It seems to me that most people have to believe in some extraordinary, or supernatural, pieces of information in order to make plans or pursuit goals. A few weeks ago, at job, there was this little discussion about 2012, a new movie released this summer that resembles to an ancient Mayan prophecy about the end of the times. Well, I have to tell you that some colleagues of mine, who watched the movie, were kind of astonished about the disruptive future predicted to happen by the end of 2012. It was really amazing to see a bunch of so-called knowledgeable people buying Hollywood crap as truthful and possible to happen. However, the most amazing thing wasn’t the end-of-the-world belief itself, but the plans that were being made for that specific future portrayed in the movie. While ones were planning to make fortune, saying when the moment arrives they will invest on falling market shares — because the stock prices certainly are going to fall due to massive selling — to resell the stocks when they get higher rates after the world not really ends, others were planning how they will spend their last moments.
It is unbelievable how people react to predictions like these, isn’t it? How they come up with that ideas? Why they make up such dummy plans, based in complete nonsense information? and Why they were unable to plan their lives ahead, before they got aware of the doom? Like I said at the beginning paragraph, some people have to believe in extraordinary facts before they can really start to do things in their lives. In my opinion, these people just don’t realize that forecasting how life is going to be like years from now is a very dodgy business. They simply ignore the fact that in situations like these, it becomes far way easier to be making wrong decisions and loose all your life’s work (even your life, maybe), than be getting the right way and find the golden pot.
Neither will the world be ending by the end of 2012, nor the Mayans had said that. What really happen is that each generation has its future fears that turn out to be groundless when uncertainty and doubt are taken over by rationality and reason. Our age’s recent fear of world total destruction is based on a very interesting fact about the Mayans culture: They had precise calculations to far distant periods in the future on their calendar, but it doesn’t go to dates beyond 21/12/2012. This single and interesting fact, in my opinion, has created this end-of-the-world theory. However, this theory can be refuted with ease: The Mayans did not predict the end of the times by the end of 2012. Due to their exposition to Spanish conquerors in the early 1500’s, the entire Mayan civilization ended up extinguished by that time. So, before their extinction, they just didn’t have enough time to proceed their calendar calculations, considering periods of time beyond 2012.
So, my friend, bear in mind if futurology were an exact science, there wouldn’t be so many issues on Earth — once we could predict them with great accuracy. Do not believe in things without check the facts by yourself and don’t make conclusions based on what others told you without research for concrete facts that can support the story. Double check every piece of information before you plan the moves ahead, this is the only way to avoid to be taken in by evil people who only want to deceive you transforming their future predictions in your future perdition.
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