I actually disagree with Jd- here, for the mere fact that the Mayans never said the world was ending. They never set an ending date to their calendar. 21 December 2012 is the date that was converted into Mayan calendar to be the date of the 13th Baktun (A bunch of fun math stuffs was involved). What does that mean exactly? That they are reaching the 13th Baktun on their calendar. Their long count calendar will read 13.0.0.0.0. This is aside from the fact that the Baktun is not the highest denomination for lengths of time they had on their calendar.
Allow me to copy and paste something from someone whom knows more about this stuff than I do on the Randi Foundation forums...
The Maya's used the following time units:
- Uinal (20 days)
- Tun (360 days or 18 Uinals)
- Katun (20 Tuns, about 20 years)
- Baktun (20 Katuns, about 400 years)
- Piktun (20 Baktuns, 8000 years)
- Kalabtun (20 Piktuns, 160,000 years)
- Kinchiltun (20 Kalabtuns, 3.2 million years)
- Alautun (20 Kinchiltuns, 64 million years)
- Hablatun (20 Alautun, 1.2 billion years)
Now I know exactly why, despite them having a denomination for 1.2 BILLION YEARS, that people think that their calendar is ending on the 13th Baktun. It is because, according to Mayan mythos, we are in the 4th creation. The last creation (the third creation) lasted 13 Baktun before it met its destruction. But honestly, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, in their history or writings that suggests that creations must last 13 Baktun. That was just the length of the LAST CREATION!
That is like predicting the length of a regime based on how long the Huns ruled over Asia, how long Alexander the Great ruled, or Napoleon, the length of time Rome lasted, and so fourth. "OMG! AMERICA IS GOING TO BE WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH IN 2226! BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY HOW LONG THE ROMAN EMPIRE LASTED! WE'RE DOOMED! DOOMED I TELL YOU! ANOTHER 213 YEARS AND IT IS ALL OVER!" Length of time of a previous duration of something lasting is not a prediction for the next.
This has been Kyuu's rant about the ending of the world, or rather why it won't be ending... Thank you.