Hunt is a junior business major and can be reached at katherine.hunt@drake.edu
December 21, 2012. June 6, 2006. Y2K. These are just three of the hundreds of possible doomsdays available to the planet and its inhabitants. Although there were other instances where various individuals thought the world would end due to the Rapture, or the planets aligning or because Jesus Christ would return again, these three instances are the most popular.
Some people believe that the world will truly end on Dec. 21, because it is the end of the Mayan calendar. The Mayans were known for being extremely accurate. Whether it’s a polar shift, a black hole alignment or a giant meteor hitting the Earth that causes the end of the world — it is impossible to guess at this time. There are also massive critics on the situation, including NASA, just like there were with the other two popular dates that were supposed to be the apocalypse. Then, there’s my simple common sense thought: the Mayans did not include leap days on their calendar. Following this logic, with the leap days we’ve had since they existed, the world would have ended several months ago. Yet, here we stand still freaking out over what a bunch of dead people said thousands of years ago.
June 6, 2006, 6/6/6 or the “Number of the Beast,” as it had been named, was supposed to be the day when one of two things were to happen. First, the Rapture was supposed to occur. The Rapture is a Biblical idea where millions of people are to disappear within a blink of an eye without leaving a trace. Those left behind will be condemned to die. Or, second, the Anti-Christ (another religious concept) was supposed to reveal his or her self on this day. The anti-Christ is to bring the end of the world by bringing everyone together, but silently murdering all who resist. There is still no official anti-Christ today, yet in recent years, it has been rumored that anyone from President Barack Obama to Justin Bieber could be the anti-Christ. Again, it’s hypothetical with no proof whatsoever.
The year 2000, or Y2K was not a religious apocalypse at all. Instead, it was a technology scare. Many people thought the world would collapse due to technology failure. The failure would have come from the numerical dating systems crashing, because earlier programming only had two-digit numbering (98 for 1998, etc.). Once the year 2000 would start, the numbers couldn’t go back to 00, because that was 1900. The government asked everyone to stock up on supplies just to be safe. Instead of celebrating for the New Year, people were bunkering down in shelters expecting the Terminator to reenact itself on Earth. However, it was a complete hoax. It was an exceptionally easy fix on all programming.
If going out and buying supplies to have ready on Dec. 21, eases the mind, then do it. However, don’t be surprised if the world is still completely normal on Dec. 22. That means for students everywhere: don’t expect your professors to accept the excuse “I thought the world was going to end.” Other dates have come and gone that were supposed to be the end of the world, what’s so special about 2012?