2012

I do not know how to quantify "knowledge".  That is, I do not know any objective way to say whether I know "more" than you do, or how much knowledge is available in a given library, or whether there is more knowledge on earth today than there was yesterday.

Since knowledge includes history, and an infinite number of things have happened between yesterday and today, and all of them can be "known", I suppose there is more that can be known today than yesterday.  Plus, each day offers new scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs.  At the same time, knowledge is continually lost.  Every time a person dies, the human race loses billions of historical details known only to that person -- details of the person's life and times.  In addition, more basic everyday knowledge is continually lost.  Most people of today have little grasp of the everyday knowledge that was needed, for example, to survive in an undeveloped wilderness.

Modern humans, living in "the information age", are in many ways an arrogant people.  We do not like to admit that knowledge is continually being lost, but there is no doubt that our parents and grandparents knew things that we ourselves will never know, if only about the details of their daily lives.

We are losing more than just the details of personal histories.  We cannot duplicate the construction of hundreds of archeaological sites, except perhaps with modern, high tech equipment that we currently believe was unavailable to earlier generations.  We can only speculate about the construction methods used for the pyramids, or Stonehenge -- or the purposes of various devices now found in museums.  Yet we persist in believing that we know "more" than earlier generations.

Some people claim that more than one earlier civilization believed that 2012 would be a time of cosmic significance.  At one extreme are those who believe that the Mayans -- among others -- believed that the world would end on December 21, 2012.  At another extreme are those who claim this is nothing but a modern fabrication -- that neither the Mayans nor the Hopis or any other earlier people believed anything specific about 2012.  Another view falls somewhere in between.  There are those who believe that this WAS predicted to be a special time, but not specifically the end of the world -- perhaps a time of great change, or even of rebirth.  Finally, there are those who believe it simply does not matter what earlier peoples believed about 2012, and that it will turn out to be a year like any other year.

Personally, I lack the expertise to evaluate whether or not any earlier cultures believed that something special would happen near the end of 2012.  I DO have the expertise to realize that our current science does NOT know or understand everything, and that it is possible that earlier peoples DID know something about the future that our current scientists do NOT know.  It is strictly arrogance to believe otherwise.

Within reason, there is value in living as though this might be the last few days, weeks, or months, of the last year.  For some people, it WILL be their last few days.  Several people close to me have died in recent years, and another could go at any time.

When I say, "Within reason", I mean that it is probably not a good idea to quit your job, or to spend all of your money, or to cancel all your magazine subscriptions, or to quit brushing your teeth.  There is a good chance that you will live to see 2013, and probably have to make it on through to 2014 and beyond.

Still, it is probably a good thing to try and make these next few days the best days of your life.  It is probably ALWAYS a good thing to try and make the next few days the best days of your life, just as it is probably always a good thing to be at least a little prepared for the unexpected.

I suppose that, in some ways, I am hoping for something extraordinary to happen on December 21, 2012, though I suspect that it will not.  I am also hoping to have the best year ever.  I am always hoping to have the best year ever.

Truth is complicated.

P.S.  There is another, more complicated, possibility.  Something may quietly happen on December 21, 2012, that will ultimately dramatically change the world -- but we may not be AWARE of it at that time.  Though change can be frightening, and is not in and of itself a good thing, there are things about the world, and about my life, that NEED changing.  Good luck, world!