| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 3:50:11 AM | There's another thread that suggested the world might end on 23 December 2012, according to some predictions.
Suppose for a wild moment that we all believed this just as much as we believe the earth to be going around the sun. Suppose it to be regarded as a scientific fact.
How do you think the world would change... what do you think life would look like?
Is there anything you would change about your life and if so, why?
Do you think that the world would be a better place for these 5 years or a place of chaos and irresponsibility?
Obviously parts of our society would stop working: no more pension plans or 10 year investment bonds; no need to worry about dying from lung cancer or invest in any lifetime memberships; no reason to plant trees. Would people stop having children? How would governments react? Would the thought of it cause depression or an appreciation of life? What do you think? | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 8:06:37 AM | If it were to be regarded as a scientific fact that the world was going to end in five years there would still be a large group on non-believers. They would invest millions of dollars to prove this to be wrong. There would be the group of paranoids who would do everything they could to prepare, preserve, and protect themselves and their loved ones. You would have the leeches who would be out to scam a buck on someone elses paranoia by selling them products to guarantee they will survive. There would be the group of "who gives a crap" anymore and they would do just want they want, legal or not, and our government would be over burdened by trying to control the chaos.
There would be no appreciation for life. It would be mass chaos and our world as we know it would cease to exist....even just at the thought of it coming to an end...with or without scientific facts to back it up. Don't you remember New Years Eve 1999?? Just imagine that tenfold! What about the three day blackout along the east coast several years ago? September 11? Hurricane Katrina? If we couldn't handle these situations how the heck could we even grasp handling the end of the world in a better way?
Chaos...complete chaos...we as a society are not equipped to deal with any sort of major catastrophy...our government just makes us believe we are prepared....false advertising to keep us from freaking out! | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 8:59:24 AM | I just experienced a breast cancer scare which this type of BC has an average life span of 1.5 years.
I can tell you that on a personal level....my mind went into overdrive thinking of all I wanted and needed to do in such a short time. I was also angry because I knew it would not be enough time! I cannot even begin to describe the emotions I went through...but the scare (biopsy was benign) made me realize that it COULD have been real. Of course it would be different if it was something that would apply to the whole world.
I agree that it would be a mass hysteria if this were something to occur. I keep thinking of the Mad Max movies..everyone would be out to get what they could to store up in case they just might be the ones to survive something like this. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 9:21:20 AM | Purchase and read the Tibetan book of living and dying (not to be confused with the tibetan book of the dead). Read and study it. Learn to walk around and live like everyday was your last and be perfectly happy doing so.
However, this is the whole world we are talking about? 5 years left? It would be 2 words...
GIANT
ORGY....
Cheers! | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 9:22:15 AM | I hadn't really thought of the panic reaction. I guess I'm not a very panicky person and I was also kind of thinking of the "fact" not being breaking news, but more something that has been known for a long time, like the earth going around the sun. Can people really panic for 5 years, or would things calm down and what kind of world would they calm down to?
Do you think it would make people value life more or less? Do you think it would make people try to improve the quality of life for those around them for the time that remained of would it be, as my special someone suggests, anarchy, high crime rates and killing in the knowledge that the authorities couldn't handle it?
Would people bother with work or school or anything other than obvious self-gratification? I like to think they would; that without the worry about planning for a secure future for themselves, people would feel free to be more giving, knowing there was a time-limit on it... | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 3:04:57 PM | | Msg 3 has the psych right. It would pretty much look like the climate change debate. Lots of energy devoted to disproving it, lots of energy expended trying to sell us on cheap fixes that won't actually make a difference... and in the end, no meaningfull coming to terms with the problem. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 3:32:51 PM | Exactly namegame2!! All this time, energy and resources that has been put into the climate change debate and have we still gotten anywhere??? Are we prepared for the consequences? Are we all making changes to prevent it from happening?
I too recently had a scare in regards to breast cancer and it certainly is an eye opener. My heart goes to the poster who also had this experience and to anyone who has to battle cancer.
Yes we should all live each day like it could be our last...because in reality...it could be. I have seen reference to the book that a previous poster has suggested and I think I am going to pick myself up a copy....sounds very interesting!!! | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/16/2007 8:24:10 PM | The religious nutcases would drive me insane. I probably would not want to put up with their BS for the final five years.
I think you would see more religious wars as many of the extremists wanted to kill the nonbelivers in order to 'save' the others. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/17/2007 2:53:49 AM | Whatever government entities knew about it would probably keep it a secret for public safety reasons.
Those at the higher levels who knew about it would try to figure out a way to save themselves.
It wouldn't matter too much if the word got out, officially, it'd just be another one of those " end of the world " hoaxes. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/17/2007 3:43:45 AM | if i knew the world was going to end Dec 21, 2012 and was 100% sure. I would run up my credit card debt, then sue everyone from bush to those stupid kids who didnt let the Trix rabbit get his Trix.
and on the 20th of December 2012, i would have sex in front of the white house and IRS building and have a sign that said "I'm only doing what they have been doing to us."
I really hope the end of the world does happen then, because Ill have alot of student loans to pay back by that time. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/17/2007 6:02:31 AM | Everyone who is single would get drunk, do as many drugs as possible, and sleep with as many people as possible. Everyone who is happy in an LTR would just love their loved ones as much as possible.
I think it would be like people who find out they only have a few years to live. Sure, people would get mad, and depressed, but that would pass, and then people would enjoy what little time they have left. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/18/2007 2:31:15 AM | There are only 5 years left!
But the question is to what? The date you are referring to is the winter solstice of 2012, and the event is that the plane of our solar system will line up perfectly with the central plain of our galaxy- an event which happens only about every 25,000 years.
This event was forecast by the ancient Mayan's, who's celestial time keeping system compares to the gregarian calendar like a atomic clock compared to a four dollar wind up alarm clock. This event however doesn't necessarily forecast the end of time, but rather the start of a new galactic day and time of major change. Interesting depending on what you read it appears that this time/event coincides with many other prophecies from other religions. As far as what I am doing about it... afraid I will have to pleade the 5th on that one!  | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/18/2007 2:35:01 AM |
What if there were only 5 years left...? Self-fulfilling prophecy, like the Zionist Armageddon, you ask me. Tell everybody they got a limited time, some folks'll try and live it out "right", others'll try to get everything from everybody else. Chaos, mass hysteria, you name it, and within five years... Go figure, right? | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/18/2007 10:27:29 PM | | I do, thoroughly enjoy and appreciate each day, everything beautiful about this planet, and try even harder to treat it with the love and respect it deserves. Try to be as kind as I can to people I love and not waste a bit of my precious life with those I don't like. Do not miss a single adventure I want to be part of, love as fully as I can, and follow all dreams I want to. Practice making the world a Blissful place for all. Roll with it. We may be mapping the blueprint for the next phase of earth. Lets make it good. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/19/2007 11:13:53 AM | I don't know what I would do.
I wouldn't break out in hysterics.
One of the things that makes death like frightening for me,
is the fact that everyone has to die.
Because I am not the only one that has to do it,
I feel oddly calm about the concept.
That being said, there are lots of things I that I would
like to do in the next 20 years and I would feel dissapointed
if I had to narrow it down to 5. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/19/2007 11:17:09 AM | Forty some odd years ago, I lived through a day, fully expecting my world to end. What did I do? Me and millions of other people -- went to work. (Cuban Missal Crisis)
Five years ago, was diagnosed with an illness that has a worse survival rate than breast cancer. Since that date, and having worked my way a number of times through Kubler-Ross's rites of passage, I found and lost a great love, and am working on another; am in better health than I was at the diagnosis. Suffice it to say: equal to the day is the grief thereof. . . .
Just live.
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 12:55:12 AM | | Way back in time well maybe not that far back. On the evening of October 30th 1938 there was a guy that made a pretty darn good radio show, so good in fact that people actually beleived it! It was called War of the Worlds. People thought it was real and well they pretty much shit themselves thinking the end of the world had come because of invading martians. Pretty much the same thing would happen, mass panic, people would stop caring what society thought and started doing what was in their hearts...basically the end of civilization. Unless of course the government had some secret space ship that could support life and take humans to another planet or something then they would send the best and the brightest to continue humanity and the rest of us would be up shit creek! | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 4:52:36 AM |  Best to enjoy the here and now with the ones we love. Not good to look too far ahead... you never know what the future hold... treasure each moment! | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 10:27:16 AM | | There would definitely be mass hysteria, hoarding, and total chaos. Spending an idyllic weekend with your loved ones would be the last thing on your agenda. Instead you would be trying to avoid getting mugged, raped, or murdered while escaping from the city. Disasters always bring out the worst in people (at least in the majority of them) | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 1:14:57 PM |
There would definitely be mass hysteria, hoarding, and total chaos. Spending an idyllic weekend with your loved ones would be the last thing on your agenda. Instead you would be trying to avoid getting mugged, raped, or murdered while escaping from the city. Disasters always bring out the worst in people (at least in the majority of them)
That actually has never been my experience, friend. Nor my observation of history. In the blizzards I've lived through, and fires and floods, I've always found people amazingly loving and caring of each other.
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 2:06:25 PM | My kids were at their Dads in Toronto when all the lights went out for a few days. They helped direct traffic, participated in community BBQs as everyone tried to eat up all their steaks, and hung out at wood oven bistros who could still feed people. They thought it was an adventure. Said everyone was great, no muggings, rapes or thefts. Communities rallied instead and goodwill was rampant. I agree Wooby.
It usually brings out the best. | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 2:50:47 PM | Society would change, but I gaurentee that the base of it would remain relatively stable. It'd be like the crazy-wild 60's busting out. Why? It would be questioned, even if it were scientifically verified. People would hope it wouldn't end, so they would constantly be clinging to that as a possibility. Additionally, 5 years (not 50 days), would be enough time for people to really think about what they'd want to do in their very possibly limited lifetime. You'd see people who loved their job stay... you'd see people doing what they really wanted to do.
I think it'd be great if it happened, but a few months before that date, some head scientist goes, "Ooops. I forgot to carry the 1. Yep, the asteroid isn't going to hit us. My bad. Actually, I wanted to get laid in this panic of peace-love-harmony." | |
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| What if there were only 5 years left...?
Posted: 7/20/2007 3:15:17 PM |
Society would change, but I gaurentee that the base of it would remain relatively stable. It'd be like the crazy-wild 60's busting out. Why? It would be questioned, even if it were scientifically verified. People would hope it wouldn't end, so they would constantly be clinging to that as a possibility. Additionally, 5 years (not 50 days), would be enough time for people to really think about what they'd want to do in their very possibly limited lifetime. You'd see people who loved their job stay... you'd see people doing what they really wanted to do.
I think it'd be great if it happened, but a few months before that date, some head scientist goes, "Ooops. I forgot to carry the 1. Yep, the asteroid isn't going to hit us. My bad. Actually, I wanted to get laid in this panic of peace-love-harmony." Interesting picture ... like the 60's image... thanks for sharing this Azureorb. If the people in jobs all did their work because they loved it, do you think their motives would be more towards the wider good, or more selfish? Would the world power be held by people with good motives or bad? Maybe there wouldn't be any real power. It is very hard to imagine, I think... what the world would feel like if you had been born into it knowing that the end was expected on a particular date.
I thought 'walk on the ocean' made an interesting comment and I wonder if others feel this way too:
Because I am not the only one that has to do it,
I feel oddly calm about the concept. It would certainly seem good to not have to anticipate bearing losses which can be harder to think about than one's own death.
That actually has never been my experience, friend. Nor my observation of history. In the blizzards I've lived through, and fires and floods, I've always found people amazingly loving and caring of each other. Thanks, woobytuesday for the positive observation, this too is what makes me think that it might not be all chaos and people running over each other.
I'm appreciating all the thoughts shared in response to this odd little "what if..?", thanks. | |
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