Tropical Fish Forums

[ant1]

going by the events in japan,the mad weather etc does anyone have an impending sence of doom about the 21st of december next year?.

[Peterjay]

I always have a sense of impending doom along about Dec. 21; it's the beginning of winter and we're only seeing eight hours of daylight. Not to mention the fact that it means I've only got four days left to get started on my Christmas shopping. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it. Thanks a bunch Ant.

[Marcos Avila]

You mean like the impending sense of doom when the LHC was activated, and the impending sense of doom in 2001 (Nostradamus), and the impending sense of doom of Y2K, and the impending sense of doom at the turn of the 19th century, and the impending sense of doom at the turn of the 1st Millennium?
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[mandle]

I have a few little worries - not about any sort of NATURAL disaster happening but because so many people do have fears about "the end of the world" it will be prime time for many terrorist type groups around the world. I predict something nasty could occur because of them. Who knows. Too bad it will kind of ruin Christmas that year even if nothing does happen!

[rales12]

I won't believe that the world is ending until it's ended on that day, at which point I will definitely admit that I was wrong. Until then, I'm going on about my life as normal, because I fully intend to see 2013, right along with all of my family and friends.
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- Rachel

[Peterjay]

If you go back in history, you'll find that every culture and most religions have had their Doomsday crackpots, and so far, they've all been wrong. Sooner or later, somebody's going to guess correctly, but a guess is all it's going to be. Of course, that's assuming the human race is still around when Mother Earth finally goes down the pipes. I wouldn't put any money down on that scenario coming to pass.

[Nova_C]

[keithkyli]

People have very short memories and the mentality that is in the OP is something called Confirmation Bias. The one thing I learned from the Japanese earthquake that surprised more than anything else? Reactors built 40 years ago withstood the 4th largest earthquake in recorded history without going catastrophic and people use this as an argument against the safety of modern nuclear power. My mind. It boggles.[/quote]
Well the reactors (physically) withstood the earthquake, and even the tsunami, but the colling systems did not. All the ordeal we see now is more of incompetent planning/handling, but that's tough enough. I'm kinda "emotionally don't like it but realistically can't live without it" - given current technology, we can't meet the energy needs without nuclear, but I hope incidents like these can prompt people to work harder on alternative energy sources. Nuclear energy is theoretically containable if it is not handled by humans, who are too infamously full of flaws.

Out of 436 reacotrs (2009 figure), 6 (as of today) had some kind of serious problem in 55 years of commercial use. I'd be careful with the word "safe". We'd better split them into different generations - I won't say a 747 is dangerous if a DC-3 crashed, but for both opponents and supporters, they're all using the same word. Just wanted to point out, no hostility intended.

I don't believe in a physical doom in 2012, the life line on my palm is very long and I'm only 26.

I'm waiting to see my anglefish grow to 4". I'm waiting to see new railway lines coming to my house in 2017. I'm waiting for another trip to Japan! I've been to Japan 6 times but I've never visited Sendai and Aomori. I've planned the itinenary last summer. I planned to go there later this year. Oh well.
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[Nova_C]

Again, this started with the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history. This is a thing that I cannot understand why people dismiss as irrelevant. Millions of lives were saved because of brilliant engineering and foresight. And yet you claim this is mismanagement? Credit were it is due. These reactors are old, they were close to being decommissioned, their designs have long been retired and yet they still haven't experienced a catastrophic meltdown in the face of the largest destructive force our planet wields.

Note that modern reactors with passive safety, such as Pebble Bed Rectors, cannot have a catastrophic meltdown. They are built so that the reaction itself is slowed by excess heat. If a cooling system fails on a reactor like that, the reaction will slow as the temperature rises, thereby eliminating the threat of a meltdown.

You know what I think will cause the end of the world? People. Not because we act recklessly, but because we use fear as an excuse to be ignorant. We choose to cling to dangerous things, refusing to change because of misinformation and mass hysteria.
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Nova's Razor: The stupidest explanation is probably the correct one.

[59FIFTY]

As a Christian, I believe that God will not destroy the earth by water as He said he would not destroy the earth by water again. To me that means that the most likely next guess would be by fire or heat, causing the earth to go dry. Well the problem with that is if there is just international fire or even the earth moves too close to the sun, is the icebergs will melt faster than the saltwater can evaporate, therefore causing the water to rise and eventually flooding the earth. I don't know how or when it could end though, whether it is tomorrow or in hundreds of thousands of years.
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In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin