11/11/11: How today is tied to the Mayan End-of-the-World Prediction
By rivengodwind
@rivengodwind (369)
Philippines
November 10, 2011 8:45pm CST
Our tendencies to find patterns in everything makes today an especially memorable day. Just look at today's date: made up all of 1's, it *should* be something special, right? Well, probably but we can't really bet on it.
The reason why we think this is special is also tied in to previous knowledge about the Mayan culture. Supposedly, they see their years as long cycles and 11-11-11 is tied to the end of a cyclical year (which is also associated with December 21, 2012).
However, scholars say that the end-of-the-world predictions tied to Mayan culture only came about just after missionaries had visited their lands. In this case, the Mayans "used" Christian theology in the predictions that we now know today. Simply said, according to the reports, the Mayan Apocalypse prophecies couldn't have existed about without the influence of Christianity.
So there you go, full circle. I'm only basing this on some news reports, but I'd like to know what you think. What do you think is the significance of today's date?
3 responses
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
17 Nov 11
The day did not consist of all ones. The date was 11/11/2011. The day with all ones happened a long time ago. There was no significance to the date, as you may have noticed since nothing happened whatsoever.
@rivengodwind (369)
• Philippines
18 Nov 11
Correct! It *shouldn't* have any significance because as I was saying in the original post, it is just our tendency to perceive patterns that makes this date a "popular" idea.
@topffer (42156)
• France
13 Nov 11
Alright, the Mayan were using the Christian and not the Mayan calendar for this prediction, because of the missionaries. But what calendar ? Before 1582, the Christian calendar was the Julian calendar, and since 1582 it is the Gregorian calendar. So, if this prediction has been made before February 24th 1582, you have to compute when will happen 11/11/11 in the Julian Calendar, and... you are not yet out of danger
.
.@rivengodwind (369)
• Philippines
18 Nov 11
Oh, well from what I read, it's not really about using the Christian calendar or any Western derivation of it. The main influence that scholars were talking about was about the concept of having an Apocalypse, i.e. the end of the world. Mayans supposedly think only in cycles, which in this case is a cycle of rebirth -- they never talked about the end of the world till the missionaries came.
So, nope, there's no need to calculate this using a Gregorian calendar because there were no indications that this happened. And no, they didn't use the "Christian" calendar as you were saying.
@anusha2128 (886)
• India
11 Nov 11
I don't have any ideas regarding this.But today is my brother's birthday which makes today special for me and my family.
@rivengodwind (369)
• Philippines
11 Nov 11
Haha, yes, it is a very special day for you guys. Hope you and and your family have a great day ahead!
