The Cellar

The Cellar (http://cellar.org/index.php)
-   Philosophy (http://cellar.org/forumdisplay.php?f=25)
-   -   The world is going to end and I need you to know about it (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=29674)

Undertoad 11-27-2013 09:51 AM

The world is going to end and I need you to know about it
 
....eh, not really.

Armageddon, the story of how the world ends, is the most important story of all. It's the basis of all religions, and one of the most common themes in storytelling.

As God is losing respect as a force for complete destruction, now we turn to other stories about how we will all die. Meteor from outer space, atomic winter, Y2K, robots taking over, technology going awry, genetic engineering, global warming, overfishing, overpopulation, and other forms of ecological disaster.

It's whatever seems plausible at the time. In the 50s, technology going crazy became a common theme. On December 31, 1999, technology failing due to a simple rounding error was more plausible.

:yeldead: :yeldead: :yeldead: :yeldead: :yeldead:

But the reaction I think you should always have is:

NAHHHHHHHHH.

Armageddon has been predicted SO MUCH, and has NEVER come about, for a reason: when you add the end of the world to a story, people listen a lot harder, and share that story a lot harder.

That's all. It's a thing: ideas spread when they are considered important, and here is the most important thing of all. But so far, so good: after millions of predictions of armageddon, all seeming plausible, it has never actually happened. (Duh.)

And now that we have more educated experts than at any time throughout history, it's more likely that we can plan around or fix things, well before things are going desperately wrong. But as stories go, the story where mankind uses its hard-fought knowledge to fix everything is not a story we enjoy repeating. So you won't hear that prediction.

Remember this as you go about the Internets, and you will notice the predictions happening... and the world will be much less scary!

Lamplighter 11-27-2013 10:09 AM

Quote:

... and the world will be much less scary!
But scary is a good thing... look at how kids love ghost stories

footfootfoot 11-27-2013 10:11 AM

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Armageddon.
Armageddon, who?
Armageddon tired of all these apocalypse fails.

According to Bart Ehrman in his lecture on "Lost Christianities" the book of revelations was just one of many examples of the apocalyptic genre that was popular at the time.
Perhaps it was proto slasher flick

Clodfobble 11-27-2013 01:20 PM

Destruction of the world and the human race? Yes, that's silly.

Collapse of society and a return to a much simpler life before the human race figures its shit out and climbs back once again? I'd say that's inevitable. Unlike real Armageddon, societal collapse and turnover has happened many, many times throughout history.

Not saying I think we're on the brink of it at this exact moment. But I believe the cycle will continue as a cycle, not a forever-forward march.

Gravdigr 11-27-2013 03:23 PM

One should live one's life as if today is the last day for people on Earth.

lumberjim 11-27-2013 10:59 PM

I wonder if the dinosaurs told apocalyptic stories.

Gravdigr 11-28-2013 02:05 PM

Shoulda made a different wish on that last falling star...

lumberjim 11-29-2013 07:27 AM

Dinosaurs had Walnut brains, but maybe they had just gotten so advanced, that they could think more with less Grey matter. Computer chips keep getting smaller. Maybe their brains had evolved towards miniaturization.

Clodfobble 11-29-2013 07:43 AM

Those fancy dinosaur scientists saw the asteroid coming, but the dinosaur astronomers told them that the nearest galaxy was still too far away, they didn't have enough rocket fuel to get them all the way there. So they devised a cunning plan to transfer all their personalities into tiny bird bodies, and convert their giant dinosaur bodies into rocket fuel for the trip. And it would have worked, too! But they just couldn't get off-planet in time. Now they're trapped in bird bodies, watching us burn up all their precious fuel that they worked so hard to make, unable to warn us that they made it for a reason. And when our asteroid comes, we too will not have enough resources to get away, and the birds will laugh, and laugh.

Griff 11-29-2013 08:15 AM

holy shit! You figured it all out.

Lamplighter 11-29-2013 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff (Post 884639)
holy shit! You figured it all out.

Yes, that's a great story line for a movie...

richlevy 11-29-2013 10:03 AM

Armageddon has actually come and gone a few times. In ancient times, when most people were likely to live and die without having traveled more than 50 miles from home, a regional event was 'the end of the world'.

Usually, this involved a volcano, but it could be from an earthquake or even a comet, either directly or from tsunami or flood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_myth

All of this would seem like ancient history if it weren't for the natural disasters we encountered this year as well the meteor near miss in Russia

http://news.discovery.com/space/aste...ely-131107.htm

or the discovery of large undersea volcanoes that come close to matching the largest in our solar system

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/...n-earth-found/

(sorry for the FoxNews science link, but they can't be wrong all of the time);)

So if you have an event that affects an area of 100 to 1000 miles, that qualifies as 'the end of the world'.

sexobon 11-29-2013 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble (Post 884635)
Those fancy dinosaur scientists saw the asteroid coming, but the dinosaur astronomers told them that the nearest galaxy was still too far away, they didn't have enough rocket fuel to get them all the way there. So they devised a cunning plan to transfer all their personalities into tiny bird bodies, and convert their giant dinosaur bodies into rocket fuel for the trip. And it would have worked, too! But they just couldn't get off-planet in time. Now they're trapped in bird bodies, watching us burn up all their precious fuel that they worked so hard to make, unable to warn us that they made it for a reason. And when our asteroid comes, we too will not have enough resources to get away, and the birds will laugh, and laugh.

:lol:

Now we know that the moral of Armageddon is: Bird is the Word!

Pico and ME 11-30-2013 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble (Post 884635)
Those fancy dinosaur scientists saw the asteroid coming, but the dinosaur astronomers told them that the nearest galaxy was still too far away, they didn't have enough rocket fuel to get them all the way there. So they devised a cunning plan to transfer all their personalities into tiny bird bodies, and convert their giant dinosaur bodies into rocket fuel for the trip. And it would have worked, too! But they just couldn't get off-planet in time. Now they're trapped in bird bodies, watching us burn up all their precious fuel that they worked so hard to make, unable to warn us that they made it for a reason. And when our asteroid comes, we too will not have enough resources to get away, and the birds will laugh, and laugh.

That's fantastic! :)

Gravdigr 12-01-2013 02:30 PM

Is this why the caged bird sings?

Big Sarge 12-09-2013 06:48 AM

I don't believe the Book of Revelations should have been included in the Bible

Gravdigr 12-10-2013 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Sarge (Post 885415)
I don't believe the Book of Revelations should have been included in the Bible

What, you only believe in happy endings?

Sheldonrs 12-12-2013 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravdigr (Post 885585)
What, you only believe in happy endings?

I do! ;-)

toranokaze 12-12-2013 11:27 PM

But Revelations is a happy ending.

orthodoc 12-12-2013 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Sarge (Post 885415)
I don't believe the Book of Revelations should have been included in the Bible

If it helps at all, the Orthodox Church only included it after prolonged argument and with serious reservations. It's the only book of the Bible that is never quoted in Orthodox services. Every other book is extensively referenced; the Revelation to John, not at all.

JBKlyde 12-17-2013 11:44 AM

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/ame...lled-iraq-war/

Big Sarge 12-17-2013 03:19 PM

JB - How do you know these 500 people killed a year by police were innocent?

JBKlyde 12-17-2013 05:40 PM

I don't I just "see" that it's a growing problem.. I had a cop try to kick my arse only I fought back and didn't give him the opp to brutality me.. and then I just plead mercy of the court and got off scott free.. it could have been worst had I not been in a church parking lot and had there been more than one cop... when more "civilians" are being killed in america then "soliders" in war we deff have a problem... I am not saying the problem is solely with the police obviously it is the unrest of the people that is growing and the police need to figure more civilized ways to solve these problems... police and soldiers as the rest of the .gov are here to serve the people not the other way around..

Undertoad 12-23-2013 04:13 PM

http://www.philly.com/philly/obituar...ictor__92.html

Quote:

Harold Camping, 92, the California preacher who used his evangelical radio ministry and thousands of billboards to broadcast the end of the world and then gave up public prophecy when his date-specific doomsdays did not come to pass, died at his Oakland-area home Sunday. He he had been hospitalized after falling.

His most widely spread prediction was that the Rapture would happen May 21, 2011. His independent Christian media empire spent millions of dollars - some of it from donations made by followers who quit their jobs and sold all their possessions- to spread the word on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

When the Judgment Day he foresaw did not materialize, the preacher revised his prophecy, saying he had been off by five months.

JBKlyde 12-23-2013 09:52 PM

http://kimclementvault.com/prophecyread.asp?num=625


spell it out to me about this guy.. sitting on a high horse hiding in a closet profesying death money and war over people claiming to be some kind of profet to america and he's not even an american... bullshit dude I'm calling his bluff right here... play your hand or forever be known as a false profiit kim

xoxoxoBruce 12-28-2013 12:01 AM

Ah yes, but a very wealthy false profit.;)

Sheldonrs 12-31-2013 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 887292)
Ah yes, but a very wealthy false profit.;)

The weird thing was, when I worked at Make-A-Wish, we used to get a lot of big donations from him and his "church".

JBKlyde 12-31-2013 05:42 PM

As God is losing respect as a force for complete destruction, now we turn to other stories about how we will all die. Meteor from outer space, atomic winter, Y2K, robots taking over, technology going awry, genetic engineering, global warming, overfishing, overpopulation, and other forms of ecological disaster.

you forgot to mention the killer whores..


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:01 AM.

Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.