2012 is lurking and as it nears, the world faces a wild fire like hysteria as to what will become of our fate once it arrives. Rumors of pole shifts, planets intercepting our solar system, that it is the Apocalypse and in short our doom. However, as proven in the past, prophecies such as this have proven to be false.

How then may you ask has this widespread panic begun? Well, one of the Mayan calenders which has had much contribution to this widespread fear is ending in the year. However, traditionally, the end of the calender marks the beginning of a new cycle (not the end of the world). This perhaps, along with the fact, that a movie 2012 will be premiering in September. Sony Pictures who is the company that is producing the movie has gone, in what some believe, to be too far in the marketing endeavors . Sony Pictures has very discretely created many websites that promote the 2012 fear. One such site is The IHC, a fictional site that offers information on the 2012 pandemic as well as a lottery to enter to save yourself from the cataclysmic event. If you look into this you realize that the site is sponsored by Sony as a very interesting marketing ploy.

Mass hysteria which is a collective hysteria has been seen throughout the centuries. For example in the 1600s this was exhibited in Salem, Massachusetts. Neighbors turned against neighbor in search of the “whose who” of  witches and mortals. Many were imprisoned and murdered as an affect.In the late 1930s, one of Orson Welles’s radio broadcasts contributed to a massive scare of a martian invasion. People grabbed their guns and awaited the eminent arrival of the unknown. In the late 1950s we encountered the “Red Scare” where neighbors once again accused neighbors of being communist sympathizers. As a result many were blacklisted, prosecuted, and treated unfairly. And finally, let’s not forget the terror we engulfed ourselves with in 1999 with Y2K. Many stocked up on canned foods and water in fear that our system of life were to fail.

Image via Wikipedia

Along with mass hysteria these rumors project something known as the “Bandwagon Effect”. This is when one group of people believe things and as a result it simply becomes contagious. One person may have suggested that 2012 was the date of our doom, then someone stated well that’s when one of the Mayan calenders end, then the movie entered production. The production period may have led to even more hyped up ads and websites such as the IHC-which has led many to believe even more to the hysteria. Then rumors begun on Planet X. However, Mike Brown from Caltech-who is to be the original founder of the planet has stated that there is absolutely no threat to our solar system by it. Movies such as Knowing also add to the panic. Not to mention the apocalyptic rumors that seem to appear when any cataclysmic event is predicted.

In short, this may be true but it is unlikely. Mass hysteria and the Bandwagon effect are common and have been exhibited throughout history-and always proven wrong.In rumors of these events many lost lives and loved ones. We often experience all that we would never do but find ourselves doing in a horrible event (or even just a rumor of one). If you would like to prepare then I recommend in doing so however, do not let these predictions force you into doing something that you will have to face after we’re all here in 2013 (such as stop paying bills etc.).

Image via Wikipedia

You may also be interested in:

2012 and Bible Prophecy

http://relijournal.com/religion/2012-bible-prophecy/

Safest Places to be in 2012

http://www.socyberty.com/Folklore/The-Safest-Places-to-be-in-2012.853903

This is the End:2012

http://www.socyberty.com/Folklore/This-is-the-End-2012.806883