The Pope calls it quits on Monday, North Korea makes a successful underground nuclear test on Tuesday, and an asteroid is gonna come pretty close next Friday.
Place your bets on Wednesday and Thursday?
Place your bets on Wednesday and Thursday?
The Pope calls it quits on Monday, North Korea makes a successful underground nuclear test on Tuesday, and an asteroid is gonna come pretty close next Friday.
Place your bets on Wednesday and Thursday?
Place your bets on Wednesday and Thursday?
Happy birthday! (In case I can't say it later.)I predict that next Thursday is my birthday and that at least 1 cable channel will be playing Armageddon, Deep Impact, or both next week in honor of the asteroid.
In the middle ages I don't think that they made a distinctionAn asteroid is not a comet, but there is a nice comet coming up, I think.
That seems a rather disrespectful view of many religions since most if not all have some version of some sort of apocalypseEnd of the world prophesies are popular among idiots and journalists. No matter how stupid your prophesy is, you can always find someone who will drink the Kool-aide.
In the middle ages I don't think that they made a distinction
That seems a rather disrespectful view of many religions since most if not all have some version of some sort of apocalypse
In all seriousness, aside from really religious believers, is anyone worried about the End Times? I mean, not only does anyone think the predicted events might really happen, but does anyone really worry much about their effect?
In the middle ages I don't think that they made a distinction
That seems a rather disrespectful view of many religions since most if not all have some version of some sort of apocalypse
Looks like among others it was St Malachy
It's also limited by the transriptionists, the translators and editors and interpretors. St Malachy didn't write in modern American English. To assume that all intermediaries in between are and must be infallible is I hope not what you are trying to argue. My classical Latin dictionaries do not distinguish between comets and asteroids. I don't know about Medieval Latin. Eskimoes have something like 17 different words for snow. We don't. Things definitely get lost in translation even between generations using the same language. To insist that they can't is well beyond the strangest religious belief that I've read.And if the accuracy of a prophesy is limited by the knowledge of the person making it, in what way is it a 'prophesy?' Isn't a prophesy by definition knowledge that a person would not otherwise have access to?
You only have to be wrong once and pretty much all scientists and all religious agree that at some point the world will end. Speculation as to how and when is the real question, not the question of if.How many failed apocalypses and end time prophesies do I have to witness before I am allowed to treat them as rubbish and the people who believe in them fools?
Were you to simply say, "Whatever, I don't believe it," and even wear a T-shirt with the slogan or tattoo it to your head, that would be fine, but for you to insist that anyone who does not agree with you must therefore be an idiot is simply narcissismI am required to respect people's right to believe as they wish, and I do. I am not required to act as if their beliefs aren't stupid.
Scientists too speculate and theorize about the end of the world. Probably almost if not all of them will be wrong too. How is their speculation better if just as many will be wrong?The fact that all religions have them means nothing other than the universality of crazy people who misinterpret their hallucinations for prophesy, and gullible people who believe them. Nowadays we have drugs for the first, but not the second.
You do realize that, "drinking the Kool-Aide," refers to the Jonestown Massacre? You seem to be equating all religions with a suicide cult that murdered their own children. That's very much a part not representing the whole fallacy.End of the world prophesies are popular among idiots and journalists. No matter how stupid your prophesy is, you can always find someone who will drink the Kool-aide.
Eskimoes have something like 17 different words for snow.
I'm sorry. Did I say Eskimoes? I meant to say Leprechauns.Eskimos? Pfft, they're only a legend, like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson.
So, there you go - go out and get a chicken for lunch and avoid the end of the world.
That seems a rather disrespectful view of many religions since most if not all have some version of some sort of apocalypse
Um, not ALL religions have specific beliefs regarding an apocalypse or end to the world. Older religions tended to take a more circular view of the world (old eras end, new eras begin, and on it goes). The texts for my religion never really go into the end of the world at all.The fact that all religions have them means nothing other than the universality of crazy people who misinterpret their hallucinations for prophesy, and gullible people who believe them.
I really resent alternative medicine being grouped with the rest of that crap. There are many forms of medicine judged alternative by the medical establishment and insurance companies which work very well. One of the insurance companies my father sells for has even started covering acupuncture because they realized how much money it could save them, and I've been using herbal treatment for my ADD for years instead of dangerous, addictive, expensive drugs. Of course, the people making billions off the dangerous, expensive drugs have a vested interest in getting people to believe that herbal medicine belongs grouped with Creationism.Its that kind of thinking that gives us Alternative Medicine, Anti-Vaccination, Intelligent Design, Climate Change Deniers, Birthers, Truthers, etc. These things aren't just stupid, they are dishonest. It is absolutely dishonest to portray these points of view as just as good as the alternative.
Something can be popular simply because it is fun. I like a good apocalypse story, be it Ragnarok, Biblical or Mount Doom. Finding historical references in prophesies that match modern times is like easter eggs in video games. They're fun. That doesn't mean that people who enjoy that literature are going to murder their children and commit suicide. To equate the two is not in touch with reality since historically few do such things.End of the world prophesies are popular among idiots and journalists. No matter how stupid your prophesy is, you can always find someone who will drink the Kool-aide.
No, so far every prediction of the end of the world has either failed or has yet to pass. That's not the same as all prophesies. It is a small subset. There are many other prophesies regarding non-apocaplyptic events that some believe have come to pass. There are even prophesies of global warming from hundreds of years ago. Just because the wording might be vague in most and you chose a different interpretation does not make you right.Of course I agree that the world will end someday. But predicting something that is inevitable doesn't make you a prophet. Predicting something within certain parameters makes you a prophet. So far, every single one has failed.
But to insist that everyone else who enjoys reading about them is an idiot is most certainly disrespectful.Just because one day, one of them might be correct doesn't mean that I should treat them as anything other than con-men.
That much is obviousAnd yes, my choice of words was deliberate.
by far the vast majority do not do such thingsPeople sell their belongings, quit their jobs, move across the world, and yes, even commit suicide because of these prophesies.
That's different than what you originally saidI call someone who does these things because he thinks the world is ending either crazy or stupid.
I'd like to see a VDRL titer on whatever monk you've prophesized as having had syphilisIts not about whether they disagree with me, its about whether they give more credence to known facts about the universe or the ravings of some syphilitic monk living in the era when they thought that ringing church bells could prevent thunderstorms.
There are also people who insist that their opinions are facts.It's a popular fad among the ignorant these days that facts are just opinions, and that all opinions are equal.
I remember not too long ago a significant preponderance of people accepting as fact that vaccines cause autism. A few decades before that there was an acceptance that silicone implants cause autoimmune diseases. go further back and it was accepted that the world was flat. A fact is not always a fact. A good scientist doesn't take on faith that all facts are facts.Sorry. There is a real world that doesn't care about your opinion. If your opinion runs counter to the facts, you are wrong, period. If you refuse to change your opinion when shown the facts, you are stupid, period. It isn't just me saying this.
Actually if you go back in time almost all scientists eventually get proven to be wrong. We've made advances sure, but still there's a LOT wrong. The saying in Medical school is taht within 10 years half of what they taught you will have been proven to be wrong and the individual physician's job is to figure out which half.Sure scientists are wrong sometimes. But they aren't wrong 100% of the time, like these "prophets" have proven to be.
Again, you are conflating some and allTreating them as if they are just as good as the scientists because some scientists are wrong sometimes is foolishness.
Those are all different topics that should not be lumped together with simply enjoying a good apocalypse story.Its that kind of thinking that gives us Alternative Medicine, Anti-Vaccination, Intelligent Design, Climate Change Deniers, Birthers, Truthers, etc. These things aren't just stupid, they are dishonest. It is absolutely dishonest to portray these points of view as just as good as the alternative.
that much is consistently shown throughout historyThis sort of stupidity is a luxury that our rich, comfortable society can easily afford. But you don't have to be a prophet to predict that the day will come when we will face a crisis that no amount of spin or denial can cover up, and people who can't adapt their opinion to match the facts will pay the price.
do you have a reference?And by the way, the trajectory models correct for gravity.
again you are conflating finding a story interesting with blind faithI think I will trust the people who were able to put a rover on mars within meters of where they were aiming, instead of the medieval guy who thought that the sun went around the earth.
I never didYou are free to make your own choice, but don't try to pretend that the one is just as good as the other.