5 Thing's I've noticed about... 12/21/2012

It's been almost a year since 12/21/2012, the day that the world was suppose to end... or change (depends on who you asked).

Now there was a lot that didn't happen that day that was suppose to, and there were certain things that day that did happen, just not what some people were expecting.

I've looked back upon what did happen that day, and I've come up with the five different things that I've noticed about that day and the whole doomsday prediction itself.

So here are five things I've noticed about 12/21/2012:

5. Nothing really important happen that day.

Well... not necessarily nothing per say, but in terms of the world shattering event that was suppose to occur (at least according to some people who mistook the ending of the Mayan calendar as being a Mayan prophecy foretelling the end of the world) nothing happened that day that was even worth bothering to remember.

The only thing that I really remember from that day is that me and several fellow skeptics laughed at all of those people who seriously thought the world was going to end that day, and the History Channel showing a bunch of programs about doomsday (because that is what the History Channel does).

Basically that's all that happened that day. Skeptics had a good laugh, the History Channel showed a bunch of BS (well a little bit more BS than usual) and that's it... well, that and fact that...

4. Millions of Doomers realized how stupid they were.

The amount of people who thought the world was going to end that day (or atleast something big was going to happen that day) was probably in the millions, most of which I'm pretty sure were relived that nothing happen (although I'm sure a few were disappointed, especially those who thought it would bring about some kind of human "transformation").

I say again that while I am pretty sure that most people who believed that the world would end that day were relived that it didn't happen, I'm also pretty sure that a lot of those people felt stupid for trusting some non-prophesy that a few people who were allegedly smarter than them completely mis-interpreted and got it into the public mindset in such a way that it ended up taking off like wildfire...

Ofcourse what probably made a lot of people feel stupid for believing in the 12/21/2012 end of the world prediction is the realization that...

3. It's not the first time a major doomsday prediction has fail.

The 12/21/2012 was not the first major doomsday prediction to fail, nor was it the first major one to create a kind of mass hysteria that caused people to waste their time and money on to prepare for, as well as possibly ruin relationships with the people in their lives. The 12/21/2012 prediction wasn't even the first major doomsday prediction of the century that failed. Infact it was the third major doomsday prediction of the 21st century that failed (the first one was the Y2K prediction, and the second one was Harold Camping's Rapture prediction of 2011).

Now I went to the Wikipedia page listing doomsday predictions (and these are just some of the more famous ones) and there were huge amount of them, and obviously they've all failed to come true. Infact I actually counted the number of doomsday predictions between the time I was born and the 12/21/2012 prediction, and according to the list the world should have ended atleast 47 times since my birth...

Now in my opinion the whole 12/21/2012 should never have been taken seriously in the first place. This is not only due to the sheer fact that doomsday predictions always fail, it's also due to the fact that...

2. It was pretty vague.

The people who believed in the 12/21/2012 prediction all agreed that "something" major was going to happen that day. It's just what that something was is where people who believed in that prediction disagreed with one another.

According to all of those who believed in the 12/21/2012 prediction that what was going to happen that day ranged from that we were suppose to enter a higher stage of consciousness, to that the world was suppose to be reduced to asteroids... and everything else you can possibly think of.

The main reason why so many people were claiming so many different things was that the Mayans themselves never said what was suppose to happen that day. Ofcourse the Mayans never actually said that anything was suppose to happen that day really.

The fact that nothing happened that day, combined with the vagueness of the "prediction" should have ended all of this doomsday stuff on 12/21/2012, but unfortunately...

1. The 12/21/2012 doomsday predictions didn't end on 12/21/2012.

While most people who believed that something was going to happen on 12/21/2012 have accepted the fact that this prediction was BS and that the world was never going to end, some people haven't.

There are actually a few people out there on Youtube and blogging sites who are claiming that the 12/21/2012 doomsday prediction was actually just the beginning of a process that was going to end several months later either with our transformation into higher beings, or destruction (depends on the person who is making the claims).

It shouldn't surprise anyone however that none of predictions came true either. Infact really the only thing about doomsday predictions that can be predicted is that they will fail.

Stereotypes Conspiracy Theorists have against Skeptics

There are a lot of stereotypes that conspiracy theorists believe about skeptics, and for the most part they're just not true. Most of the time these beliefs are either the result of manipulation, or just misunderstandings.

Here are some of the most common claims that conspiracy theorists have against skeptic, and why these claims are not true:

All skeptics work for the government.

One of the most common claims by conspiracy theorists about skeptics is that skeptics work for, or at least are being paid by the government, or to a lesser extent, private companies, to run debunking websites (they're usually referred to by conspiracy theorists as "dis-information agents"). Usually these accusations are followed up with a joke by a skeptic, usually something like, "I'm still waiting for my check."

The reality is that most skeptics don't work for the government, and most likely never would. Those that do work for the government are not being paid by the government to run these skeptic websites, and they are doing what they do on their own free will.

Skeptics believe whatever the government or media says.

No they don't. In fact skeptics are highly critical of both the government and the media.

Skeptics know that the government lies to the public all the time to try to make itself not look as bad, and that the media tends to report things way to early, or sensationalizes stuff, so bad information gets to the public, rather then correct information.

Skeptics don't believe in conspiracies.

Skeptics actually do believe in conspiracies. The difference is between skeptics and conspiracy theorists is that the conspiracies that skeptics believe in either have been proven to be true, or has enough evidence (real evidence, not made up evidence) to prove the conspiracy to be true, or at least likely to be true.

All skeptics are alike.

One of the biggest misconceptions about skeptics in general is that we are all alike, and that we have similar beliefs and education, and that we all see things exactly the same, but in reality this is not true at all.

We all debunk things differently, and we sometimes come to different conclusions on things, and there are fights within the skeptics community.

All skeptics are Atheists.

While a large amount of skeptics are Atheists, not all of them are. In fact I'm not an Atheist. I'm actually a Christian, and I do believe in God.

Some Atheists may use their beliefs as an excuse for being a skeptic, but there's no religious test for being a skeptic, and anyone can be a skeptic regardless of there religious beliefs (or lack there of).

All skeptics have the same political beliefs.

No two skeptics are alike, and no two skeptics have the same political beliefs. There are skeptics that are conservatives  There are skeptics that are liberals. There are skeptics that are libertarians. There are skeptics that are socialists. There are skeptics that are moderates.

There is just as much of a wide range of political diversity among skeptics as there are among none skeptics.

All skeptics have the same educational levels and work in the science or educational field.

It is widely believed that most, if not all skeptics have a college degree.

While many probably do, not all of us do, and not all of us are scientists or teachers. Some of us are blue collared workers who only have some college education. Some of us might not even have that.

Skeptics believe that conspiracy theorists should be locked up.

The only time skeptics tend to believe that conspiracy theorist should be locked up is when it's suspected that the person might become a danger to themselves or to others, or when they are engaging in criminal activity (such as harassment or stalking).

Other times we consider conspiracy theorists to just be annoying, but that's about it.

Skeptics refuse to examine evidence other then official evidence.

Actually skeptics do examine evidence other then what's official, we just dismiss the alternative evidence when it's been proven to either be not true, or not possible.

The Roswell Crash: The best thing that never happened to Roswell

The Roswell crash, probably one of the most famous alleged incidences to have occurred in the history of UFOs.

It is also probably one of the best things to most likely to have never have happened to that town of Roswell, New Mexico too.

Regardless whether or not an alien space craft crashed on a ranch outside the city, or if it was a combination of a experimental military balloon from Project Mogul and Project High Dive, along with hoaxes and other myths that have been generated because of the crash, the one true reality is that just about everyone knows about Roswell, New Mexico, and what is to have allegedly occurred there 65 years. Because of that it has become a huge tourist attraction for people who are into UFOs and curiosity seekers alike.

If it wasn't for this alleged UFO crash no one would really care about this place. It would just be a small city in the middle of the desert who's only one real tourist attraction would be the old Walker Air Force Base. Heck, the only reason why anyone would want to go to the old Air Force base there today is because that is where the alleged alien space craft and bodies were being held at after the "crash" in the first place.

There are other places there that attract wannabe UFO investigators as well, such as the alleged crash site, and the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which generates the community loads of money in terms of tax revenue and sales of things like food and lounging and souvenirs, and all sorts of other things that tourists tend to buy.

There has also been a huge amount of media centered around the city and the alleged UFO crash there as well, be it books, TV shows, documentaries, movies, video games, or magazine articles. All of this only increases the mythology of this alleged crash, which in turn increases the popularity of this place, thus increasing the amount of tourism to this place, which puts more money into the community. There was even an entire television series during the late 1990's and early 2000's called Roswell that centers around four aliens that survived the crash and disguise themselves as human teenagers...

Now I have seen pictures of Roswell and I admit it's a beautiful little city. I won't even mind living there if it wasn't for the fact that it is in the middle of a desert. In fact there is a lot more there to see then just a bunch UFO attractions, but that's not what people go there to see. They go there to see the site of something that most likely never happened, but in their minds is the greatest historical event in human history, and one of the biggest conspiracies in human history as well, rather then the crash of some high altitude military equipment that no one really cared about until the late 1980's.

While I don't like ignorance and the continued promotion of things that most likely never happened, I have to admit that this alleged crash is most likely the best thing that never happened to Roswell, New Mexico.