[dean]

Anybody watching The History channel this week?  Most of the shows are from a few years ago but they're interesting.  I have to ask the same question one of the critic's asked... Why is it they can only interpret his writings "after" something historical happens?

Very interesting studies, hypothesis and historical recordings about the center of the galaxy and planetary alignment.  Things might get a little dicey eh?     I'm not sure about the Bible Code thing... another critic has been able to use it in the book Moby Dick and get very similar results.   

[blatz]

yeah, I've been watching.  Its entertaining to say the least.  But its a hoax.  It sells movies, books, and TV advertising.

check this link out: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html

the funniest thing is the whole premise is that the Mayan calendar ends.  well, technically so does the 2010 calendar on my wall.  but at the end of 2010, I buy a new one .  The Mayan calendar ends an era, after which a new one starts, but it doesn't mean the world is over...

and as was pointed out, Nostradamians always link his prophecies after they happened...which is easy because they are so vaguely written, any interpretation can be 'right' - is easy to connect dots when you've seen the final picture.

 I'll still watch the movie when it hits NetFlix though...

[brewboy]

I'm pretty sure I'll die someday.

[dean]

Maybe King Solomon's Temple might begin being rebuilt in Jerusalem on 12/21/2012.   I haven't decided yet, need more facts.    

[The Professor]

I've watched a few of these shows and while the information is certainly a crock of shrit, they do have some kind of goofy entertainment value (at least in small doses).  Just to hear the voiceover narrator guys reading this nonsense with such conviction and seriousness is a testament to their skills even if the subject matter sounds like self parody.

I do wonder, however, when exactly the once decent History Channel became the Speculation and Hoax Channel.  And in recent weeks, it has also feature an awful lot of quasi-religious tripe. 
Watching a glass primary fermenter on the first day after pitching is far more interesting.

What we really need is a Three Stooges  and/or Laurel & Hardy Channel.

[dean]

I still like the History Channel, they provide theories and historical facts.  The theories they just present, ya gotta listen to the narrator.... he tells you that.   

It is interesting, who knows what will happen?  I'm burying cornies full of beer just in case, better safe than sorry. 

[blatz]

well said, prof - exactly what I was thinking.

however, it is like a car accident, I can't help but stop and watch.  Especially the "Life after Humans" show.

[tubercle]

I've watched a few of these shows and while the information is certainly a crock of shrit, they do have some kind of goofy entertainment value (at least in small doses).  Just to hear the voiceover narrator guys reading this nonsense with such conviction and seriousness is a testament to their skills even if the subject matter sounds like self parody.

I do wonder, however, when exactly the once decent History Channel became the Speculation and Hoax Channel.  And in recent weeks, it has also feature an awful lot of quasi-religious tripe. 
Watching a glass primary fermenter on the first day after pitching is far more interesting.

What we really need is a Three Stooges  and/or Laurel & Hardy Channel.

  I saw a program where some journalist stomped through the jungle and found some kind of chieftain that was of Mayan decent to asked about the calender and get the story straight from the source. This chieftain had actually been educated in the U.S. and returned to his home. The chieftain just laughed and said he had never heard of it - no oral history or anything - until he went to school. And there certainly wasn't any prediction among his people about the destruction of the earth anytime soon.

 It was funny to see the reactions of the journalist when he laughed in their face. They kept prodding him but he told them to just go back and relax.

[wzl46]

and as was pointed out, Nostradamians always link his prophecies after they happened...which is easy because they are so vaguely written, any interpretation can be 'right' - is easy to connect dots when you've seen the final picture.

It's very similar to horoscopes.  I saw a TV show a bunch of years ago in which James Randi (one of the greats of this country and world IMHO) went to a college class and presented each individual with a personalized horoscope based on their name, birth date, place of birth, etc.  Their instructions were to read the horoscope and once done, they were to discuss how accurate they were for each individual.  Everybody was amazed at how well Randi had done with these readings, and how they fit each individual almost perfectly.  After discussing the results for a few minutes, he instructed the students to trade readings with the person next to them to prove how accurate they were.  When exchanged, the students saw that everybody had been given the exact same reading.
Long story short- if you want to believe something, your mind will let you believe it.
wzl

[BrewArk]

Didn't the world already end for the Mayans?

[The Professor]

...It was funny to see the reactions of the journalist when he laughed in their face. They kept prodding him but he told them to just go back and relax.

...and have a homebrew?   

[mrbowenz]

Didn't the world already end for the Mayans?

Oh that's brilliant !

[rabid_dingo]

Didn't the world already end for the Mayans?

Oh that's brilliant !

LOL! All this brewhaha for the end of the calendar for them and all it means for them its the "New Year's Eve"(or should I say New Era's Eve) for them...I just think it's a rolling 5000ish year long calendar and we're going to flip it over and start again.

[BrewingRover]

It's very similar to horoscopes.  I saw a TV show a bunch of years ago in which James Randi (one of the greats of this country and world IMHO) went to a college class and presented each individual with a personalized horoscope based on their name, birth date, place of birth, etc.  Their instructions were to read the horoscope and once done, they were to discuss how accurate they were for each individual.  Everybody was amazed at how well Randi had done with these readings, and how they fit each individual almost perfectly.  After discussing the results for a few minutes, he instructed the students to trade readings with the person next to them to prove how accurate they were.  When exchanged, the students saw that everybody had been given the exact same reading.
Long story short- if you want to believe something, your mind will let you believe it.
wzl

James Randi is awesome. I remember seeing him debunking "psychic surgeons", who claimed to be able to excise cancerous tissue without leaving marks. Basic sleight of hand tricks with chicken innards, but people wanted to believe.

[dean]

Something nobody has said yet is interesting (at least imho) is that only within the last 100 years has the bible itself been being proven as historically correct, as is Nostradamus writings.  People still can't interpret with much accuracy what the predictions in the bible mean... until they happen, then everyone will say "see... it was predicted", just as with Nostradamus writings.  Its said we see through a vail darkly.  The old testament is said to have been a shadow of the new testament.  I guess what intrigues me about it is that biblical scholars have systematically thrown out Nostradamus as a heretic, false prophet etc.  What many people don't know or didn't is/was that Nostradamus was Jewish from birth and his parents became christians for political reasons and for educational reasons etc.  There are many persons in the old testament that had dreams and or visions as well as interpretations.  Joseph for example, he went into specific caves noted for causing dreams and visions.  You can research it if you want and you'll find that it is true and proven both scientifically and historically.

Its the Masons and the Freemasons that intrique me now more than anything.  I don't believe everything I've heard about them either, meaning that I don't believe they are some sort of evil cult.  I tend to lean more toward craftsmen and skilled historians as a better description of them perhaps?  I'm sure some were alchemists, something that is apparently lost to our understanding today.

I certainly don't know what is or isn't going to happen but it sure does make good reading and or television.  It beats watching reality shows with payoffs.