It seems that there are a number of people who believe that 2012 means the end of the world. An apocalypse is coming according to the Mayan calender, or, more accurately, a misreading of the Mayan calender.

This is all based on the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar which will cycle to the end of an age on December 20, 2012 with a new age beginning the next day. The Mayan’s were decent mathematicians but didn’t really predict the end of the world. They just needed a system to keep up with longer periods of time and, in a fit of engineering foresight, stretched this out to a very long period of time.

Like any good engineering effort, the marketing people got involved and made it something it wasn’t. In this case, it was 20th century newagers who needed their very own apocalyptic mythology and seized upon this little quirk in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Since it was native American in origin this gave them a convenient hook to hang their mythology upon.

Well, I think you can rest easy on December 2012. What say you?

Tags: 2012, Apocalypse, calendar, end of the world, end of time, Long Count, Mesoamerican