The end! It’s getting closer. Skeptical?
by Don Lacey on Nov. 12, 2012, under Armageddon, Critical Thinking, Environment, Freethought, Freethought Events, History, Nature, Question of the Day!, Reason, Science, Skepticism
Tonight, there will be a Skeptics of Tucson meeting and we’ll be discussing the end of the world. Actually, we’ll be discussing the next predicted end of the world. There have been many and there’ll be plenty more. Those attending the meeting will hear about the Maya civilization. They’ll hear about their amazing calendar. They’ll also hear a couple of Maya creation myths. We’ll discuss many of the ways the world could end and briefly address some of the probabilities. We’ll be discussing Planet X or Niburu, global war, disease, deadly solar activity, and the possibility of an ecological quagmire. All of which has been proposed as possible ways the world will end. This seems like an appropriate meeting topic given that the next predicted end of the world is December 21st, winter solstice.
Skeptics should think critically about everything. That is not to say that they must go purely negative and not believe in anything but everything deserves to be questioned. All of the questioning takes effort. It’s not easy to be a Skeptic. Is it worth it? Obviously, Skeptics think so. Where’s the fun? The continuing pleasure of being skeptical is knowing that what you believe has a good chance of being true. While it may not be harmful to believe in the latest urban legend, giving up scientific medical treatments for homeopathic treatments can be deadly.
Back to the subject of tonight’s meeting…what’s the harm in believing that the world is going to end in a few days? If you make decisions that you feel you won’t have to live with…you might be harmed by a doomsday belief. If you didn’t fill your medical prescriptions past December 21st, you might be harmed by a doomsday belief. If you told your boss what you really felt about him…you might not have a job and be harmed by a doomsday belief. If you’ve ran up all your credit cards to the limit…you might be harmed by a doomsday belief.
Seriously…the meeting will end with a discussion of 20 questions received by NASA about the predicted end of the world. It’s at the Denny’s on Speedway, just west of Alvernon. It starts at 7 PM…
