Would you want to know?

[Deeney]

Last night I watched "the core" (I had seen it before) and remembered the new movie 2012 coming out soon. Both have an area in the movie where the government (your, someone elses: doesn't really matter) does not tell the people the world is going to end.

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why?
(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?
(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why?

Personally, I would like to know so I could be with my family, plus it would suck if you hadn't had chocolate in a week because you were dieting and ended up finding out it was for nothing!

Let the debate begin

[tree4me]

I like this idea, I guess I will give this a shot.

If the world was going to end in a day, would you want to know and why?

If the world was going to end in a day, then yes, I would like to know, as I would like to be able to inhabitate another planet, or at least put a bio-dome or something on there. If that's inpossible, NASA, here I come!

Well, in 2012, I heard that a meteor WILL be coming toward earth, but no, it won't wipe out half the world's population, but the media will be making a huge deal about it. I am not sure if this is exactly the case, but I believe I am relatively close. I'm sure I saw it in "Nostradamus: The Final Reckoning" somewhere. I will have to put off my story writing and read it again.

If the world was going to end in a year, would you want to know and why?

Yes, I would definitely want to know, for the same reasons that I mentioned earlier. I would want to get to NASA ASAP and get on the next rocket to Mars, although that would be incredibly unlikely. Who said the answers had to be realistic. When I first read Nostradamus and it said that the meteor was coming, I cried for a week, because I was completely unaware, so I would definitely want to know.

If the world was going to be radically changed (eg. Half of the population wiped out by a meteor) would you want to know and why?

Um, did you know about the meteor for the same reasons I know about it? :| Anyway, to the point.
I would wanna know if the world would be drastically changed. What if the area of the planet I was on was gonna be greatly affected? Wouldn't I wanna move to the other side of the planet? If that were impossible... *points above at the NASA comments*

[davious]

My answer to all three is the same: Hell no. You tell people something like that, and they will do stupid things. You tell the entire population that, and they will do EXTREMELY stupid things.

[crocobaura]

I don't think any government would tell its people that the world is indeed coming to an end because they would be causing lots of panic which would create itself more destruction, and secondly there's always the chance that they are only partly right. But anyway, here's my answers.

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why? Not particularly, I don't want to spend my last day worrying about things like world's end. If it ends for everyone we might as well not be hysterical about it.

(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why? Same as above. Living for a year under the impression that whatever you do won't matter after a that, can make many people do stupid things.

(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why? Same as above answers. There are already meteors flying very close to Earth and they only tell about them after the danger has passed. There's nothing that any government can do presently to help its people if such disasters were to happen, and alerting them would create nothing but panic and chaos. Of course, if we had the technology and possibility to take refuge to another planet or do something significant to prevent the disasters or diminish its destructiveness, then by all means, we should be told.

[nerina]

I guess I'd only want to know if there's some pratical solution. For example, the Earth is going to explode and we all have to bord this spaceship directed to somewhere safe. Very sci-fi, I know, but it was just an example. If there's no avaible solution and we're indeed doomed, then I'd rather not know, in any time span or whatever size of the population is being wiped out. People would go crazy, it would not be nice to live your last day (or year) alive in such a situation.

[ToxicBritneyfan]

Hell no. I'd rather not know, and die not knowing what's going on. Chances are, with the end of the world, it would kill people off almost instantly. At least I'd hope it would. I really would rather live my last days not in panic.

[schitzwa_SC]

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why?

Yes I would want to know. If the world was going to end in a day I would want to cherish every last minute with my kids and husband. I would want to just spend time with them doing something we used to love to do, silently saying goodbye as I couldn't tell my kids one is only 5 and the other 4 months old. Would probably want to phone my mum, eric and sisters also..if i could.

(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?

Same as above, except more time to dread it lol! I would visit my loved ones instead of phoning.

(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why?

Yes. I would want to know. I would especially like to know where the meteor is going to land so I can take my family to the safe area lol!

[kustirider2]

Well, in 2012, I heard that a meteor WILL be coming toward earth, but no, it won't wipe out half the world's population, but the media will be making a huge deal about it. I am not sure if this is exactly the case, but I believe I am relatively close. I'm sure I saw it in "Nostradamus: The Final Reckoning" somewhere. I will have to put off my story writing and read it again.


I was stupid and actually read up on this...

Apparently it can cause world wide destruction and has the power of 77 hiroshima bombs.

Anyway back to the point. I would not like to be told any of those because i am the kind of person who will freak out really bad (Like when i was in Florida when Tropical depression Fay hit... )

[jhd1189]

This is a difficult question, but... I think I'd want to know. There are lots of loose ends I would want to tie up, and some very important things I would want to tell people. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who feel the same way, but... I can understand why it might be best not to publicly announce if the world was about to end. Mass panic would probably just help speed the process along.

[chowgilly]

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why? Definitely, even though it would cause mass panic and stuff, it would push me to do things iv been afraid to do or say. Plus in a wierd way id take comfort dieing with my family, so that i didnt have to go through losing them, if that makes sense?

(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?
Again, definitely. It would make me do certain things that i afraid to do.

(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why? Yep, i dont like being kept in the dark. Plus i would wanna know which parts of the population, cos if it was my area, id be gettong the hell out of here!

[Charley-x]

1| If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why?
No. I'd want to live my last day happy. Not worrying about dying, its like if I found out I had an in-cureable disease and it would eventually kill me, as soon as I found out about it, i'd want to die. I am someone who worrys, ALOT But then again i'd be really pissed of if the government new and didn't tell anyone, because I could of spent my last day with my family and friends.

2| If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?
No, again I worry like hell, if I knew about the world ending, i'd probably shoot myself in the head instead of building the worry and fear up inside of myself.

3| If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why?
For this one, yea, I don't know why, as its like the other questions but I just would want to know, so maybe me and my loved ones could try and go somewhere where the meteor wouldn't effect. :/

[Safyre420]

For myself and myself only, I think I would like to know for all 3, depending on what the cause was going to be.

[Kusama]

I don't really care. Seriously, why should I? It doesn't matter for me.

I just know that world definitely won't end in 2012. While I believe that something will happen. I already got some more barely known information :P Not sure about it, though.

[davious]

For those that would want to know, so they could cherish the time spent with loved ones, why don't you cherish those times now? You do not know what will happen tomorrow, you or a loved one could be killed in an auto accident, or some other method, so for all you know, tomorrow could be your last day on Earth anyway. Its unlikely, but, it is possible. I guess what I am saying, is that it shouldn't take until the end of the world to cherish your loved ones. It makes it sound like you don't cherish them now, and just take them for granted.

[thothep]

End in 1 day? Yep I'd wanna know, 'cause I'd do my darnedest to ignore all my inhibitions for that one last day and have a riot.

End in 1 year? Please wait 364 days before telling me. I don't want to go loopy until the last minute. Unless there'd actually be something I could do to help prevent it (highly unlikely).

Radical change? Way too many uncertainties there, I'd rather keep a normal life going and let a questionable future like that occur as it will. Though, again, unless there's some way I can help things.

[jenny]

Hell no! there would be mass caos and confusion......

[longears15]

I wouldn't want to know. If the world's going to end, there's not a thing that I'm going to be able to to about it and I'd rather not spend my last days/weeks/months worrying about it.

On spending time with family and friends - as Davious said, cherish that time now. Tomorrow could be the end of the world, or the end of yours or theirs.

[sayyadina_SC]

1) Yes.
2) Yes.
3) No. Maybe....

I would like to know. I dont like surprises, unless they are really good. But as "jenny" said, I guess it would be devastating to let such news out. A majority of people probably cant handle it very well. But I would still like to know, so I could prepare mentally for my departure. As for the third question, I think it would be far to depressing to deal with the knowledge.

[iCad]

I would not want or need to know, in any of the above cases. I would like to say that I would like to know if there was something I/we all could do to stop it, but I know that I am not prone to panic and would not freak out at the news, but I know that most people are prone to panic in such situations. So it's probably not wise to make a sort of general announcement, unless there was something that people had to do. Like, as someone else said, if we needed to board space ships or something. :)

In any case, whenever a question comes up like this, I'm always baffled by the people who say something like, "Well, if I knew the world was going to end, I would need to say so many things to so many people." My advice is the same as Davious's: to say those things now because every day could actually be your (or their) last day on this Earth, global disaster or otherwise. I wish I'd told my brother many things the day before he was killed by a drunk driver, for instance. But I didn't. I learned a lesson from that. I never wait to tell people things that I know I need to/should say to them. I say it now.

And there's my preaching done for the day. ;)

[Lycoris_SC]

1). If I knew the world was to end in a day, then I wouldn't want to know. All it would accomplish is making me panic, as it would everyone else. I would want my family by my side, and just go on the next great adventure.

2). If I knew the world was to end in a year, then in that case I would want to know. It may be percieved as just giving up to some...but to me, it merely means resigning myself to my fate especially if I know that I can do absolutely nothing about it.

3). As a former skeptic in both the Mayan Prophecy as well as Norstradamas lore, I'm fully expecting something to go horribly wrong on December 21, 2012 (giving us a little over four years left to live), whether it be by a meteor strike on the scale of dinosaur extinction or because of the alignment of the Earth with the center of the Milky Way.

Because I'm already aware of the importance of this date, I guess I definately want to know in this case. LOL

[mayakii]

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why?

Yes. If all my friends and I were gonna die a horrible, awful death tomorrow I'd wanna know. Probably so I could either do everything I've ever wanted to do (HOLY SHIT A CLICHE!) or just scream and cry in bed while everyone's all, "dude sofia wtf are you doing mang" 'cause they didn't know. Seriously. Plus I could eat all the candy and shit that I wanted. If I were gonna die in 24 hours, who cares if I get fat? :D

(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?

Hell yeah. You know why? I mean like, sure I'd never get to experience what kind of awesome things are gonna happen after March 24, 2010 but then if the world was ending they'd probably cancel school and work so everyone could just do whatever they wanted, and my family would take me on some huge-ass vacation and buy me whatever I wanted. (I'm not 18 yet and I have no job. I can't take myself on a vacation. ._.)

(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why?

Yes. I'd probably wannna know what 3 billion people were gonna be killed by said meteor. I'd hope it hits somewhere far away from me. I mean like, then all you guys over in East Asia or Antarctica or Australia or something would get killed, but hey. Someone mentioned that flippy-track thing over in the nine year old getting an abortion thread, right? You'd flip the switch to save me, right? :confused:

[Picos]

This is the first time I heard about 12/12/2012 and I'm rather curious. Of course, I was glued the to TV when Australia celebrated the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, thinking that nothing horrible was going to happen but still rather curious. I'm reading about it now but honestly I don't think much of it.

"Don't worry about tomorrow, because it's always tomorrow in Australia" D:

I don't think I'd want to know unless there was some soft of thing I could do prevent it or minmize it. I think there was a movie where a metor was going to hit Earth in a year (Morgan Freeman was the president). Mass panic? I don't want that. Every year round hurricane season they always say it's going to be the worst. Every year. I have a sneaky feeling that the worst hurricane season can not happen every year but thats just mean. We have good years and bad years.

As long as it's tomorrow in Australia, I'm not too worried. The trouble with the future is its in the future!

[appelsapgodin]

Yes!

Because otherwise: how can I save you all if they keep me clueless?


In case of my superpowers being useless (I can kill a Yak with mindbullets) NO! because of the mass panic and all that.

[Doddibot]

(1) If the world was going to end in a day would you want to know and why?
I would most certainly want to know. But practically it is impossible to tell the future, so I am not sure how I could ever know for sure what tomorrow will bring.

So, I only want to listen to sensible scientists' predictions about the end of the world. I'm not going to believe what some ignorant Mayan said in the past, nor what some whackjob says these days. Give me the data, so I can see for myself!

(2) If the world was going to end in a year would you want to know and why?
Yes, same reason as above. Plus, with a year, that gives a little bit more time to try do something about it.

And I wouldn't waste my time having fun with my friends and family. I'd spent my time trying to save the world, any way I can.

(3) If the world was going to be radically changed eg 1/2 population wiped out by a meteor would you want to know and why?
Yes, same reason too. I'd want to try stop it, or at least make sure I was in the half that survives.

[edejan]

Yes, I've been diabetic most of my life, so I'd just give it up and eat all the cake, jelly, bread, pasta - everything I would enjoy so much for a short time!!

[appelsapgodin]

Ehmmm... Edejan... why don't you just eat that and shoot some insulin for it? You don't need to wait for the apocalypse to eat candy... lol.

(Note: I am a diabetic too... since I was 8... which makes it 21 years now.)