http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjKUqQ2uSzg&feature=plcp&context=C331a118UDOEgsToPDskILmxdmAU3wmeSR1aybOsWc
That link up there is an excellent Youtube video made by a guy named Hank Green, who is awesome for many reasons, but - in the case of this class - because he understands the workings of the Mayan calendar.
So, as I'm sure has been re-iterated tirelessly on this blog, the idea behind the 2012 apocalypse dwells in the supposed end of the Mayan Calendar on December 21st, 2012.
But...the Mayan Calender doesn't end then.
Quick explanation: The Maya had a really good sense of time in the long term, and thus they made many, many calendars. The particular calendar put into question by the 2012 apocalypse theory is, roughly translated, called The Long Count Calendar. The Maya created this calendar specifically for the purpose of measuring really long periods of time and the dates on the calendar are denoted in a format created by the Maya, it looks like this:
One day - K'in
20 days - Winal
360 days - Tun
20 years - K'atun
144,000 days, or about 394.26 years - B'ak'tun
*Note: The Maya used this to mark the days from what they called "The Last Creation" into the indefinite future. The Maya believed that they lived in the fourth "Creation" and marked time from the beginning of said creation - which has been calculated to August 11th, 3,114 B.C.
So, the Maya mark time like this:
# of B'ak'tun. # of K'atun. # of Tun. # of Winal. # of K'in.
So, here is what July 4th, 1776 looks like: 12.8.0.1.13
Now, December 21st, 2012 looks like this: 13.0.0.0.0
That is, legitimately, the only special thing about December 21st, 2012. It's the first day of a new B'ak'tun. The last time that the calendar clicked over to a new B'ak'tun was September 18th, 1618 - a day known for being notoriously uninteresting and certainly not apocalyptic.
To be fair, the Maya did predict that "The Last Creation" would last for 13 B'ak'tun, but nowhere in Maya lore does that indicate there will be acid-rain, plagues of frogs or murders of firstborn sons.
So, it looks as though there aren't going to be any imminent threats.
Good use of accurate facts--plus Hank Green is a relatively good source, based on what I've seen of him. If only more people could see the real science behind the Mayan calendar and understand that it is just that--a calendar.
ReplyDelete(Nerdfighters ftw, by the way)
This is really disconcerting for me. I took AP World History last year, and we watched a video that explained the Mayan calender like turning cogs, which makes sense. It went on to say though, the turning stops at December 21st, 2012. It's disturbing how seemingly credible sources contradict each other on a relatively simple issue.
ReplyDeleteI really like this. clarification and credibility are the key to dispelling misinformation. really unfortunate how most available information is itself misinformed.
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