| As many people are now aware, the Mayan calendar | | | | It would be hard to argue that many things in our |
| ends on December 21, 2012. This is a somewhat | | | | world could use some changing. So if 2012 is going to |
| disputed fact, especially when it comes to deciding | | | | be a time of extreme change, this could be good or |
| what this means. According to one interpretation, | | | | bad, or perhaps a little of both. People are |
| 2012 corresponds to other prophecies, such as | | | | understandably anxious about issues such as climate |
| Revelations in the Bible, and perhaps to Hindu beliefs | | | | change, nuclear and biological weapons, and various |
| that predict the "end of the world." | | | | other environmental and economic challenges. |
| Another, less fearsome way to look at it is that | | | | However, it's hard to imagine a scenario where all of |
| December, 2012 is simply the end of a particular | | | | human life or civilization is wiped out. The only way |
| cycle of time. Some have associated this time with | | | | this might happen is if, as some predict, a drastic |
| the Age of Aquarius, whose exact beginning even | | | | event such as a pole shift or giant asteroid hitting the |
| astrologers cannot seem to agree on. Jose Arguellos | | | | planet. I suggest being fatalistic about such |
| first popularized the whole 2012 idea with books he | | | | possibilities. possibilities. You may or may not find this |
| began writing in the 1980s, such as The Maya Factor. | | | | comforting, but you are more likely to be hit by a car |
| More recently, other writers have come forth with | | | | or truck on the highway than by an asteroid! |
| their own theories about what is going to happen in | | | | Another question that comes up when we start |
| 2012. | | | | thinking about prophecies and cycles of time is the |
| Is we remember that the universe has gone on for | | | | idea of predestination. Is everything set in stone, to |
| countless billions of years, it seems unlikely that | | | | the degree that ancient people, whether Mayans, |
| everything is going to end in 2012, or at any other | | | | Hindus or the original Biblical scribes, could predict |
| time. Another thing to keep in mind is that time itself | | | | exactly when something was going to happen |
| is not something real, but a concept invented by | | | | thousands of years in advance? There is a saying |
| humans. This includes all of our calendars, clocks and | | | | among some astrologers, "the starts don't compel, |
| other time-keeping devices. In the literal sense, reality | | | | they incline." This means that certain factors may |
| just is. It does not have a beginning or ending. | | | | push us in a particular direction, but that exact |
| One definition of time is that it's a way to keep track | | | | outcomes are not predetermined. |
| of changes. As philosophers from various schools | | | | What is going to happen in 2012? No one knows for |
| have pointed out, the only real constant in the world | | | | sure. But, in all likelihood, it's mostly going to be up to |
| is change. | | | | us, both individually and collectively. |