Why must mankind always predict a sort of apocalypse?
Fear? Control?
Other questions
What is an apocalypse?
a·poc·a·lypse
1. a. Apocalypse Abbr. Apoc. Bible The Book of Revelation.
b. Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century b.c. to the second century a.d. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.
2. Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war.
3. A prophetic disclosure; a revelation.
Apocalypse is the English version of the Greek word apokalupsis that is translated "revelation" in the book of Revelation in the Bible. However, the word has historically taken on the meaning of "the horrible events foretold to happen at the end of Man's rule on Earth" which are described in that book. Thus, "The Apocalypse" is another term for the book of Revelation, as well as the series of events described therein. Apocalypse is also a technical term for a certain type of biblical prophecy. An apocalyptic passage in the Bible is viewed as a prophecy describing events that will surely come to pass, and thus cannot be affected by the choices made by men.
Can their be any life remaining afterwards?
I personally think that an Apocalypse is something that happens, involving major destruction and a disruption of the human race as we know it, but not necessarily the complete destruction of all life on earth.
Are their ways to prepare against an apocalypse?
There are many supposed ways to prevent an apocalypse, like the rapture will only happen if god decides that humans deserve to die, so if we're good we wont get killed by our creator. I guess building a bomb shelter might help to. Depending on your beleifs and what your apocalypse consists of pretty much anything can be believed to help you survive these days.
Could the whole 28 days/weeks later I am legend thing with zombies taking over the world be considered an apocalypse?
Ok so i talked to a few people and read up on my wikipedia and yeah they are totally apocalyptic sutuations. Also the day after tomorrow, armageddon, Resident evil, and a bunch of other movies... lots of apocalyptic songs too.
Where did the idea of an apocalypse first begin?
The idea of an apocalypse was originated by religions like Christianity and Judaism, i think it was used to instill fear into people and to make them easier to control.
To start I have to say that when I say apocalypse I include the destruction of mankind as we know it, even if we dont all die, and not just the total destruction of our world. There are lots of different types of apocalypse theories, some come from religions, and there are a lot that come from pop cultutre, and even many early human cultures.
I think religions originally used the idea of an apocalypse, to convince people or to scare them into further supporting the religion. The idea that god created us also means that he can destroy us whenever he wants, not a very appealing thought if you ask me. I don't really believe in any religion, but there are also other "predictions" about the end of the world.
Nowadays i think the apocalypse ideas are more so just pop culture rumors like the stuff in tabliod magazines, with a small basis in fact or religion that the crazy people in our world have just blown way out of proportion. I'm sure some of you have heard about the 2012 theories, that the world is going to end, or that the beings who placed the human race on earth are going to come down and rain ruin down upon the human race as we know it, it seems pretty ridiculous. There are actually a few different theories for 2012, one involves Planet X, one is about beings from another part of space.
A horrible undoing of people and animals:
At once vengeance one will see vengeance,
One hundred hands, thirst, famine, when the comet will run." (Century 2, Quatrain 62)
1 I tell you the truth... This will happen in the coming years:
Kevin Rudd will be the first president of Australia. There will be a referendum to make her a republic in the near future and it will succeed with no question due to the state of Brittish politics. Just like Germany in the world war, Australia's money is losing value and even though there is a lot of it, she requires more and more to purchase what she needs. Australia will continue to trade volatile materials with China and in exchange she will be kept in a healthy state of economy. However, there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when China will request to have immigrants enter Australia and Australia will have to accept these terms in order to sustain herself financially. Mandarin-speaking Kevin Rudd will enter negotiations and accept terms with China without the Australian public being informed. Australia's Socialism under Rudd will take a quick turn toward Communism and Mandarin will eventually become the national language of Australia.
The USA will crumble economically and politically, and will also continue to suffer significant and traumatic natural disasters.
The Brittish monarchy will be destroyed. Prince Charles will never be king. The current inquest into Diana's death will result in it being found out that she was, in fact, assassinated and in turn the monarchy will be brought down and charged. England will lose all faith in their head of state and suffer much trouble over leadership, which will bring down their influence and economy.
The drought in Australia is now over and, in fact, it is turning in the other direction. Australia is no longer the 'lucky country' she used to be - the luck has run out. She is now a major player in the final events. The inland of Australia will begin to become more fertile and less arid and our current residents will be forced to move into this area of the country. The Chinese will occupy the current city areas. All races will be discriminated against. It will not be a matter of religion or colour. It will be a matter of obedience under rule. There will be no religion. Religion will be outlawed and people will be asked to surrender to the head of state under a universal and global dictatorship.
This will all happen in our lifetime.. I do not know the exact time or day, but I know that these events will occur before the end. My own parents will see the end. You all will not see your death as those before you have. You will all see the Lord Jesus Christ coming from the heavens.
I tell you the truth! The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is here! Repent and be saved now!""""
2 In the span of history, many different people, religions and scientists have predicted the Apocalypse, the end of the world. There are thousands of different theories, but most of them are very, very unlikely to ever occur. But, a few of those theories do actually make some sense. Here are the three most sensible theories:
Millions of years ago, when our planet was still one big magma ball, it was continuously being bombarded with meteors. Later on, less and less meteors hit planet Earth, though several large ones have had severe consequences, like the one that once extinct the dinosaurs. There is a chance that a meteor of that size could crash on earth again. Could be in five thousand year, but it could also be tomorrow. If the meteor is over 10km (about 6.2mi) in span, it would destroy most of the life on our planet. Everything within a range of around one thousand kilometres would be incinerated immediately. But the worst effect of the impact would be a sort
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\of nuclear winter. The crash sends huge amounts of debris into the atmosphere. These will block the suns rays, causing a temporary ice age that will kill all remaining life forms.
Though this is a very realistic theory, not many people know about it. When a huge stars dies, it will implode in its own core, creating a black hole), they emit an enormous amount of gamma radiation. Currently, this phenomenon only occurs in distant galaxies, however this may change. If a star within 10,000 light years dies and sends out a gamma ray burst, and if that star's axis is tilted towards our planet, we die instantly. The side of the earth that is disposed to the radiation directly will incinerate completely within 10 seconds. Next, the radiation (try imagining a million of nuclear power plants without the concrete around them) will change very single atom in the atmosphere and on the ground, turning them radioactive. Shortly after, everything on the other side of the earth dies of the huge amount of radioactive atoms degenerating and emitting radiation themselves.
Several super volcanoes have erupted in history, for example during the Permian Triassic era. The eruption destroyed 95% of all life on Earth. An area comparable to the United States would be covered in lava. Next to that, the volcano would pump huge amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere. This also causes a nuclear winter, just like the meteor did. But, in addition, the volcano will spew out chlorine compounds. These break down the ozone layer, exposing us to the sun's deadly UV rays. It's quite interesting that there is actually a super volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park. It erupts every 600,000 years on average, and surprisingly, the last eruption was about 640,000 years ago. To make things even scarier, scientists have seen Yellowstone's ground level rise several centimetres over the past century.
In case of a gamma ray burst, don't mind, there's absolutely no chance of survival since everything is radioactive. The only chance you would have is when you are in a bunker whose walls are about a mile thick. And you would never be able to surface.
In case of the meteor, get yourself to a bunker on the right side of the planet straight away. Take water, food and other supplies for five years. After those five years, the atmosphere should be cleared a bit, enough for plants and trees to grow. Now the problem is that everything is dead. Luckily, there is one place where you will be able to get your seeds. Norway has built a bunker over 400 feet under the Earth and stacked it with seeds from all plant species all over the world. Go to that bunker, get the seeds, learn how to be a farmer and replant the world. Next you might want to start communicating and repopulating with other groups of survivors. The bunker is located on the island of Spitsbergen and is built next to an airport. You can try taking an airplane, there's not really going to be anyone needing it anyway.
Lastly, in case of the volcano, if it destroys the ozone layer, you don't even stand a chance. If it does not, or only partially, destroys the layer, best is doing the same as with the meteor impact.
Now Those are some serious beleivers...