) to read about planet Earth's apocalyptic anxieties... What (if anything) might this suggest about human nature? about popular culture? about opinion polls?
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The claim that 1 in 7 people believe that the end of the world will happen in our lifetime is a bit of a false statistic. The sample size was extremely small compared to world population. This makes it seem as though everyone is anticipating the apocalypse. Though, if the survey had included the majority of the world's population, who knows what the statistic would be? Maybe their small sample does account for the entire world. It does seem that in today's society that there is always a new apocalypse theory floating around. It's almost as if we crave for it to happen. No matter how many times apocalypse dates have come and gone, there is always another one next in line. The media and news outlets fuel these theories, which in turn recruits more believers, creating a never ending circle. -Erica
Interesting statistics. I personally believe that it could happen in my life time but I also see this apocalypse/Armageddon dealio turning out like Y2K.
I find it surprising that so many people are afraid of the end of the world. I would have never guess ed that the number is so high. It just never crosses my mind
Thinking that the end of days will occur in one’s own lifetime is no new occurrence in the history of apocalyptic; in fact, it is arguably the trend rather than the exception. I would argue that this is due to humanity’s tendency to have a self-centered perspective on the world. It can be hard to step outside of yourself to see your relative position in history. So far the apocalypse hasn’t occurred despite great numbers of people thinking that they are living on the verge of the end of days.
I was surprised at the statistic that 10 percent of the world population thinks that the Mayan calendar could signal that the apocalypse will occur in 2012 considering that the civilization and its beliefs are long lost to history. I think people’s focus on the 2012 Mayan apocalypse phenomenon is due mostly to its constant reference in pop-culture and media, rather than any sort of sincere spiritual belief.
Additionally, with all of the different religions and creeds that exist in the world today and have apocalyptic beliefs/notions, who is to say which one, if any, is correct?
I think that some people want the end of the world.
Not in a bad way, like wanting billions of people to die or the world to be destroyed or anything. But pop culture has romanticised the end of the known world. Look at Book of Eli, or Resident Evil, or the new show Walking Dead. People wouldn't watch them if they in some way didn't want to be in there figuring out a new way to survive.
I myself think about it a lot, its a different kind of world the "post apocalyptic". Its a bit like really dangerous backpacking. Its about surviving. You aren't worried about your speech tomorrow, or that you lost the website for your teachers blog and haven't commented on anything, or that its 4 in the morning on a school day. All you worry about is how am I going to survive till tomorrow. What lines will I cross to make that happen.
Its an interesting and different world, in the post apocalyptic at least its simple. It levels the playing field, doesn't matter how many cars you own or who your father is. You are the only thing that can keep you alive.
As for the Mayan prediction? Well there are always people willing to believe in the next end of the world, if any of them had been right maybe I would believe also.
But hey, it they only need to be right once.
- Scott, the very tired but worried about his grade semi-survivalist.
6 comments:
The claim that 1 in 7 people believe that the end of the world will happen in our lifetime is a bit of a false statistic. The sample size was extremely small compared to world population. This makes it seem as though everyone is anticipating the apocalypse. Though, if the survey had included the majority of the world's population, who knows what the statistic would be? Maybe their small sample does account for the entire world. It does seem that in today's society that there is always a new apocalypse theory floating around. It's almost as if we crave for it to happen. No matter how many times apocalypse dates have come and gone, there is always another one next in line. The media and news outlets fuel these theories, which in turn recruits more believers, creating a never ending circle.
-Erica
Interesting statistics. I personally believe that it could happen in my life time but I also see this apocalypse/Armageddon dealio turning out like Y2K.
^^^^^^
-Taylor E.
I find it surprising that so many people are afraid of the end of the world. I would have never guess ed that the number is so high. It just never crosses my mind
Tazheem Rubio
Thinking that the end of days will occur in one’s own lifetime is no new occurrence in the history of apocalyptic; in fact, it is arguably the trend rather than the exception. I would argue that this is due to humanity’s tendency to have a self-centered perspective on the world. It can be hard to step outside of yourself to see your relative position in history. So far the apocalypse hasn’t occurred despite great numbers of people thinking that they are living on the verge of the end of days.
I was surprised at the statistic that 10 percent of the world population thinks that the Mayan calendar could signal that the apocalypse will occur in 2012 considering that the civilization and its beliefs are long lost to history. I think people’s focus on the 2012 Mayan apocalypse phenomenon is due mostly to its constant reference in pop-culture and media, rather than any sort of sincere spiritual belief.
Additionally, with all of the different religions and creeds that exist in the world today and have apocalyptic beliefs/notions, who is to say which one, if any, is correct?
Max Hesser-Knoll
I think that some people want the end of the world.
Not in a bad way, like wanting billions of people to die or the world to be destroyed or anything. But pop culture has romanticised the end of the known world. Look at Book of Eli, or Resident Evil, or the new show Walking Dead. People wouldn't watch them if they in some way didn't want to be in there figuring out a new way to survive.
I myself think about it a lot, its a different kind of world the "post apocalyptic". Its a bit like really dangerous backpacking. Its about surviving. You aren't worried about your speech tomorrow, or that you lost the website for your teachers blog and haven't commented on anything, or that its 4 in the morning on a school day. All you worry about is how am I going to survive till tomorrow. What lines will I cross to make that happen.
Its an interesting and different world, in the post apocalyptic at least its simple. It levels the playing field, doesn't matter how many cars you own or who your father is. You are the only thing that can keep you alive.
As for the Mayan prediction? Well there are always people willing to believe in the next end of the world, if any of them had been right maybe I would believe also.
But hey, it they only need to be right once.
- Scott, the very tired but worried about his grade semi-survivalist.
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