The End is Near! That’s at least what humans have been saying before we even evolved to record our history. I’m really curious as to why this is a reoccurring phenomena, especially as we have gained more knowledge about the universe and our world. The “reasonable” modern perspective is that despite the chaos of our society, the world will keep spinning (though an ecological disaster due to global warming is a pressing issue). There are a lot of examples of the fear of the end, such as religious ideas like the rapture in Christianity, or the cold war and fear of nuclear annihilation following World War II, as well as natural disasters like major earthquakes, massive floods, and severe droughts. Of course, in some of these situations, many people died and the disastrous element was reality, but the event stirred great unrest and fear of the world ending. But even so, time and time again the world has continued to spin. The entire idea of human anticipation of the apocalypse is fascinating, as we have doomsday preppers and people exploring an escape to Mars, all while we continue to damage the only world we have. Some anticipate the end with fear and focus on survival, while others eagerly await the end to come, while most choose to not think of such a thing and know that whatever happens is beyond their control. My own grandmother played an audiobook that claimed that the second coming would happen in 2016, and somehow it was all connected to the tragedy of 9/11, but I was just an eleven year-old freaked out if I was going to get into heaven or not. I think that kind of information can be really damaging to people, especially children. There’s a lot to be worried about in this world, but we as a society we need to actually plan for the future rather than destroying the world we have today or wishing for it all to end.
Great comments and insights, thanks. You touch on the contrary nature of human nature. We have boundless opportunities to make the world a better place, and yet we keep struggling for harmony. Thanks for mentioning preppers. I think there are more now than ever before, and numbers continue to rise. I agree that humans have always been anticipating the apocalypse, regardless of how it's defined. I wish our age was more optimistic. Interesting that your grandmother was led to believe that 2016 would be the Second Coming. I had not heard about 2016 before. I wonder how many times there have been publications predicting the Second Coming. I would guess tons.
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