Spring Break
Storniolo rebuts end of the world
David Stephenson
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
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The "facts" that have generated such a public stir simply don't even skim the truth, according to Storniolo, an anthropology professor with field work who can read the ancient Mayan hieroglyphs.
"It's simply a lot of hype getting people worried over nothing," she said. "The Web sites and books out there are pure entrepreneurship. You can even buy a [2012 insurance] policy for $10 online to ensure that you make it through the end of world floods alive and you'll have a great place in the new society."
The event attracted a diverse group of students, many whom had heard about the upcoming movie "2012" and wanted to know if there was anything to substantiate the movie's plot.
Nathan Fried, a graduate student studying science communication, said "I came here because of the movie and the hype. A lot of people are afraid and I just wanted to see if there was anything to it at all."
But others such as Ryan Senger, a sophomore physics major, said, "The Mayans were pretty cool people. I think they're making a movie about this or something."
Dr. Storniolo explored the Mayan's stories regarding the creation and destruction of the world with slides and stories from her own travels through the Mayan ruins.
According to the Popol Vuh, a manuscript written down in the 18th century but containing stories thousands of years older, the gods first created a race of dwarves but forgot to put smoke over their eyes so that they could see to the ends of the Earth. The gods, realizing their mistake, punished the dwarves by sending a huge flood to wipe their villages from the jungles.
This story is referenced by 2012 believers who say that floods, much like the ones that wiped out the dwarves, will devastate humanity during 2012. In fact, the legend mentions nothing of these events repeating themselves. In 1990 Mayan scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel even claimed that the Mayan calendar, the basis for many of the 2012 claims, may have been misinterpreted and they believed that the dates will actually end 4.134105 x 10^28 years in the future.
There is little doubt that any of us will be alive then, but it seems that the 2012 cultural phenomena will continue at least until 2013 or just until businessmen can't make any more money off the event.
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