Full Review of Doc Zone: Apocalypse 2012

I watched this documentary on CBC a few weeks ago called Apocalypse 2012. I'm watching it again as I write right now, and I will give my researched and well thought-about input on each sub-topic. You can watch the documentary online here for free.

The entire documentary is about the mass hysteria of humans preparing for the end of the world, which is believed by them to be on December 21st, 2012. Will the Apocalypse finally truly arrive? Will the world finally end? Or will it end as we know it?

Lorne Dawson (Professor of Religions & Sociology at University of Waterloo)

                                          We live in a very apocalyptic culture. People want something to believe in because of all the knowledge we have. It feels like we know almost everything about the world, but at the same time, almost nothing. The advancement of knowledge is also advancing fear. Apocalypticism is being used as a New Age Movement. Dawson says that most people sit back in fear and think what can I do? There's nothing I can do. But there is something you can do, depending on your beliefs. The advantage to this Apocalyptic Movement is that they give you something to do. "It seems there's a certain kind of a desperate edge to taking something like a Mayan myth to try and make sense in a kind of brick and brack manner but maybe that's evidence of just how fractured our social existence has become." All these theories and such can just be a mash-up of the insanity in our minds as a society.

John Hoopes (Professor of Anthropology at University of Kansas)

John believes that even without the Internet, we'd still be as lost about this idea as we are today. There will never be a true answer until we all witness it together as mankind. All the information we have must be doubted as well, for "it's very hard to tell what's real and what's fabricated these days." That is the beauty of deception in scientific evidence.

The Mayan Calendar

The ancient Mayans invented a Long Count Calendar thousands of years ago. They divided this calendar into 13 B'ak'tun's. The final B'ak'tun, as viewed in ancient scriptures (writing in caves), seems to end on December 21st, 2012, according to the Western Calendar which we live by today. But the stone with the 13th B'ak'tun on it is clearly eroded, so it is just a predicament that this is supposed to symbolize The End. Most Mayans today don't even believe what is scaring the rest of the world; they believe that the cycle just starts all over again! So it will be the end of the world as we know it.

David Morrison (NASA Scientist)

People who write to Morrison are so fearful. They have fear of witnessing this catastrophe, so they are threatening to commit suicide, kill their children, etc...just to avoid thinking about this event any longer, or worse, being a victim of it. He feels for these fearful people, but at the same time, he laughs at peoples' theories that are not proven by NASA. "How do you want me to react? That's total nonsense!" he says to Geryl's predictions. Even Morrison believes that the Apocalyptic idea is just a capitalistic idea."After December, 2012, they'll think of something new to make money."

Nibiru Collision

This Planet X is believed to either crash into Earth or pitch Earth out of its orbit. This was supposedly discovered by the ancient Sumarians and it is supposed to come by every 3600 years. But scientists say that a planet the required size of Nibiru would have to be visible to the naked eye - there is no such planet visible to the human eye, thus no threat of this collision.

Solar Tsunami

Solar flares are large eruptions on the Sun. They are common on the Sun, but lately, they have been stronger and larger, causing more radiation on Earth. It's very rare to predict specific solar flares or even to know when the maximum is. Morrison assured that there is nothing about the Sun that can threaten people. But Doomsday theories predict that the solar flares will act as magnets with the Earth, causing Earth's temperature to continuously rise.  

Switch in the Earth's Rotation

Every 300-400 000 years, the Earth's magnetic poles flip, which is theorized to cause the Earth to spin in reverse. There is also the theory of the Earth's inner core of overheating, which can cause this reversal as well. Morrison says the Earth has never changed direction. But believers predict landslides, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, wars; a large catastrophe, as the mere aftermath of the Earth's reversal of rotation. Morrison calls this cosmophobia. The first thing that comes to mind to people nowadays when they hear of the smallest incident is "Will it hurt me? Is it going to destroy the Earth?" This fear of the end of the world has locked into everybody's brains. Even if it's subconscious, it's there. The fear at least is there, if not the belief. But that fear is what causes the belief, in the end.

Coast to Coast: 2012 Topic

George Noory feels like a psychiatrist to all his listeners of his radio show. They believe the end is coming, but they also believe there's a way to prevent it, or get through it. His motto? "We are all in this together and eventually we're going to get through it together. It's going to be a rough road! I'm not trying to kid anybody. I'm not trying to sugarcoat this. We are going to have some hills and valleys. This is going to be a roller coaster ride you had better strap yourself in for."

2012 The Movie

This movie features a lot of catastrophes which, in the storyline, lead to "the end of the world". The movie may have caused more of a scare in the world, and it is logical. The story is made up, however there are facts tied to a majority of the events in this movie. The director of this film, Roland Emmerich, read a lot of books about 2012 and some of them really scared him. The film has grossed worldwide with a total of $767,918,347.

Apocalypse 2012, The Book

Lawrence E. Joseph believes that he has put together really undeniable scientific evidence that our way of life is threatened seriously and soon. He was asked by a high school student, who was viewing his speech at her school, if a solar flare would actually be deadly for us. He believes that there would be many untimely deaths. It's the perfect time now to prepare for these things. But now, some time after publishing his first book, Apocalypse 2012, he has stopped believing it'll even happen. "In all honesty, my thinking has changed." 2012 has just become a universal deadline, but there's no evidence besides the Mayan belief that anything will happen specifically on December 21st, or even specifically in this year.

Patrick Geryl

You will see a very bright Sun and you will know that you only have a few hours before everything happens. You need to get prepared. The nightmare about the end of the world haunts Geryl. He sees everybody dying, nobody listening to him. It's like a type of depression. He believes there's a hidden calculation that solar flares will hit the Earth which will cause the reversal of the Earth's rotation. The proof he believes is in an Ancient Maya writing which he believes predicts an Apocalypse on the last day of the Long Count Calendar. The challenge will be to survive the tidal waves. One option he believes will be to ride it out on a boat, but you will lose your directions with the cataclysm's effect on the compass. Geryl believes that about 20 000 people in boats might make it. He wants to build a doomsday-proof community in the mountains of Spain for people who may not want to use the boats. His dream is to have several different locations for the safety of these future survivors.

Christopher Powell

Powell believes that the Mayans probably predicted change on the last day of the 13th B'ak'tun, but it remains a mystery of what exactly these changes are. As an archaelogist, he explains the erosion of the only piece of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar with the end date on it leading to this large Apocalypse 2012 confusion.

Hunbatz Men

Men believes that something is wrong in the consciousness of the universe and mother earth is continuously repeating herself saying something is wrong. He believes that something is going to happen. But he believes that 2012 is just a reference point rather than a specific time. This doesn't mean, however, that he won't encourage his students to come to his school to meditate on December 21st, 2012. Many people will be coming to meditate with him.

He spoke about 2012 as the New Solar Age, back in 1980. He believes that we are approaching something new, but it could be better or worse. He believes that if we're all in a silent prayer at the moment of that large solar flare, it will transform into a rainbow bridge joining the two poles of the Earth.

José Argüelles

Dennis McClung

He sat back and watched more and more wars, economic catastrophes, storms, and so on, just continuing to grow. He stopped writing the book he was researching for, and decided to stay safe at home with his family and become more eco-friendly, in case that helps. If this fails, he will move to a survival community in the hills of Arizona. His friend Jim, who is helping him move if needed, has been panning for gold, because he believes that it will be the only currency left after the cataclysm. McClung says that there are many theories which point to 2012 as a time of change. People say he is putting fear in people but the way he sees it is that he's helping people to not have any fear.

Pam Walters

Walters wants to build an underground colony out of shipping containers in a small town of West Virginia. She felt somehow that she had to do this, because she had a sense since the 1980s that something was coming. She heard of Planet X, Nibiru, and believes that it is already causing a magnetic pull on Earth which is increasing the Earth's temperature. What's worse is that she thinks that the government knows it and isn't telling anyone to avoid mass hysteria. But there already is hysteria in this World.

Leap of Faith, Bell Rock

Peter Gersten believes that humans exist in a computer program and at 11:11 AM, December 21st, 2012, it will shut down. He believes that he has received a sign to jump off Bell Rock in Arizona at this exact time to save the world from "shutting down". 

Money

Dawson believes that most people don't mind paying a bit for information and such, but this can only go to a certain extent. McClung sells supplies to survivalists with the same beliefs as him in order to help them plan and execute their survival quests. Geryl & De Cordier know they will need big money for the survival units. Right now, one unit costs about 50 000 Euros.

Judith Carol

Carol is pitching a line of clothing to high-end boutiques with a logo that she believes will transform the neurons of the brain.

Larry Hall

Hall is in the midst of designing a large, high-tech, high architecture quality underground community for other survivalists. He says that he has had to cut back on advertising because of the response he's gotten. Half a floor goes for $900 000 American, and a full floor for $1 750 000 American. All the luxuries a human could possibly want are included in the structure of this community.

Brian Camden

Camden is building bunkers all around the world for private individuals and corporations. The largest one can fit 1000 people but wants to build one for 15 000 people and says he can build one for 100 000 people. A family-sized bunker in the side of a mountain costs about a half a million dollars. The strange thing is is that Camden hasn't bought into the Apocalyptic idea himself. He is making money over people's fear.

My Thoughts

There is a business to all this apocalypticism; even with researchers. They probably have no idea as to what they're going to do with their supplies, bunkers, and all their other investments if 2012 does not happen. Is it all just a game that everybody is playing in order to strengthen capitalism for the future, or is it just to get you by until the day comes, in order to witness everything? The relations between science and the Mayan Calendar are evident; something is going to happen. This doesn't mean, however, that 2012 is the year it will happen. If you research other religious beliefs, these relations will freak you out even more. Some beliefs are too far-out and unbelievable in my opinion - but that doesn't mean they're not true. 2012, like Morrison said, is just a time reference. Catastrophes happen. A major one is coming. Will it end the world? Yes; as we know it.