2012: Why ask NASA??

[BigDallasDick8x6]

Firstly, it's the Mayan calendar that runs out in 2012, not the Aztecs'. If you're going to be crazy, at least get what few facts you have straight.

Secondly: Aw, not this shit again.

Thank you for your well thought out and articulate response. It was very helpful. Now I understand the issue completely.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

First off, it's the Mayans, not the Aztecs. Second, NASA would be a viable resource since the Mayan calendar was based on the movement of Earth throughout the galaxy and universe, whereas ours is based upon Earth's movements throughout our solar system. The debate isn't about how would NASA know, the debate is about the Earth crossing a plane in line with the direct center of the galaxy or universe (can't remember which), which is why NASA would be a reliable resource as to determine whether or not this event will actually take place on the specified date. In actuality, the event already happend a couple decades ago, but most still hold on to the 2012 date as their is so much folk-lore about it.

The date doesn't mark the end of the world, it marks the end (and beginning) of a time period. Just as the Earth makes a path around the sun every 365 days, it also makes a path around the center of the galaxy (I think this is how it works, it's been awhile since I've researched this) So for the Mayans, and everyone else I guess, Dec. 21 2012 marks the end of one cycle (or "orbit" if you want to think of it like that), much like Jan. 1 2010 will mark the end and beginning of a new Earth year. Same principal but on a much larger scale.

AHA!!!!!!! Finally an answer to my question. Thank you Lucky8. Next time I'll just go to you directly!

I do think CNN could have done a better job at explaining WHY they went to NASA. It's not immediately apparent from the piece they are running. Maybe they need to hire you as a consultant.

Thanks again for one of the few non-snarky responses. Hopefully some of the others will increase the amount of fiber in their diet.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

And by the way Lucky8, if there is every ANYTHING I can do for you....

LOL

 

[novice_btm]

All the Mayan calendar gives is an ending date. It doesn't say anything about planetary collisions etc.

Yes if you're going to ask if an asteroid is on target to hit Earth, of course the authority would be NASA. If you ask --"When will the world end?", I'm not so sure they'd be on top of the list.

Ah, OK, see, I've always heard that the speculation associated with the Mayans (2012), was that "the end" would be due to an asteroid collision, so it made sense to me right away. But, yeah, I agree, if we're just generically talking about "the end", via some random cause, then NASA would be on the list, along with the CDC, political analysts, etc., but not the sole source.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

Ah, OK, see, I've always heard that the speculation associated with the Mayans (2012), was that "the end" would be due to an asteroid collision, so it made sense to me right away. But, yeah, I agree, if we're just generically talking about "the end", via some random cause, then NASA would be on the list, along with the CDC, political analysts, etc., but not the sole source.

Right on. And I do think asteroids are well down on the list of problems we have. We'll probably kill each other before some asteroid does.

Do you know anything about the movie? Is that the premise -- that it's an asteroid? If so, then it's pretty funny that a MOVIE would cause CNN to go to NASA over it. I would simply tell people -- It's just a MOVIE. LOL.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

Here's the synopsis of the movie --
2012 (2009/I) - Synopsis

 

[rob_just_rob]

It's interesting that 3 years is apparently the cut-off point for how far into the future members of our current society are prepared to look. Good to know.

 

[Pendlum]

There is going to be a fairly unique cosmic alignment when the calendar ends. That is something Nasa would also know about that. It wont do anything of course.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

It's interesting that 3 years is apparently the cut-off point for how far into the future members of our current society are prepared to look. Good to know.

Yeah and unfortunately that's also the length of time of our presidential election campaigns. LOL.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

There is going to be a fairly unique cosmic alignment when the calendar ends. That is something Nasa would also know about that. It wont do anything of course.

Yup. What Lucky8 said.
I think CNN could have done a better job of explaining it.

 

[2322]

Really? You'd equate the legitimacy of NASA and JPL to the WWN, in matters science related to space?

Again, I thought you'd know I was only being facetious. I guess we don't know each other as well as I thought.

I worked one summer in a Walden Books transfer facility. It was a big warehouse type place where trucks came in, we sorted the unsold books they dropped off into boxes, scanned them, and then sent them off on their way back to publishers. It was hot, dusty, difficult work in a poorly ventilated space. I had to quit after two months when I started coughing-up black sputum.

In the break area there were always a few copies of Weekly World News around and I learned really quickly to keep my mouth shut instead of making jokes about it. Some, not all certainly, but some of my coworkers read WWN as seriously as someone might read Atlantic Monthly or The Economist. This came as a genuine surprise to me and since then, I've come to learn that not everybody has the same basis of understanding of the world as I. There are a lot of people out there, and more than you may think, for whom if something is published in print or shown on TV, then it must be true.

 

[nudeyorker]

I saw this movie last night. Great fun, cool special effects. You get to see LA get demolished again in a movie. It was about an hour too long for my taste. Not too worried about this happening!
YouTube - 2012 Movie Trailer

 

[Pendlum]

Yup. What Lucky8 said.
I think CNN could have done a better job of explaining it.

They aren't serious about it. They are milking it. Just like Discovery and The History channel are. Just like they did when The Da Vinci Code got people all excited.

 

[TurkeyWithaSunburn]

It is an interesting alignment with the center of the Milky Way.

Look at it this way though, if an apocalypse were to happen, wouldn't it have happened the last time this alignment occured?? You'll find your answer for what will happen this time.

 

[Calboner]

I worked one summer in a Walden Books transfer facility. It was a big warehouse type place where trucks came in, we sorted the unsold books they dropped off into boxes, scanned them, and then sent them off on their way back to publishers. It was hot, dusty, difficult work in a poorly ventilated space. I had to quit after two months when I started coughing-up black sputum.

In the break area there were always a few copies of Weekly World News around and I learned really quickly to keep my mouth shut instead of making jokes about it. Some, not all certainly, but some of my coworkers read WWN as seriously as someone might read Atlantic Monthly or The Economist. This came as a genuine surprise to me and since then, I've come to learn that not everybody has the same basis of understanding of the world as I. There are a lot of people out there, and more than you may think, for whom if something is published in print or shown on TV, then it must be true.

One sees the evidence of this every day, yet it is still distressing to contemplate. I suspect, though, that you have left out something: would these people be equally credulous toward publications that deny the existence of aliens in spaceships, diabolical global conspiracies, and whatever other crazy crap they read about in Weekly World News? Surely they are credulous only toward "reports" that appeal to them emotionally.

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

They aren't serious about it. They are milking it. Just like Discovery and The History channel are. Just like they did when The Da Vinci Code got people all excited.

Ok, I can see that. (And thanks for being one of the few people to realize my post is about CNN.) Thanks for the insight.

Yeah don't get me started on the DaVinci Code. LOL

 

[BigDallasDick8x6]

I saw this movie last night. Great fun, cool special effects. You get to see LA get demolished again in a movie. It was about an hour too long for my taste. Not too worried about this happening!
YouTube - 2012 Movie Trailer

Yeah seeing LA destroyed is always a good time. LOL. Funny it happens so often in movies produced by people living in LA.

Reminds me of a comedian talking about the Lifetime Channel who asked why, if it is a channel owned by and for women, all the stories are about women getting beaten up? Good point.

 

[Calboner]

It seems that the History Channel has issued a casting call for a "project" on whether the world is going to end in 2012:

http://skepticblog.org/2009/11/12/we-want-you-to-promote-2012/

Excerpt:

The audience does not have much expertise in science beyond what we, as the content providers, give them. So, at the end of the day, the blame for the plummeting quality of science broadcasting has to land squarely in the lap of the producers of shows like this one. Audiences are not demanding true information or false information: They demand good entertainment. The value of the information we choose to deliver with that entertainment is the measure of our character.

 

[2322]

One sees the evidence of this every day, yet it is still distressing to contemplate. I suspect, though, that you have left out something: would these people be equally credulous toward publications that deny the existence of aliens in spaceships, diabolical global conspiracies, and whatever other crazy crap they read about in Weekly World News? Surely they are credulous only toward "reports" that appeal to them emotionally.

I find people are credulous only of what they are capable of making some sense of. It doesn't matter if it's logical or right. It just matters that it sounds right to them. Climbing up a mountain you find a stone covered with seashell fossils. Some people will see that as proof of Noah's ark, others will see it as evidence of pre-Cambrian or Devonian shelf exposure resulting from tectonic upthrust. If you have no concept of why a fossil can be found thousands of feet above sea level, then you use the simplest explanation you know of.

A lot of people have a problem with being wrong or admitting to being duped even when they know they have. I didn't make a lot of friends at the book warehouse when I pointed out various flaws in the articles. At one point I just gave-up and didn't discuss anything in that or other similar tabloids in the break area. People need certain foundations in reasoning to be able to see through this stuff and a lot of people simply don't have those.

Reminds me of a comedian talking about the Lifetime Channel who asked why, if it is a channel owned by and for women, all the stories are about women getting beaten up? Good point.

I've wondered about this too. Their ads are just as bad. They're all about security systems showing ridiculous scenarios of women alone at home when some intruder tries to break in and is scared away by the alarm system. I call Lifetime, "The Menopause Channel," because it's all about women in crisis. As a network it has devolved into a total disappointment along with the other channels supposedly developed to educate.

 

[2322]

Oh and this is the casting call for a History Channel "documentary" on 2012. As you can see, expertise is not necessarily as important as being a believer.