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Old 19th December 2012, 11:30 PM   #1
EGarrett
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How best to capitalize off of tomorrow's non-apocalypse?

I think we're all about to be handed a fantastic PR opportunity tomorrow. So assuming (with 99.9999% certainty) that no apocalypse whatsoever happens tomorrow, how do we, as skeptics, use this to promote critical thinking and the general skeptical/evidence-based worldview? If you feel we should.

I'm thinking of writing an article for Digg (or slate or whichever one of those sites it is) about why skepticism is important and why nothing happened, particularly how people love to publicize fantastical and frightening claims, but how predicting the future is insanely difficult, and for the Mayans or any ancient group to have done so is essentially impossible, including mentioning other doomsday predictions (like Y2K) and alarmist nonsense that went nowhere.
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Old 20th December 2012, 12:03 AM   #2
michael44
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You mean to tell me the apocalypse is happening tomorrow? ..Thats not fair!
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Old 20th December 2012, 03:14 AM   #3
rjh01
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It hardly gets a mention in Australia.
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Old 20th December 2012, 09:24 AM   #4
carlitos
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Off Of Tomorrow's Non-Apocalypse?
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Old 20th December 2012, 09:50 AM   #5
Jungle Jim
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1. The vast majority of people do not take tomorrow's proposed apocalypse seriously.
2. Those that do are nuts and not likely to respond to promotions of critical thinking.
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Old 20th December 2012, 09:51 AM   #6
Crossbow
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Originally Posted by EGarrett View Post
I think we're all about to be handed a fantastic PR opportunity tomorrow. So assuming (with 99.9999% certainty) that no apocalypse whatsoever happens tomorrow, how do we, as skeptics, use this to promote critical thinking and the general skeptical/evidence-based worldview? If you feel we should.

I'm thinking of writing an article for Digg (or slate or whichever one of those sites it is) about why skepticism is important and why nothing happened, particularly how people love to publicize fantastical and frightening claims, but how predicting the future is insanely difficult, and for the Mayans or any ancient group to have done so is essentially impossible, including mentioning other doomsday predictions (like Y2K) and alarmist nonsense that went nowhere.
Well, the only thing that comes to mind is that one of my local radio stations is having a special 'End of the World' show on Friday where they will take requests all day long.

www.wklc.com

Therefore, I will be listening to that station tomorrow.

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Old 20th December 2012, 10:04 AM   #7
RobDegraves
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My son had a neat idea. He calculated that he has lived through 42 apocalypses so far. I thought it would be fun to set something up where you could put in your birthday and it would tell you how many apocalypses you have lived through. Is anyone really good at coding iphone apps? If so, send me a pm.. could be fun.
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Old 20th December 2012, 10:16 AM   #8
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos
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This is the third one, so we are now entering

The Post-post-postnonapocalyptic Era

I suggest we call it

The Post^3-nonapocalyptic Era

for short.

Wait, 42 apocalypses?

The Post^42-nonapocalyptic Era


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Old 20th December 2012, 11:15 AM   #9
EGarrett
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Originally Posted by Jungle Jim View Post
1. The vast majority of people do not take tomorrow's proposed apocalypse seriously.
2. Those that do are nuts and not likely to respond to promotions of critical thinking.
Don't forget young people. They're the important ones.
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Old 20th December 2012, 12:59 PM   #10
Earthborn
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Originally Posted by EGarrett View Post
(with 99.9999% certainty)
Don't be such a pessimist!

Originally Posted by rjh01 View Post
It hardly gets a mention in Australia.
It is already tomorrow in Australia. Also, Australia is already a post-apocalyptic waste land.
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Old 20th December 2012, 01:10 PM   #11
George 152
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Originally Posted by Earthborn View Post
Don't be such a pessimist!

It is already tomorrow in Australia. Also, Australia is already a post-apocalyptic waste land.
We beat them to it and nothing happened
I should complain if we were overlooked
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