- Joined
- Dec 13, 2009
- Messages
- 69
Ramp's quote hits it right on the head, for the most part. I've done a little research on this (the subject comes up on nearly every board, so I've rehearsed arguments frequently), so I can offer a little more insight. The Mesoamericans believed that the gods created the world, but were unsatisfied with their work, destroyed it, and created it again. It's a cycle, in which we are in the fourth iteration. That was the explanation for the presence of the number four in so many natural things - four limbs, etc. The Mesoamericans believed that the third cycle ended on the fourteenth B'ak'tun.
Diverge: A B'ak'tun is to a Katun what a year is to a month, or a month is to a week, or even what a pound is to an ounce. It's a set amount of a previous, smaller unit of measurement. In terms of extended periods of time, measurements were about as regular as the metric system, using a base twenty instead of a base ten system. So: 0.0 through 19, then 1.0 to 1.19, then 2.0 to 2.19, so on and so forth. A B'ak'tun is approx 395 years.
Thus, the Mesoamericans speculated that the current cycle would end on the fourteenth B'ak'tun as well. I don't know how logical this was: did they think that previous iterations were destroyed on the fourteenth b'ak'tun, or was it possible that it was an arithmetic (2,4,6,8...) or geometric (3.25, 6.5, 13, 26...) sequence, or was it possible that it was random?
If anything should happen, I prefer to believe that it is the next creation, not the next destruction. 2013 could be the rise of another major life form, even if the concept of life is brought into question, e.g., sentient machines. I don't know what the Mayans believed would happen, although I am certain that they knew that the world would not be utterly destroyed. There are messages dated for a time well past the Gregorian Dec 21st, 2012. I can't think of any examples now, but I could do some digging if prompted enough.
Diverge: A B'ak'tun is to a Katun what a year is to a month, or a month is to a week, or even what a pound is to an ounce. It's a set amount of a previous, smaller unit of measurement. In terms of extended periods of time, measurements were about as regular as the metric system, using a base twenty instead of a base ten system. So: 0.0 through 19, then 1.0 to 1.19, then 2.0 to 2.19, so on and so forth. A B'ak'tun is approx 395 years.
Thus, the Mesoamericans speculated that the current cycle would end on the fourteenth B'ak'tun as well. I don't know how logical this was: did they think that previous iterations were destroyed on the fourteenth b'ak'tun, or was it possible that it was an arithmetic (2,4,6,8...) or geometric (3.25, 6.5, 13, 26...) sequence, or was it possible that it was random?
If anything should happen, I prefer to believe that it is the next creation, not the next destruction. 2013 could be the rise of another major life form, even if the concept of life is brought into question, e.g., sentient machines. I don't know what the Mayans believed would happen, although I am certain that they knew that the world would not be utterly destroyed. There are messages dated for a time well past the Gregorian Dec 21st, 2012. I can't think of any examples now, but I could do some digging if prompted enough.
