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Marlene Speck

Policy Mic

(The) trend towards negative news coverage – combined with the fact that people gain the vast majority of their information from the media – can create fear-driven behaviors that seem to fly in the face of reason or at least lack any scientific evidence. In the case of doomsday 2012, the message led to public worries causing a couple of people to even spend large amounts of money in search of an effective remedy against the world’s end. Reinforced through updates permanently spread by the media and also movies like “2012 Doomsday” by Nick Everhart, the apocalyptic panic gains currency and nurtures an industry of people trying to exploit this by offering products said to ensure your survival.

Staff Report

International Business Times
Rumors are flying that Snooki's due date is Dec. 21, 2012, the day Mayans predicted the world will end. Is it true?

The rumor that the "Jersey Shore" star (real name Nicole Polizzi)'s baby is due on 12/21/12 have set the Internet abuzz with speculation about the meaning of what would be quite the cosmic coincidence.

(Just as an aside, the human gestation takes nine months, give or take a day or two. This article appeared on March 1, 2012. Now, perhaps Snooki is an alien – something I personally suspect – if so, then a 10-month gestation period might be possible. However, if she’s human, then her due date is not 12/21/12 unless she plans to get pregnant around March 21, give or take a day or two.)

Anonymous
Scholars & Rogues
(Baby Boomers) have decided that if our time is finite, that must mean that civilization itself is finite, too. The end of the world and our end are contemporaneous. And who can blame us? We are so very wonderful that it’s hard to imagine the world without us. Or even why anyone might possibly want to live in a world without us. Nope, if we are leaving, might as well shut this whole thing down and start over.

Editorial, The Scotsman
Most respected, conventional scholars, both Christians and Muslims, usually refrain from making fantastical links between current affairs and religious prophecy. Some may even consider such commentaries heretical, as they can cheapen the faith. After all, history is full of men who predicted the end of the world, only to be left disappointed.

Stephanie Thompson
The Brooklyn Paper

I believe wholeheartedly in the power of stories. I have to in order to be a writer. But I don’t think Doomsday stories do anyone any favors. Just like any other dire prediction, they mostly cause more harm than good. There is a certain necessity to caution warnings, but the truth is that we mostly don’t know things for sure, so why not look on the bright side? Why spend the whole year worrying about The End when you could be more productively figuring how to enjoy it?