YOU are anxious to think about the future? If it is is not the only one. It is not today that people speculate about things that have not happened yet, and many conclude that the predictions are not good. The idea of the end of the world has left people puzzled for millennia.
Think, for example, in modern fiction. Comic books, TV shows, hundreds of movies and thousands of books feature elaborate stories of impending destruction. The list of forces that are ready to attack and destroy humanity seems endless: killer robots, monsters of all sorts, aliens, zombies, ghosts, dragons, apes, birds, mutant rats, and giant wasps. But hardly anyone would believe such stories.
Of course there are other stories and theories that make some people more worried. Some of these stories claim to be scientific. One foretells that the earth's crust will undergo a radical change, resulting in volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and massive earthquakes. Another says that the planets will line up and that will intensify the solar wind, causing chaos on Earth. Yet another says that the magnetic poles of the earth will reverse suddenly, causing the mate solar radiation to all of us. But do not worry! These things will not happen. Still, they continue stimulating the imagination of many.
What about the countless books and doomsday Web sites that predict the end of the world on December 21 this year? One of the predictions claims that a supposed planet named Nibiru (or Planet X) is on a collision course with Earth and will arrive in December 2012. This and other theories without scientific support are based on interpretations of an ancient Maya calendar, some ends in December 2012.
Influenced by similar catastrophic predictions, some have built shelters in their backyards or reserved a place in community dugouts. Others went to the mountains and have become self-sufficient, not dependent on public services such as water supply and electricity.
Of course there are people who dismiss these theories and scoff at the idea of an imminent end of the world. NASA scientists, for example, say: "Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been going very well for more than 4 billion years, and scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012."
However, it would be a mistake to think that humanity no danger or that only the gullible believe in the end of the world. But is that the end of the world will come again? If it does, how and when it will happen?