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The Mayan were ridiculously skilled in architectural, mathematical, and astronomical matters. During their cultural expansion, they developed an obsession with time, and found a cool method to track it by use of a complex calendar system. It's part of that system that's now being flogged at conventions, in books, and all across the intertubes, promoting the most recent "the end is near" predictions. Now, at the risk of sounding disrespectful, my knee jerk reaction to hearing that in that specific year, precisely on December 21, history rolls up its scroll and takes us all with it sounds a little bit like another of the countless doomsday prophecies that have come and gone, leaving existential egg on the face of the people who proclaimed it the loudest. But there's no question that we seem to welcome bad news with open arms, which helps to explain why it spreads like a wildfire.

Without taking even a moment to research the source or verify the claims, the more spectacularly bad the news, the bigger the slice of it we crave. Shoot, we'll swallow the pie whole. As far as the 2012 predictions go, we may be well into our second helpings. Notwithstanding the undeniable fact that a great deal of incredible - and I mean that in its original sense - information is being disseminated, we're still swallowing the idea that all life on the planet is literally just a few months away from being utterly kaput like it's a sweet, decadent dessert.

It's worth remembering that the Mayans probably never intended to prophecy the end of our existence. The legendary Mayan calendar was made as a strategy for tracking time. It was not created as a method of predicting specific future events. There's little question that the long count calendar was employed to forecast ideal times for sowing and harvesting crops and other similar cultural and/or natural events. But the Mayans were not necessarily supernatural prognosticators. They did believe in a pantheon of gods and shared the common superstitions of early cultures; but there's a questionable relationship between their religious beliefs and the 2012 world-ending predictions. There's no question that the calendar does come to a seemingly abrupt end; but then, so does our Gregorian calendar. Theirs may have spanned 5,125.36 years, whereas ours tend to go in annual cycles, but what's to stop us from concluding that it doesn't all just start over again on "New Year's" day?

It's a fascinating subject, and well worth investing some time in studying, if only to acquaint yourself with the actual facts. There are a growing number of books and articles that go into detail regarding whether or not, after that fateful December 21, history will continue to unfold more or less as we are used to. If you encounter an opinion that seems to make sense, take it on board. If it sounds like the ravings of someone modeling a tin foil hat, give it a pass. Like anything else, it requires a sensible approach. If you feel, like I do, that it's best to be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best, then follow that plan. But don't believe everything you hear, especially if it's guaranteed to terrify you. The Mayans didn't go to all the massive labor of creating their extraordinary time-keeping system just to punk a generation of people living a millennium or two after they were long gone. Consider the possibility that everything might turn out alright after all!