MAYAN MATH

In my mid 50s, I’m still pursuing a college degree, part time.  I’m in no particular hurry to graduate because I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but graduation is definitely on my bucket list (def: list of things to do before kicking the bucket).

And speaking of bucket lists, if the Mayans were right, the end of the world, December 21, 2012, will happen before I graduate.  The Mayan people reportedly were very good at math and had an innate sense of time and space.  They calculated this date as the end of a “Great Cycle of the Long Count calendar”.  What happens before, during and after that is open for interpretation.

Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, said “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.  It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”  Well, that’s somewhat comforting, but on this issue, I’d rather get my information from a scientist than a cartoonist/humorist.

There are two basic sources of our beliefs, science and religion, and they agree with each other about as often as Congress.  But scientists and religious prophesiers alike point to such things as climate changes, natural disasters, political and social situations as potential signs affirming the ancient Mayan prediction.

Countless other predictions caused great fear and panic and did not come true.  Remember New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1999?  Nothing happened, though many brilliant minds were certain it would, at least in banking and computer failures.

One idiot on one of the hundreds of 12/21/12 websites even went so far as to recommend stopping mortgage and credit card payments because the resulting foreclosure or bankruptcy would not take place until after this date.  If everyone did that, or similar panic moves, there probably would be a disaster of epic proportions, man-made.

So for now, just like back in 1999, I’m not going to make any major changes in anticipation of the end.  I’ll bury my head in the sand and worry about the bucket list.

I’d like to think that if anything happens on or around 12/21/12, it’s something intangible, like the end of a cycle of hate and greed and the beginning of a new cycle of peace and tolerance.

The fact that the Mayans were smarter than me in math is not saying much.  But just in case they were right, I’m going to wait until the Spring 2013 semester to take the required math class.   ### annie

please scroll down for another artilces by guest writer Annie Clarkson in today's issue of The Truthless Reconciler! Thanks!