UPDATE: less than 24 hours after posting this, we already have an end of the world prediction naming global warming, see below.
Weston, FL — (SBWIRE) — 07/16/2012 — The end of the world is not going to happen within our lifetimes. That’s the word from Justin Deering, author of The End of the World Delusion: How Doomsayers Endanger Society.
“We’re bombarded with end-of-the-world scares practically everywhere you look,” Deering explains. “You hear about it in church, on the news, in the movies. These doomsday scenarios have actually bankrupted people and destroyed their lives. A few people have gotten rich at the expense of the more gullible.”
Last year was a big year for end of the world talks, as Family Radio’s well-publicized prediction of May 21, 2011 as the day of the Rapture and subsequent day of wrath on October 21 came and went without incident. This year will be even bigger as the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012, which many think will lead to something big happening.
Many are spending their life savings getting ready for the end. Doomsday Preppers and Doomsday Bunkers are two shows that have come out this year, showing people spending their hard-earned cash on survival kits and underground bunkers. They’re ready to weather out the Apocalypse.
As for Deering? He’s not worried at all. “The world’s not going anywhere,” he says. “There are always people who fall for this stuff. This survivalist mentality we’re seeing is Y2K all over again.”
“The Maya themselves didn’t think 2012 was going to be a disaster, either,” Deering added.
People have been worried about the End Times for thousands of years, and with the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious that there was nothing to worry about. The author of the End-of-the-World Delusion contends that there is still nothing to worry about.
“All that happens when one of these predictions is proven wrong is the doomsayers go and pick another date. They haven’t called it right yet.”
Deering doesn’t care whether the claims arise from religious beliefs or scientific concerns. “It doesn’t matter to me whether they’re a preacher or a scientist, a shaman mystic or an expert researcher. If they’re saying the end is near, they’re wrong.”
The End-of-the-World Delusion is available now at Amazon at Barnes and Noble. The eBook is priced at $9.99, the hardcover at $24.95, and the paperback at an appropriate $20.12.
A Kindle version is also available.
About Justin Deering
Justin Deering graduated from Lynn University with a degree in business, and is a member of the honor society, Sigma Beta Delta. He worked his way through college as a tutor and has experience in conducting research and presenting it in a logical manner. Deering and his wife, Megan, live in Florida.
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Full disclosure: I have not read this book, but I find the press release interesting. To get a feel for the author, here’s another article by Deering below. – Anthony
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Global Warming: Changing Hearts, Changing Minds
By Justin Deering
A few months back, noted climate skeptic Richard Muller reversed his position, saying that temperatures on the earth are indeed rising. After conducting a study partially funded by the Charles Koch Foundation, noted for funding global warming skeptics and tea party, Muller declared that while it made sense to be a skeptic two years ago, there was no longer any reason to do so.1
More recently, noted environmental leader James Lovelock, formulator of the Gaia Hypothesis, reversed his position as well. While once he claimed that man-made global warming would lead to the deaths of billions and billions of people by the end of this century, he has since noted the lack of warming and had this to say:2
I was “alarmist” about climate change and so was Gore! The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books—mine included—because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened. The climate is doing its usual tricks. There’s nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now. The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium.
If these were just politicians flip-flopping on an issue, well, that’s to be expected. But take notice, because these are prominent individuals in the field who have made a living based on their previous assertions; changing their stances threatens their very livelihood. These two examples should cause everyone to question and reassess their own beliefs when it comes to issues such as climate change.
It’s easy to get the idea that global warming skeptics aren’t familiar with the science, that if they were more educated they would accept the idea catastrophe is right around the corner. A new study dispels this myth, in fact demonstrating the opposite—an increase in scientific literacy actually leads people to challenge the prevailing scientific wisdom concerning climate change.3,4
To illustrate this fact, consider that recently, a group of 49 former NASA employees, including astronauts and engineers, have written to the agency and asked them to discontinue making “unproven and unsubstantiated remarks” regarding manmade global warming. They feel that the science is not settled, and that taking a position that agrees with carbon dioxide emissions as the cause of climate change would reflect poorly on the agency in the future.5 Would anyone be willing to say that these NASA scientists were ignorant or anti-science?
NASA’s response:6
NASA sponsors research into many areas of cutting-edge scientific inquiry, including the relationship between carbon dioxide and climate. As an agency, NASA does not draw conclusions and issue “claims” about research findings. We support open scientific inquiry and discussion.
Even so, James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, continues to write things like “Global warming isn’t a prediction. It is happening.”7 Hansen continues to be a source of embarrassment for the agency, with his multiple arrests, the most recent one being to protest the development of the Canadian oil pipline.8,9
References
- Borenstein, S. (2011, October 31). Skeptic finds he now agrees global warming is real. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/skeptic-finds-now-agrees-global-warming-real-142616605.html
- Morano, M. (2012, April 23). Alert: Gaia scientist James Lovelock reverses himself. Climate Depot. Retrieved from http://climatedepot.com/a/15621/Alert-Gaia-scientist-James-Lovelock-reverses-himself-I-was-alarmist-about-climate-change–so-was-Gore-The-problem-is-we-dont-know-what-the-climate-is-doing-We-thought-we-knew-20-years-ago
- Raloff, J. (2012, May 29). Climate skepticism not rooted in science illiteracy. Science News. Retrieved from http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341034/title/Climate_skepticism_not_rooted_in_science_illiteracy
- Lott, M. (2012, May 28). Global warming skeptics as knowledgeable about science as climate change believers, study says. Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/28/global-warming-skeptics-know-more-about-science-new-study-claims/
- Parry, W. (2012, April 12). Former astronauts & NASA employees’ letter on global warming. LiveScience. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/19643-nasa-astronauts-letter-global-warming.html
- Bedard, P. (2012, April 11). NASA rejects claim it endorses global warming. Washington Examiner. Retrieved from http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/04/nasa-rejects-claim-it-endorses-global-warming/474416
- Hansen, J. (2012, May 9). Game over for the climate. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html
- Drajam, M. (2011, August 29). NASA’s Hansen arrested outside White House at pipeline protest. Bloomberg. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-29/nasa-s-hansen-arrested-outside-white-house-at-pipeline-protest.html
- Watts, A. (2011, August 29). NASA’s James Hansen arrested yet again. Watts Up With That. Retrieved from http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/08/29/nasas-james-hansen-arrested-yet-again/
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UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long. From the Huffington Post
Howard Richman says:
July 18, 2012 at 6:28 pm
I remember someone writing pre-Katrina about the disaster facing New Orleans should a bit hurricane strike. Well, it happened.
If the Dem ward heelers running the show in NOLA had used the federal funds appropriated to maintain the levees instead of diverting them to finance vote-buying social programs — or for building statues of themselves in the Sixth Ward — Katrina would have been just another hurricane that passed through.
It’s been six years since Katrina hit. N’Awluns could have been rebuilt into a city on stilts if the billions of dollars in disaster relief that poured in had actually been used for disaster relief. The feds have no idea how much money went there, who received it, or how it was spent — they never tracked it and there’s never been any attempt to establish accountability.
There is no such thing as an “overdue” volcano. While the time since the last eruption is greater than the “average” between eruptions, it is nowhere near the longest time. Also, note that the continent is moving over that hotspot and it is currently moving to progressively thicker crust. Yellowstone might not erupt for another few hundred thousand years or that hot spot might never erupt again, at least until it gets to thinner continental crust.
On a certain day in 1844 those convinced by Wm. Miller to give away all & gather for the end game of a 2nd coming were only left as before.
The event became known as “The Great Disappointment”.
We may well see the re-make of that classic when CO2 doom theories prove to be “The Great Disappointment of this era.
The “Burned-over District” of early 1800’s New York state earned that nickname because so many there became a believer of a faith that there were very few left over who hadn’t been consumed with some fiery fervor.
We now see some populations have faith in CO2 theories and where those believers stand are apparently their own “Burned-over District” .
.
The reason the Left hates free enterprise is because 97% of the business outside of government in dead and dying Old Europe do business in the underground economy to avoid confiscatory secular, socialist and liberal government fees and taxes.
They found another Maya calendar, we’re good for another 7k years.
Except that we keep voting the lesser of two evils and all we wind up with is more evil.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18018343
…The Xultun find is the first place that all of the cycles have been found tied mathematically together in one place, representing a calendar that stretches more than 7,000 years into the future.
The Maya numbering system for dates is a complex one in base-18 and base-20 numbers that, in modern-day terms, would “turn over” at the end of 2012.
But Dr Saturno points out that the new finds serve to further undermine the fallacy that this is tantamount to a prediction of the end of the world.
“The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue, that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this,” he said.
“We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.”
@ur momisugly Bill Tuttle:
From The Christian Science Monitor:
It’s been money well spent in metro New Orleans, producing a substantial recovery from Katrina, according to an independent report released this month. The report, compiled by the Washington-based Brookings Institution and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, analyzed 20 indicators of prosperity such as repopulation, housing costs, local tax collections, and the reopening of schools. It concludes that the New Orleans area is poised to become a safer, more sustainable, and economically stronger city than it was before the storm.
“New Orleans is still a work in progress, but a lot of nonprofit organizations, foundations, and community organizations have come together to bring real change to the city,” says Amy Liu, deputy director of the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. Most of the funding for these efforts has come from the federal government, along with philanthropic organizations such as the Rockefeller and Gates foundations, says Ms. Lui.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0827/Katrina-anniversary-How-well-has-recovery-money-been-spent
Bill Tuttle says:
July 18, 2012 at 8:59 pm
Howard Richman says:
When the big book of famous sayings is printed there will be this:
When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Here is the image that should be shown next to that quote:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/images/new_orleans_elevation2.jpg
I have allowed myself one off-topic response to Bill Tuttle, and hope it will be OK with one single response to Wagathon as well. Here it is:
“The Left hates free enterprise?” I’ll tell you who hates free enterprise. Free enterprise, as in the private sector, hates free enterprise.
Any U.S. company of any size has since the nation began followed a single-minded objective to establish monopolies, oligopolies, and market control. Look at banking, look at the media, look at the energy industry, look at transportation, insurance, health care, retail, and the list goes on. The trend is the same in every major industry: consolidation. The myth of American business wanting to compete on an even playing field is just that: a myth. Whenever faced with competition, they seek to obliterate it. If it is national, through buy-outs and raw muscle (ref. Wal-Mart). If it is international: protectionism bought through politicians (ref Boeing vs. Airbus tanker planes). They want control. There is none of them that has the slightest intention of participating in “free enterprise” if they can help it.
And if you want “free enterprise,” or something that vaguely looks like it, band together with reasonable people to get corporate money out of politics (sure, union money too, what the hell) and big-box stores out of local communities. Because once they are in they ravage, despoil, and rape those local communities, and once they have market control in a service sector they nickel and dime you to death. Take a look at your checking account statement, and you know I speak the truth.
So if you are serious about free enterprise, do this: vote only for national politicians who promise to break up near-monopolies and oligopolies (and de-fund climate change nonsense, although I vote to keep some money for serious research), and for city councilmen and -women who will keep big-box stores out of your community. Patronize local banks, and buy on main street. Because if you don’t the day will not be far away before you are wearing a red vest with festive buttons on it. You’ll have to check in to WUWT at 5 AM, before your shift begins, and you WILL make minimum wage.
I don’t know much about the Maya calender but the Mayan civilization got wiped out by 1697 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Colonial_period so whoever based an Armageddon date on that will just only experience his own narrow mental/emotional world collapsing.
Not to be missed here is the classic book by Norman Cohn (1957), The persuit of the millennium:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pursuit-Millennium-Revolutionary-Millenarians-Anarchists/dp/0712656642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279265455&sr=8-1#reader_0712656642
This is not a lame statement. It happens all the time. Research Harold Camping (some followers are now bankrupted) and Al Gore (carbon investment schemes, second large house with only 6 fireplaces & 9 bathrooms).
References:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/23/no-job-no-belongings-no-rapture-how-to-rebuild-your-financial/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2051693/Rapture-Will-world-end-today-Harold-Camping-goes-hiding.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/energy-environment/03gore.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/17/photos-al-goree-new-8875_n_579286.html
YES!
There were many end-of-the-world scenarios actually unfolding in human history. Here, in Mitteleuropa, the most recent one being 1944/45. Millions and millions perished, the world certainly ended for them. And the rest of us were left in utter desolation, great cities in ruin, infrastructure destroyed, refugees milling, plague, famine & mass rape abounded, property, if any left undamaged, confiscated, freedom curtailed to nil. Huge unexploded bombs are still found on construction sites, the lovely park I take my dog to for regular walks is built on mass graves.
But there is afterlife, it seems.
Similar to the end of the world predictions is the peak oil / oil running out soon nonsense. It’s so much nonsense that even the arch Warmist George Monbiot of the Guardian admitted earlier this month that he was wrong about peak oil. This is all very similar to the 1960s / 1970s predictions about mass famine and death by 2000 or was that 1980 or 1990? 😉
Remember the end is always nigh. It’s like free beer tomorrow. 😉
References:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/02/peak-oil-we-we-wrong
http://www.nationalcenter.org/dos7111.htm
Torgeir Hansson says:
July 18, 2012 at 9:38 pm
@ur momisugly Bill Tuttle: From The Christian Science Monitor:
It’s been money well spent in metro New Orleans, producing a substantial recovery from Katrina, according to an independent report released this month. The report, compiled by the Washington-based Brookings Institution and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, analyzed 20 indicators of prosperity such as repopulation, housing costs, local tax collections, and the reopening of schools.
That accounts for *some* of the money that went there, and there’s still almost $25 million in military equipment (mostly generators) that went to NOLA and disappeared.
A good read in this regard is Gross & Levitt’s “Higher Superstition.” Mostly a well-deserved smackdown of academic PoMo, but also has some interesting things to say about the West’s millennial bouts of End of the World fevers.
Must have hit Return by mistake – the handle should’ve been PaddikJ.
I see a big resemblance with the biblical Tower of Babel. People thought they could build a tower towards heaven. Now: people think they are the master of climate. Then: at some point, God gave them different languages so they could no longer understand each other. Now: climate does what climate does and eventually man will realize he knows nothing. That will be the day CAGW dies.
“Is global warming just another ‘End-of-the-World’ delusion?”
Other than the ‘obvious’ answer (= ‘obviously’!); has anyone checked with Harold Camping?
Crede experto.
Torgeir Hansson says: Yet the way out is to give believers a way out. How does one do that, effectively and elegantly?
Twelve-Step Program??
Dr K.A. Rodgers says: Can I recommned Charles Mackey’s: “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”
Seconded.
Ian W says: July 18, 2012 at 5:29 pm
References to the Galactic Centre supposed line-up on Dec 21 (winter solstice) this year are both inaccurate and misleading. Astronomically, the Galactic Plane aligned with the Winter Solstice point of the Ecliptic in 1999 – but since precession is about one degree every 72 years, this alignment is not just a nine-day wonder. The alignment with the Galactic Centre insofar as one can even talk about alignment, will take about another 250 years.
There is a lot of hot air about the Mayan stuff. Certainly, they were superb astronomers with a calendrical accuracy unmatched until fairly recently. As to the spiritual dimensions, I have seen things… but first let’s clear the rubbish and check evidence with the superstitions.
Torgeir Hannsen: “Any U.S. company of any size has since the nation began followed a single-minded objective to establish monopolies, oligopolies, and market control. Look at banking, look at the media, look at the energy industry, look at transportation, insurance, health care, retail, and the list goes on. The trend is the same in every major industry: consolidation.”
But only a powerful state can deliver this. A weak state cannot.
And that’s why the Fall of Communism and the Soviet Union proves the impossibility of a single corporation controlling everything: it would be unable to coordinate prices and production without massive irrational waste – and even then, it would have to be totalitarian and dangerous to people to force their acquiesence.
FUD pays.
Bill Tuttle: If all that was wasted during the reconstruction of New Orleans was $25 million worth of generators, I would be astounded. We’re talking a total reconstruction budget of over $100 billion. With a B. But that’s off topic, so let’s bag it.
The Mayans probably wasted more than that when they built Chichen Itza. But that calendar. Man, those guys were good.
I would add another delusion to the global warming end of the world one, that I had to deal with just today: anti mining delusions.
We are having trouble with a local Indonesian group who believe that exploration for minerals and mining will bring tsunamis. I have some sympathy though, because they are very uneducated.
Global warming is essentially an anti-mining belief, as it is largely derived from extraction of fossil fuels. It may entirely be an anti-mining delusion, these are perhaps even more common then ‘end of the world’ delusions. We get them all the time, I have counted over the years about 200 different anti mining delusions, always from various radical environmentalists, and they are nearly always derived from the same reason, and attempt to control the environment, the land and society through environmental ideology and anti mining delusions.
Dan Gardner’s book Future Babble outlines the profile of the typical dart throwing monkey, no highly credentialed prophet.
He/she has one big idea, is extremely confident and the predicted catastrophe (as it always is) is far into the future.