lalabubbles33:

Just finished Looking for Alaska

So basically, I have become recently extremely pissed at the world’s willingness to support something, anything, without checking that something’s background. Really. It’s irritating.

Today, unfortunately, this “something” was the Mayan calendar. Over the course of the last fifteen minutes, I have seen two commercials based around incorrect conceptions of the Mayan calendar, and while I realize these were produced in jest, it is quite a disturbing realization that these companies are banking on people’s ignorance (not like that doesn’t happen every day, but this is my effort to decrease world suck so keep listening)

The first was for a retirement company, stating that the world wasn’t going to end so we should continue on with our plans to retire with them. Smart marketing, sure, but then they brought the whole concept of “Like the Mayan calendar says” into it.

The second was banking in on why you should drink so and so’s beer because the world is going to end anyways. Then, of course, they had to brig the idea of “like the calendar says” into it.

Why does this make me mad? BECAUSE THE CALENDAR DOESN’T SAY. AT ALL. The Mayan calendar was an idea. An idea at which our days, weeks, months, years, decades, millenniums all of those would later be taken after. The Mayan calendar was composed of labels, not doomsday predictions. Let me explain:

1 day: K’in
20 days: Winal
360 days: Tun
20 Tuns (years): Ka’tun
144,000 days or 394.26 years: B’ak’tun

This was called The Long Count Calendar. Scary, I know.

Now, why are we up and arms about this? Because, on December 21, 2012, we are changing over into a new B’ak’tun. The B’ak’tun of 13.00.00.00.00 (or thirteen)

What happened last time we changed B’ak’tuns? Nothing. There were no devastating hurricanes, floods, earthquakes.

We are going to be fine. The Mayans did not say that December 21, 2012 was going to be the end of us. Human misconception, ignorance and clever marketing did. If there is one thing i want you to take from this, it would be to factcheck. I’ve probably got something wrong in here too, and I would be absolutely honored to be corrected. For more on the Mayan Calendar and why we will not die/ why the Mayans do not hate us, I would encourage you to check out John Green’s Crashcourse channel on YouTube. I would link but I’m on mobile. It’s truly fabulous, I promise. Rant over!

I started reading it today. My mind, has been blown. “Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.” Oh my gosh. I can’t. This book was too amazing for the words to form properly out of my mouth. John Green, I shall be forever indebted to you for this masterful work of literature of which you have allowed my eyes, heart, mind and soul to be graced with.