With the recent solar eclipse in the US, where I live, there has been talk of this being the beginning of the “end times”. I was raised religious, though I am not anymore, I can understand the talk of the rapture and other such apocalyptic predictions. The main problem I have with such predictions, is they have been, historically, always wrong. I was a gambling man, and as such I can do basic probabilities in my head when it comes to chances of winning a bet. Since these predictions of the world ending have always been wrong, this leads me to be even more skeptical of new predictions, as their track record is abysmal. Who would bet on something that has a history of being 100% losses? It’s like a roulette wheel that historically never has landed on white, yet betting on white saying to yourself “This time is different!” Of course, the chances of it actually happening are never zero, but the fact in hundreds of years, it has never happened, would lead anyone to believe the odds are against it, astronomically so. So, don’t chastise me for not betting on a horse that has never won.

Though with all this talk, and the things that are going on in my personal life, I am bothered by one thing. Why are people so scared of the world ending, or more specifically, why are people afraid of dying? I understand that I am extremely biased in this case, yet I am still confused as to why this is such an issue. If you’re religious, wouldn’t you believe in an afterlife of some sort? If you’re not, wouldn’t you believe that there is nothing after death? Personally I am not certain what my beliefs are in this matter. Though to be honest, I’m not sure it really even matters. Once I die, which we all do, does it even matter what is after? Wouldn’t it be a seperate thing entirely from my life? I certainly lean more towards a belief in reincarnation, and in that case, my previous life is forgotten as I begin my new one. So what does it really matter if I can’t remember that I’ve done this song and dance before? Again, I have the understanding that I am not the best person to be asking about the fear of death. As I not only do not fear death, but actively yearn for it. “Normal” people, as I am aware, fear death as a part of being alive. It is something biologic that is designed to keep us alive as long as possible. So I am not so jaded as to misunderstand why people are afraid of the world ending, or even their life ending. I am however, ultimately confused, despite being able to logically understand. We all have irrational fears, things that just don’t register, yet we are afraid of nonetheless. I am not saying a fear of death is irrational, but I am trying to say that there are just things that we know, but can’t understand. For example, I am afraid of boats. It is a childish fear, that indeed did stem from my childhood. I was on a ferry traveling across a medium body of water. This particular boat was also designed to carry vehicles across the water, in addition to people. My child brain couldn’t comprehend how this massive thing, with all these heavy cars, could float on the water; when if I were to drop a much lighter (by comparison) rock into the water, it sinks instantly. I do now understand the science behind buoyancy, and can rationalize how the ferry worked, yet I cannot get over my fear of boats. I have essentially eliminated the source of the fear, yet the fear remains. Hence why I refer to it as irrational. I understand the source of the fear, addressed the misunderstanding that caused the fear, but I still will not get on a boat any larger than a kayak. It is in this vein that I understand why people are afraid of death and the end of the world, but I cannot comprehend it completely.

Personally one of the things that upsets me the most, as someone who has attempted to take their own life (several times I might add) is when people who are obviously afraid of death, say they are going to end their life as a bargaining chip in conversation. This is a bit off topic, but I just have to say it. To reel it back in, you have these people running around like headless chickens, proclaiming the end of the world, and they usually are just fearmongering for their own benefit. Like selling physical tickets into heaven, or providing preparative items at a cost. That is a whole other can of worms, but I do think it goes without saying, that taking advantage of other people’s fears to somehow benefit yourself is never an acceptable thing. There are times where it may be necessary, but that doesn’t mean it is not a horrible thing to do.

You’ve got people of all kinds who fear the end of the world, and you’ve got others that would revel in it. I personally believe that there is another group, to which I belong, that are just kind of neutral. I speak for myself in saying that I don’t really feel strongly about it, one way or the other. If the world does end, I mean, what can I do about it? I wouldn’t be able to stop it, I wouldn’t be able to avoid it, why spend all that time and energy running away from something inevitable? Not that I want the world to end, despite my depressing nature, I like to think that I’m rather empathetic. In that I wouldn’t mind my own life ending in the apocalypse, but I would feel pretty bad about everyone else. Granted, there are most certainly some people alive now who I would not mourn their passing, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t feel bad about the general loss of life. So, I guess to sum things up, the world is not ending…yet. Even though every single recorded prediction of the apocalypse in the history of mankind has been wrong, I can’t say that they won’t be right at least once. They predict these things so often these days that eventually they’ll hit their mark. Like throwing hundreds of darts blindfolded, you’re bound to get a bullseye eventually. When that is, I cannot say. Will it matter? Probably not, as once our lives cease to exist, does anything really matter anymore. Though, with the smallest glimmer of hope, I wish that the end of the world comes no time soon.