Apocalypse

It’s the end of the world and we know it.  It’s a catchy lyric from a song over used in comedies and parodies.  But how will the world end?  Humanity is mistaken if it believes that we’ll always be on this planet.  While the question of when humanity is to die out is impossible to determine, the real question is not when, but how? 

Over the years there have been many theories about the end of the world and in what form it comes in.  Religious rapture, alien invasion, universal disease, zombie attacks, enslavement from robots, or possibly we destroy ourselves with global nuclear war; all of these endings have been shown to us in Science Fiction writings and movies.  But how the world truly ends is a mystery to us all.  But that doesn’t stop people from joining cults and believing they know the answer to the end.

These apocalyptic cults and believers have been around for thousands of years (Kaihla).   These cults tend to  flourish in societies that are experiencing economic chaos, political turmoil, or other types of instability (Kaihla).  This can say something about certain people who join these cults.  They don’t seem to realize that civilizations rise and fall constantly throughout history, and that when their civilization ends, the world is not necessarily following right after.  In the past, most peoples religious beliefs dictated how they believed their world was to end.  Every religion of the world, both current and ancient, they hold the secrets to the end of days.  As time went on, societies began believing less and less in religion, and more in science.  Acording to the scientific community the world is already coming to an end due to global warming and the other natural turmoil.

In Science Fiction, there are an infinate number of posibilities for the apocalypse.  My personal belief is that humanity ends at the dawn of artificial intelegence.  Artificial intelegence are computers that can think and reason for themselves.  I’ve seen it a thousand times in Science Fiction movies like The Matrix, The Terminator, and I Robot.  In all of these movies once computers reaslize that how cruel and twisted humanity can be, they decided that humanity can not be saved and therefore must be eliminated.  As I see technology advancing faster and faster as time moves on, I can easily se computers eventually evolving to the point where it no longer needs a human in control.  Can you see it?  It would be hard to find someone who has not seen the cruelty or harshness that humanity can bring to itself, but humanity also has the capability for great compasion and love.  However computers only see facts and statistics, such as crime rates, and are incapable of seeing the hope that humanity constantly is able to hold onto.

Kaihla, P. Apocalyptic cults. Cults. Ed. Jill Karson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,

2000. Contemporary Issues Companion. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from the Opposing Viewpoints Database.