Why the fascination with the end of the world?

[Sticks]

An article from the BBC Website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7600966.stm)

huge particle accelerator experiment is about to start and a tiny group of people believe it could spell the end of the world. But why are we so obsessed with the possibility of apocalypse?

Snip!

Whether you refer to it as eschatology (religious theory of the end of the world), millenarianism, end time belief, apocalypticism, or disaster scenario, it is one of humanity's most powerful ideas, and it goes way back.

"It is a very ancient pattern in human thought. It is rooted in ancient, even pre-biblical Middle Eastern myths of ultimate chaos and ultimate struggle between the forces of order and chaos," says cultural historian Paul S Boyer, author of When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture.


Might be worth a read

[Paul Leeks]

I saw that particle thing in the paper..awesome! incredible achievement lets see what they find!

[Frog march]

I think it is partly because of a feeling that "this time in history is special".

People feel, that because they are experiencing life in this world at first hand, that it is somehow special, where as the past is just grey and dusty.

Perhaps this is due to people's feelings of insignificance, which I suppose would only increase with industrialised alienation, and a world with a population of 6 billion.

Perhaps "new ageism" sprung up out of this; the idea, that "this must be a special time", because I feel insignificant....(?)

If we all die now, then this time really will have been special; may be the feeling.

[jj_0001]

I think that some people are always looking for an excuse to throw off the normal bounds of behavior. Others are afraid of anything new.

Frog March also has a point, people want to be part of history.

[Lianachan]

I don't think they are that interested. The media has a thing for pseudoscience, or putting a spin on/not giving a balanced view of science stories. They think that we're all extremely interested in what they say is going to kill us, and what they say is going to cure us. We're not.

[Theunknownbook]

but how dangerous is Large Hadron Collider then? there was already some info on the project but yesterday it was the first time I saw it published as mainstream news.

[NEOWatcher]

but how dangerous is Large Hadron Collider then?
Depends on who you ask. ;)

But; keep in mind the media tends to go with the shocking side.

[Theunknownbook]

Depends on who you ask. ;)

But; keep in mind the media tends to go with the shocking side.

I see your point, but how does a non-media opinion go about how dangerous it is? in other words a non-biased opinion.

[Neverfly]

I see your point, but how does a non-media opinion go about how dangerous it is? in other words a non-biased opinion.

You can follow the threads in General Science "Is the LHC a Danger!?"

In the meantime, I'll just say that it's not a dangerous threat.

Any more than Nibiru, Martian Invaders or TU24.

[Theunknownbook]

You can follow the threads in General Science "Is the LHC a Danger!?"

In the meantime, I'll just say that it's not a dangerous threat.

Any more than Nibiru, Martian Invaders or TU24.

Thanks for the reference Neverfly, being so busy lately I didn't notice there was a thread already made on general science.

[cosmocrazy]

Well i guess we will all find out tomorrow! :)

Or will we...:think:

[Frog march]

well, the Great Prophet Zarquon hasn't got long then....

[Matherly]

well, the Great Prophet Zarquon hasn't got long then....

How am I for time?

(added for length since my "quote" of the GPZ doesn't appear to count. Hmmph. WWZD?)

[wolf1728]

Frog March
Perhaps this is due to people's feelings of insignificance, which I suppose would only increase with industrialised alienation, and a world with a population of 6 billion.

Yes. It gives someone a certain significance to think that the Big Bang, the cooling of the Earth, the breakup of Pangea, would all result in the creation of us. Even more importantly, we are now living at the very endpoint of it all.
Wow, we're the "lucky ones" who didn't pass away 20,000 years ago or even just a few minutes ago. No. Here we are, the last generation, and we are going to witness it all.
Perhaps that's why you don't see documentaries on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, et al discussing end of the world predictions for the year 8,732. Nope it is definitely 2012 ... well until Dec 31, 2012 passes into history.

Gee, the end of the world isn't what it used to be. :)

[KaiYeves]

Well, I don't know about you, but I did my homework tonight and I am going to proudly turn it in tomorrow.

[dodecahedron]

When it comes to the end of the world, people harbor the vain hope that they will somehow ascend to power and reshape society in their image for the greater good. Surely everone will not reach their underground bunkers when the birds are in the air.
The end of the planet? Everyone loses. Currently this is the only known habitable planet. Should anyone escape then they are doomed to starve in space or, if they're lucky, only suffer freezer burn on their corpse.

[megrfl]

Everything ends, thus, so must the world, but logic says probably not in our lifetime.

[KaiYeves]

I was playing a strategy computer game once while a friend watched over my shoulder. The enemy army was coming close and looked big, so my friend blurted out "We're gonna die!"
A few seconds later, when the enemy was being held off by my well-built defences, I responded.
"At some point, yes. But hopefully, not all together and not for a long time."

[Sticks]

Looks like for this girl, the LHC did cause her end (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1054434/Indian-girl-16-killed-fears-Big-Bang-experiment-lead-end-world.html) :(

A teenage girl in central India killed herself after being traumatised by media reports that a 'Big Bang' experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.

The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.

Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said that his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programmes.


Or should we blame the media misreporting :mad:

[Sticks]

Another link to this tragic case (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24328349-5001028,00.html)

[NEOWatcher]

Looks like for this girl, the LHC did cause her end (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1054434/Indian-girl-16-killed-fears-Big-Bang-experiment-lead-end-world.html)
Sorry, Sticks... but I beat you to it (http://www.bautforum.com/general-science/51643-large-hadron-colliders-danger-27.html#post1320675) by 9 hours. :naughty:

[Sticks]

Sorry, Sticks... but I beat you to it (http://www.bautforum.com/general-science/51643-large-hadron-colliders-danger-27.html#post1320675) by 9 hours. :naughty:

I had unsubscribed from that thread because it had become dominated by three posters and everybody else seemed to be ignored, so I did not see that posted there.

[NEOWatcher]

I had unsubscribed from that thread because it had become dominated by three posters and everybody else seemed to be ignored, so I did not see that posted there.
Yeah; I was starting to give that one up too.
So; between the need for fresh material there, and that I didn't want to derail a good discussion, and I didn't see a good "lighter side" thread, and I didn't think it was enough for a new thread. I decided to use the one with the most punctuation in its title.

[Sticks]

I have now taken this case to it's own thread

[NEOWatcher]

I have now taken this case to it's own thread
Gee; thanks for telling us the title and providing the link to it...:rolleyes:

[Pippin]

There is a strong historical belief that the end of the world has come before and/or will come again. This can be found in the Bible, the Edda, and of course the prophecies of Nostradamus. I am not familiar with historical Asian religion or mythology, but I wouldn't be surprised to find similar accounts in those as well. Even in science we have seen the evidence of mass extinctions on our own planet. This being BAUT(duh) we examine evidence of stars exploding and even whole galaxies "dying". Whether the reason is to get right with God before it's too late or the fears of global nuclear war and global warming, it resonates strongly in both the religious and scientific communities.

[Sticks]

Gee; thanks for telling us the title and providing the link to it...:rolleyes:

Sorry.... (http://www.bautforum.com/small-media-large/78730-consequences-misreporting-lhc.htm) :doh:

[Neverfly]

Sorry.... (http://www.bautforum.com/small-media-large/78730-consequences-misreporting-lhc.htm) :doh:

Page not found.

[Sticks]

Page not found.

Try here (http://www.bautforum.com/small-media-large/78730-consequences-misreporting-lhc.html) :doh:

[Neverfly]

Try here (http://www.bautforum.com/small-media-large/78730-consequences-misreporting-lhc.html) :doh:

AHH that one works:)

I will refrain from posting in that thread though.

I already had a blow out and had to sign off and go Chill out for a while after commenting on that incident.

[NEOWatcher]

AHH that one works:)
And it only took 6 posts to get there. :lol: