2012 and the End of the World

When I was a very young boy, I was taken on a short holiday to London by my parents. While we were waiting for the train back home, a woman accosted me on the platform and announced that the world was going to end in 2 weeks time.

My dad tried to tell me that it was a load of rubbish, but it didn't stop me worrying about it for at least a month after that. Finally, I forgot about it until recently, when an acquaintance in an internet chat room got very "excited" by comet Elenin last year. 

According to him, there was an almighty cover up about this comet that was (depending on how he was feeling) either going to smash into the earth or it's gravity was going to create massive natural disasters. Although there was plenty of very precise scientific calculations that the comet was going to have absolutely no effect whatsoever, no-one challenged his ravings, and quite a few people seemed to be really worried by him. Finally, I made a wager with him that absolutely nothing was going to happen.

What was really interesting was that he did not take me up on the wager. Which brings me to the conclusion that there are people in this world who like to scare other people about the end of the world, while fundamentally, they don't believe it's going to happen themselves. What did he have to lose from making the bet if he was so CERTAIN that it was going to happen?... Which brings me neatly to my next proposal.....

I bet all these "Dec 12th 2012 world will end" theorists 1 MILLION of whatever currency they subscribe to that the world will not end on that date. I'll be generous and add a month either way to take account of any 'errors in calculation'. 

Come on, what have you got to lose? If you are right, you won't need to give me any cash, anyway.

BUT.......

If you are not prepared to take me up on this, then please stop adding to everyone's already considerable daily worries. Get some fresh air. Make some real friends - ones who will keep your feet on the ground and let you know when your ideas are going off the deep end. These people - like me - are your real friends.