Blog Post 1: The End of The World

   The one thing I learned from lecture 4 is that the easiest way to create mass hysteria among inhabitants of earth is the idea of the world coming to an end. Entertaining conspiracy theories and prophecies that involve life diminishing in a snap of a finger can cause panic to a point where people create doomsday bunkers or even stack up on cans of food as shown in the PowerPoints. According to Finder, 45% of Americans in 2021 have spent money on survival items in preparation for the worst day that is yet to come. Are they overreacting or should we all follow suit? Fortunately, we will never know the answer to that question until that day comes. 

    A great example of a prophecy creating mass hysteria was the prediction of the world ending in 2012. Instead of people being skeptical, it instilled fear and panic. Los Angeles Times reported that Government agencies such as NASA received a high volume of calls in regards to the world ending in December of 2012. Who would've thought that a government agency would have to calm hundreds of people due to a misunderstanding and false prophecies? A NASA spokesperson confirmed that there were 200-300 calls a day from people around the world. It just goes to show how much fear and concern so many people had. I recall the topic of the world ending in 2012 being all over youtube and social media during that time. Like everyone else, I was also concerned and worried but glad the apocalypse never came to fruition. 

https://www.finder.com/doomsday-prepper-statistics

https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/la-now/story/2012-12-19/dec-21-2012-fearful-end-of-world-callers-flood-nasa