Saturday, December 10
♥ Extended Definition Essay: The End of the World
The end of times has always been an intriguing topic in the history of mankind. It seems that ever since the advent of civilization to modern times, man has never been able to completely eliminate from his mind the idea of doomsday that, theoretically, would result in the complete demise of the world. It is also one of the diverse subjects in almost all religions and is a continuing debate in science. Accordingly, this essay aims to explore the prophecies and predictions about the end of the world, may they be religion-based or scientific.
In the religious aspect, the end of the world is regarded as the Last Judgment. The Western prophetic religions such as Catholicism, Islam and Judaism have their own concepts of this. In Catholicism, there is the so-called “Second Coming”, wherein Christ will return from heaven to Earth. All people will stand before him and be judged. Their souls will go to heaven, hell or purgatory depending on their state. This belief of the Catholics holds similarities to the Muslim’s imagery of the Last Judgment. In Islamic belief, all people will die at doomsday and will be resurrected. After that, they will be judged by two angels, Munkar and Nakir. Their souls will either be sent to paradise or hell. As for the Judaic concept of the Last Judgment, it is relatively simple. There will be a day of Yahweh, God of Israel. As a consequence of the sins of Judah, a judgment will occur in Israel and all nations, which will then inaugurate the Kingdom of God.
There are certain biblical prophecies concerning the end of the world. The most dominant is, of course, the Book of Revelation. It is synonymous to the Apocalypse, which means to unveil or reveal. The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy about the end of times, portraying series of events that will happen before the Final Judgment. It is the last book in the New Testament of the Bible. It begins with the letters sent to the seven churches of Asia Minor and proceeds to narrate the disasters that will happen on earth, in which the mark of the beast will be the start-off. Next in line is the Battle of Armageddon, which refers to the great conflict between the forces of Satan and the forces of God. Satan will be defeated; thus, God will reign and the Final Judgment will occur.
In science, many predictions are present as to how the world will end, which are normally called “extinction events” or “biotic crises”. These predictions usually refer to various “doomsday events”, events leading up to the utter annihilation of humanity along with the world. Several of these can be categorized as natural occurrences. One example of a natural occurrence is the gamma ray burst. In theory, gamma rays from neutron stars and black hole will break nitrogen bonds in the upper atmosphere and break down the ozone layer. This will result in an explosion that would last less than a minute but would cause devastation on earth. The cosmic rays from the burst would cause radiation damage, which is harmful to all humans. Another example is the impact event. It is caused by the collision of large meteoroids, asteroids or comets with Earth. This would effectively wipe out the existence of life. Last example is the vacuum metastability event. This will happen when the energy levels of the universe’s vacuum become unstable. The effect would be a light-speed burst that would instantly kill all human beings.
Some predictions, on the other hand, fall in the category of manmade events. First example is the “grey-goo” scenario, which is simply a catastrophic scene wherein nanotechnology replicators became out-of-control. They will convert the natural environment into nanomass or replicas of themselves, which would then erase all forms of life on Earth. Another example of a manmade event is nuclear or biological warfare. The definition comes from the name itself, for it is a war in which nuclear weapons are used. A doomsday clock would be activated as a symbolic countdown to the war after the first use of nuclear weapons. The last example is the cybernetic revolt scenario. This is an event wherein AIs (Artificial Intelligence) or robots think of humans as threats, and therefore they would try to destroy or enslave them, resulting in machine rule.
Many have probably heard that the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012. This so-called prediction has various roots, one of which is the famous Mayan calendar. It has been said that this calendar is set to end its final baktun (cycle) on Dec. 21, 2012. It is speculated that the Mayans believed that on the final baktun, the gods would create a “new world”, destroying what remains of the “old world”. One speculation about this is that on the said date, there will be a rare alignment of the Milky Way Galaxy that will cause a shift of the magnetic poles, which will greatly affect the geographic patters of the earth. Another conclusion is that on the same date, Planet X or Nibiru will “return”. According to Sumerian mythology, this is the home planet of Anunnaki, the ones who created humanity. Whether this is true or not, there is a supposed scientific claim of a planet that orbits in our solar system once every 3,600 years. If this planet (believed to be the Planet X) were to cause a disruption in our orbits, this would cause danger to Earth and its inhabitants. Another theory that is relative to the 2012 prediction is a release of a powerful solar flare. The sun regularly releases solar flares, but they aren’t harmful enough to cause any danger for they are blocked by the Earth’s natural magnetic fields, causing it to partially block and deflect some of the incoming flares. Scientists have researched this and they claim that the sun could release a large powerful solar flare around 2012. This will cause severe danger to all forms of life.
Nostradamus, a well-known figure for the seemingly prophetically messages hidden in his texts, had his own prediction about the end of the world. Based on his quatrains, a comet will cause massive destruction and havoc. All interpreters of his quatrain agreed that this comet will arrive sometime in December 2012. Nostradamus also claimed that due to the massive destruction, there will be widespread anarchy. Strong nations will take advantage of this and will try to attain supremacy over the other countries, resulting in a third world war. But the doomsday predictions don’t stop there. Recently, Harold Camping claimed that the “Rapture” or Christ’s return will happen on May 21, 2011 and that the end of the world would occur five months later, which is on Oct. 21, 2011. He even said that a series of earthquakes would occur that would kill most people and those who survived would suffer great torment. When the Rapture didn’t occur, Camping reclaimed that May 21st was just a spiritual judgment and that the Rapture would happen on Oct. 21st. But then again, it didn’t happen.
Truly, there are many speculations about the end of the world that could drive anyone crazy. While some of these had become failures, others are still being anticipated to occur. Though these predictions and prophecies sound terrifying, they remain as theories; therefore, there is no assurance that these things are really going to happen. The world may end some time or another, but that’s the least of anyone’s problems now. What’s more important is the present, in which one should start making his stay on earth worthwhile. We do not live to exist, but rather we exist to live.
References:
N.A. (2011). Last Judgment. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/331102/Last-Judgment
N.A. (N.D.). The Book of Revelation. Retrieved from http://biblescripture.net/Revelation.html
Willis, M. (1978, April 20). The Battle of Armageddon: Its Biblical Significance. Retrieved from http://truthmagazine.com/archives/volume22/TM022142.html?PHPSESSID=0db824df6a a3d994bcee2435d31fd058
N.A. (N.D.). The End of the World – Supernovae, Asteroids, Gamma Rays, and Magnetars. Retrieved from http://www.spacetravel.org/the-planets-of-the-solar- system/endworldsupernovaeasteroids.html
N.A. (2007, June 4). Natural Disasters List – Mother Earth’s Wrath. Retrieved from http://www.armageddononline.org/natural-disaster-list.html
Poisuo, P. (2011, April 19). 7 Horrible Ways The Universe Can Destroy Us Without Warning. Retrieved from http://www.cracked.com/article_19117_7-horrible-ways-universe-can- destroy-us-without-warning.html
Freitas, R. (2001, March 20). The Gray Goo Problem. Retrieved from http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-gray-goo-problem
N.A. (N.D.). Nuclear Warfare & Atomic Weapons FAQ. Retrieved from http://www.armageddononline.org/nuclear_warfare.php
N.A. (2009, July 18). Cybernetic Revolt – Rise of the Machines. Retrieved from http://www.armageddononline.org/Cybernetic-Revolt-Rise-of-the-Machines.html
N.A. (N.D.). The Mayan Calendar 2012 Deadline. Retrieved from http://www.december2012endofworld.com/mayan-calendar-2012
N.A. (N.D.). Revelations of Nostradamus Predictions for 2012. Retrieved from http://www.december2012endofworld.com/nostradamus-2012
Duell, M., Stevens, J. (2011, November 1). The end really is nigh: Doomsday prophet Harold Camping resigns and apologizes after two failed predictions in five months. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056215/Doomsday-prophet-Harold- Camping-resigns-apologises-failed-predictions-months.html
12/10/2011 10:31:00 AM
