End of the world theories End of the world theories. I was recently asked how I interpreted the Mayan and Hopi Indians predictions that the world, as we know it, will end on the 21st of December, 2012. Would there be global war — possibly triggering a nuclear holocaust? Would the planet's life forms finally succumb to the ecological quagmire that's been building in our soils, oceans and atmosphere? Would the current steady increase of previously unknown diseases overcome our ability to defend against them? Or will we suddenly move into a new Golden Age in which the lion lies down with the lamb and struggle, pain, and suffering are gone forever? This is no small question. Quite the contrary, it deals with some of the larger concepts in the universe. From a metaphysical perspective, the world ends and recreates itself every instant. December 21, 2012 is certainly no exception. However, it does offer a target date that brings all the possible scenarios into vivid focus. What we pe...