Is 2012 real?
It won’t be long before all those scary impressive banner ads have people asking me “Is 2012 real?”. The answer is not simple, since I need to know if you’re referring to an action-packed thrill-a-minute movie or the actual year. If you’re asking about the movie, then the answer is “Yes, it is real, and was released last month”.
If you’re asking about the actual year, though, then I’m afraid that the answer is still “Yes”. It is a leap year and our most accurate calendars confirm that it falls between 2011 and 2013. It has some slight curiosity value in that the ancient Mayans had a calendar which described a long-term cycle of Ages. Certain academics, who’s credentials I haven’t verified, seem to have chosen an arbitrary starting date for the current cycle, and thus been able to predict that this cycle ends in 2012. I imagine their calculations will follow a similar format to those of Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656) when he proved that the earth was created in 4004 BC. Either way, consider yourself warned that the fate of the earth rests in the hands of some dead mayans and a bunch of lunatics with big advertising budgets, which is worse than anything they’ve predicted.