Say it with me - "Its the end of the world..."

July 12, 2005 11:01 PM

From Apocalypse to Zombies. Forty seven ways the world could end, and another couple dozen for good measure. With the Doomsday Clock back at seven minutes to midnight, you can either try to escape the end of the world, or else hope that the thirty-six people on whom the fate of the world rests are doing okay. Too grim? Take a look at the more humorous side of failed predictions of the end (Coral cache version of that link, just in case). Forget peak oil, and bring on the hypernovas!
posted by blahblahblah (9 comments total)

An addendum on a link I left out of the Zombie Apocalypse scenario -- make sure to check out the Zombie infection simulator.
posted by blahblahblah at 11:28 PM on July 12, 2005

that is a fun link. not felt so good about impending doom for a long time. ta
posted by ClanvidHorse at 2:45 AM on July 13, 2005

Wait, isn't there supposed to be something about a great big hankercheif?
posted by tiamat at 6:34 AM on July 13, 2005

I have always loved the idea of the 36 tzaddikim; I've read various stories about how it works, but my favorites involve the idea that their position is not just unknown to others, but also to themselves.
posted by gai at 7:17 AM on July 13, 2005

Thanks for the link. After Ragnarok, I thought the Zoroastrian apocalypse was the best of the religious lot and was a story I hadn't heard before. Would make a great space opera with a bit of rewriting, though Lucas should be kept far away from it.

And thanks Blah^3 for the Zombie link. I hadn't seen this simulator before but it was really addictive. I especially liked the variant which allowed the player to manually nuke the zombies.

What a beautiful RTS the zombie scenario would be. The human player would have a variety of weapons and orbital nukes for incinerating zombies. The zombie player would have the advantage of numbers as they quickly infect the civilian population. An added bonus for the zombie players would be infecting military and police assets and thus capturing their toys.
posted by pandaharma at 8:29 AM on July 13, 2005

blahblahblah, thanks for the neat link, I really enjoyed it.

Neighbors of mine are into the Apocalyptic thing, and when I greet them (they are really quite nice people) unfortunately get waylaid with their Last Day scenarios, which vary from gigantic hurricanes that will swallow NYC or Revelation Endings. The local pharmacist is gaga over The Celestine Prophesy, so going for a prescription I might have to endure some serious malarcky. Another fundy Christian I know has had end of world visions of Jesus appearing in the sky on such and such a day, oh dear.

So, without my wanting to, over the years I got infected with curiousity about doomsday prophesies, who makes them and why. I've read recently that catastrophe/doomsday thinking may be an aspect of depression, ongoing chronic anxiety, projecting out the fears inside.

When I was a wee nipper my dad, a delightfully funny geologist, in teaching me about the Big Bang Theory, would say stuff like, "One day in the future the entire universe may either collapse into itself or be drawn into the sun and when that happens it will go Bo WHAM bo!" making a loud noise, a great guffaw and twinkle.

Hearing about Global Warming from the 60's, seeing the leftover nuclear bomb shelter signs on old buildings in NYC, including the one I lived in as a kid for 6 years, watching the old 1950's duck-and-cover films about what to do in the case we were nuked, last night on the steps of the big post office on 34th Street I talked with an old history-buff cop about his concerns of a dirty-bomb situation in NYC and then seeing the army guys in their camouflage fatigues at Port Authority walking home from the post office, having seen a nuclear cloud (presumably somebody was testing, I have no idea who) on the Indo-Russian-Chinese border when I lived in India in the 1970's, living through 9/11 in NYC and wondering if this was It, World War 3 today, now, hearing about decimated rain forests and various ecological fiascos...inundated... I can't help wondering about The End of The World, lol.

Learning to look death in the face and realise the impermanent nature of life has helped me live life well, valuing each day and feeling fortunate to be alive, grateful for anything good. Death is always an interruption. I don't think any living creature is ready for death, they may face it nicely but ready for the The Final Exit, I don't know and I imagine doomsday thinking comes out of the very basic fear of death.

A fun thing about the site you posted is that it's all there, all the worst case scenarios (or most I can think of or have heard of anyway). And it's a kind of relief to see it all there, nicely imaged, fun to click on, informative. Now it's all in one place, organised, I can file it away with greater peace of mind and get on with life, one moment at a time.
posted by nickyskye at 9:00 AM on July 13, 2005

I've read recently that catastrophe/doomsday thinking may be an aspect of depression, ongoing chronic anxiety, projecting out the fears inside.

IMO, this is most certainly true which explains why so many people seem to have a preoccupation with the End of Days lately (i.e. since 9/11). What is really frightening is that if you think the end is coming, what motivation do you have to protect the earth and future generations? I remember when the idea that US leaders wanted to usher in the second coming was considered crazy-talk, but when you compare what many fundamentalists believe with the decisions the Bush admin has made, you start to think that they really don't believe we're going to be around much longer. Shouldn't there be a law against leaders who think the end is near?
posted by jimmy76 at 10:06 AM on July 13, 2005

The inner apocalypse and schizophrenia.
posted by homunculus at 10:08 AM on July 13, 2005

Excellent points jimmy76.
Great link homunculus, very interesting reading, thanks!
posted by nickyskye at 10:12 AM on July 13, 2005