When I was younger, each night my parents tucked me into bed and I'd ask them three questions:
1) Will the sun come up tomorrow?
2) When will the world end?
3) *I forgot but no doubt it was something apocalyptic*
My parents would tell me: 1)Yes; 2) Not anytime soon; and, 3) ----. As a child, I began thinking that the world would end "tomorrow" because I read an article saying that the sun would die someday, and then it'd create a black hole that would swallow the planet, extinguishing all life on Earth. Until now, I have to admit I still have fears of the world coming to an end (and this is why I'm not fond of end-of-the-world movies like 2012) but I'm not as paranoid as mini me to pester my parents nightly for answers - as if I could.
I came across a very interesting article at the National Geographic website today. I'm not sure what the writers wanted their readers to feel, publishing something like that. To me though, discovering all those failed doomsday warnings felt oddly relieving. I suddenly began to see today's doomsayers as "wet blankets" - warning us out of concern, probably, but not making life on Earth better for anyone.
Bah. I can't describe the feeling. But this line from Peanuts sums my thoughts up:
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today...
It's already tomorrow in Australia."
1) Will the sun come up tomorrow?
2) When will the world end?
3) *I forgot but no doubt it was something apocalyptic*
My parents would tell me: 1)Yes; 2) Not anytime soon; and, 3) ----. As a child, I began thinking that the world would end "tomorrow" because I read an article saying that the sun would die someday, and then it'd create a black hole that would swallow the planet, extinguishing all life on Earth. Until now, I have to admit I still have fears of the world coming to an end (and this is why I'm not fond of end-of-the-world movies like 2012) but I'm not as paranoid as mini me to pester my parents nightly for answers - as if I could.
I came across a very interesting article at the National Geographic website today. I'm not sure what the writers wanted their readers to feel, publishing something like that. To me though, discovering all those failed doomsday warnings felt oddly relieving. I suddenly began to see today's doomsayers as "wet blankets" - warning us out of concern, probably, but not making life on Earth better for anyone.
Bah. I can't describe the feeling. But this line from Peanuts sums my thoughts up:
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today...
It's already tomorrow in Australia."
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