The Mayans were very skilled astronomers, of that there is no doubt. Their calendar was amazingly accurate and their knowledge of the stars extensive. According to their calendar, the end of an age is coming in December of 2012 and many people are using this as yet one more opportunity to claim that “the end is nigh”.
Anyone who has done at least a rudimentary study of the way the Mayan calendar works, however, will know that the December 2012 date has nothing
to do with the world blowing up, getting hit by a meteor or falling victim to zombie armies. The date in question is simply the end of a cycle on their calendar that corresponds to the 13th Baktun (a cycle of 14,400 days). In Mayan belief, this means the end of an age and the beginning of something new, but does not signify that any destruction is involved.
People feel the need to read more into it than is actually there and, unfortunately, they are often supported by vigorously vocal people with little understanding of the subject they speak of. In the year 1000, panic rose as people believed that the 1000 year mark meant the end of the world. When we
hit Y2K, there was a similar panic. Throughout history, people have been trying to decipher the bible, under the assumption that if you did your math properly you would find the exact date of the end times. Many predictions have been made and all have been unerringly wrong.
December of 2012 will come and go, just like any
other year before it, though perhaps with a little more irrationality on the part of end-times enthusiasts across the world. After which, another date will be found for world’s end and the cycle will once again continue.