But how many people actually think that their death and the Big Death will coincide? For, we always think that, in spite of our individual deaths, the world will go on without us. In the best-case scenario, we think of death as a party where all our loved ones will be around us, saying their farewells as we (hopefully) take our gentle leave.
We never imagine that it could be in our lifetime that everyone will be scampering pell-mell, trying to outrun Death.
Whether it is the end of the world, and what constitutes "the end", is largely interpretive.
Does everything go, or just human life? Will Earth be recycled for other life forms (like apes, for instance)?
If extrapolations on the Mayan long count calendar are correct and the "end of the world" heralds a dimensional transcendence, "the end" may only be a change in life as we know it.
Popular apocalyptic-themed movies present the end of the world as a rebirth; the start of a new beginning. It is on this premise that "doomsday preppers" base their motivations -- to survive the fire and rise out of the ashes, reborn, like a phoenix. Whether that will actually be the case, and whether there is any existence left to give tangible meaning to "survive" is an idea that can only be proved "on the other side". But the preppers' sheer will to survive, in spite of the odds, is admirable; few would go through the bother of trying so hard to survive, preferring, instead, to sit on the sofa watching television programmes about other people's preparations.
If anything positive can be taken from what is "predicted" to befall us on Friday, perhaps it is in taking note of how fragile life and existence can be.
For instance, if a solar flare is going to take out Earth's entire electrical grid, how much of life would break down without electricity?
Besides the obvious, such as lights, air-conditioners, television, telephones and computers, a lack of electricity would also affect pumps that bring in water and take out sewage.
How quickly would life break down, and what meaning would life have without these modern amenities? We shouldn't need a Dec 21st to figure that out.
No comments:
Post a Comment