End of the World Denial
Denial is word usually applied to a minority of the population. We have holocaust deniers, AIDS deniers, global warming deniers and so on.
When it comes to SHTF and End of the World notions, most laypeople and scientists are in denial. While they may accept that evidence from the past has shown how fragile our existence is, and that science suggests that events that have tested the survivability of our species will certainly occur again, the denial covers the near future.
A good example was Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Government officials were well aware that such destruction would happen every hundred years or so, but did not make adequate plans for it happening in the near future. They chose to acknowledge the long-term possibility, but denied that it could happen on their watch. Citizens were to blame as well. Despite most locals knowing that such destruction has happened in the past, they chose not to move to another part of the USA, because they were in denial that it could happen in the near future.
Worldwide we see the same. While some people have no choice (like citizens of Bangladesh or Haiti), many people choose to stay living in a risky location, whereas they could live somewhere else instead. Near the fault lines of California or Wellington, NZ are good examples, as is the coast of Florida. A lesser, but still valid, example is Auckland, NZ, a city built on dormant volcanoes. I am from there, and it never gets discussed. In the back of their minds, people will perhaps think that at the first sign of trouble they will move. Yet that would mean their homes would be near impossible to sell, and of course volcanoes don’t always give warnings.
Even if Auckland suffered a series of earthquakes, and scientists warned of volcanic eruptions, many citizens would elect to stay put, believing it won’t happen to them.
A common criticism of 2012 is the end could come any time, and it is ludicrous to suggest it will happen on a certain date or year. Even though they acknowledge it could happen at any time, they still deny it will happen in the near future, and so are never prompted to prepare for the worst.
Preparations for a global cataclysm has received less funds (publicly or privately) that virtually anything you can spend money on. This is a shame, for it might be the only way our species will save itself from extinction.
Related posts:
Denial is the easiest response to that which we cannot comprehend.
A worldwide catastrophe is too much for most people handle…therefore, they think it could not possible happen in our time.
‘End of the World’ deniers have been correct for quite a few centuries now and steadily counting. Perhaps they correctly know something that the pessimistic ‘End of the World’ believers do not.
The end of the world … but in which or whos terms? Unless our sun goes supernova, or the Death Star attacks, I am pretty sure our world will go on as before without us … but if you mean the end of the world as we know it, then you have something to consider … Solon had a simular discussion with the Egyptian Preists:
“On one such visit, the Egyptian priests conveyed to Solon the following story of the demise of Atlantis and the ‘recurring’ cataclysm that caused it:
“O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are but children. There is an old doctrine handed down among you by ancient traditions or any science, which is hoary with age, and I will tell you the reason behind this. There have been and will be again many destructions of mankind out of many causes, the greatest having been brought about by ‘Earth-Fire’ and ‘Inundation’.
“Whereas you and other nations did not keep imperishable records of Atlantis we did. And then, after a long period of time, the ‘usual inundation’ visits like a pestilence and leaves only those of you who are destitute of letters and education. And thus you have to ‘begin over as children’ and know nothing of what happened in ancient times either among us or among yourselves.”
Solon went on to share with the Egyptian priests his knowledge of Greek history and their account of the great flood, to which the Egyptians replied:
“As for those genealogies of yours, which you have related to us, they are no better than tales of children, for in the first place, you remember one deluge only, whereas there were a number of them. And in the next place there dwelt in your land, which you do not know, the fairest and noblest race of men that ever lived of which you are but a seed or remnant. And you did not know this because for many generations the survivors of that destruction made no records.”
The Egyptian priests, surprised by Solon’s ignorance of the Destruction of Atlantis went on to say:
“The catastrophe must have escaped the notice of future generations because as a result of the devastation, for many generations, the survivors died with no power to express themselves in writing.”
“The islands disappeared! All disappeared, due to earthquakes and floods in a ‘grievous day and night.”
Amy