reply to post by blocula
I think your theory is as good as any and I like the ring it makes.
I think the 2012 thing is ballyhoo. Sure, something could happen, but it would one of the very few times that soothsayers are right. My gut tells me
that it'll be just like any other prediction of world catastrophe. 2013 will come around and we'll all try to move on. Many are going to feel real
stupid when it doesn't happen. For example, I thought the world was ending in 2001. It didn't. I felt worthless. Maybe it was necessary for me to
finally shed my christian faith. But I don't feel too much better even 10 years post 2001. I still feel incompetent and not worth my weight.
Look... All of us humans... We're insignificant. Imagine the letter 'o' (lowercase and a tiny tiny bit larger... as I see it on my monitor) about 60
feet from a soccer ball. The soccer ball is the sun. The 'o' is the earth. Now imagine the 'o' revolving around the soccer ball at about 60 feet
distance. These're rough, but accurate enough estimations of scale. Now keep in mind that the sun is beaming energy equivalent to what we receive 60
feet away in ALL directions. Now picture yourself, a puny human, on the surface of the 'o'. That makes you small, doesn't it? When you go outside, you
can feel the heat of the sun when it hits you. Isn't that amazing? What fraction are we compared to an 'o'? Can you imagine seeing yourself on this ->
o ? And keeping in mind that the suns energy has to pass through our atmosphere and lose some of its energy before we feel its warmth, there's a lot
of energy packed in that tiny cosmic ray.
Some people don't like to believe they're insignificant. So they created religion. Or they created a very proud human-centered perspective on the
universe. Or an elaborate spiritualism.
Some people bury themselves in a subject or way of life to feel meaningful.
Me, for example, I believe AI and changing technology is larger news.
What if 2012 IS the END? Well? What if Santa Claus is real? What if the moon is spaghetti?
And we all do this. Even I do it. There's no way around it. Life is a bitch. Peace and love.
Some music: search "Vangelis - Elsewhere" on youtube.
And then... some music that's less abstract, more restrained, more pragmatic:
edit on 19-12-2011 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)
Priceless ! 
