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(Post) Apocalypse
The World Already Ended. Get Over It.
My recent off-the-cuff denouncing of apocalyptic fantasies has yielded a bumper crop of people arguing against me. In effect, arguing for the Apocalypse. Why? What does this mean that this story has become so powerful that people simply don’t want to let it go?
And let’s not forget that the whole thing is a story, and just that. It is not made up of facts, rather it makes use of facts. It’s based on real life, but it’s not real life. It is a model, a hypothesis, an explanation, a way of looking at the world and making some sense out of it. For what ends? Check out my article, “The Psychological Function of the Apocalypse” for more on that.
But I still maintain that it is a way of looking at the world, and not the world itself. The world is so complex and varied that we could and should make up a thousand, a million competing stories to explain it. Doing so is to our benefit, I believe. But I do not believe that fixating on one single explanation, especially one that fills us with dread, stress and bleeds away hope is not a useful viewpoint to hold. This does not mean burying your head in the sand. This does not mean ignoring what’s happening in the world. But this does mean breaking deeply ingrained thought patterns, and chemical-emotional reactions to these patterns.
Based on my few interactions about this subject recently though, I can see that people simply will not let this story go so easily. It’s too big. It’s too exciting. It’s too scary. The chemical-emotional payoffs of contemplating it are too powerful and addictive to simply go off of cold turkey. So I would like to suggest an alternate scenario for people who might see the benefit of weaning themselves off the destructive teat of apocalypticism in all its many variations. It has simply to do with transposing the event in time. Instead of positing the Apocalypse as a future event (or even as a current event), begin to bury it in the past. Believe that it has already happened. Not that it has simply already begun and it is playing itself out, but that it’s already happened. The main event has already come and gone.
What does this mental sleight-of-hand accomplish? It allows you to stop waiting for and anxiously anticipating something still to come (2012, etc) and allows you instead to react to something which has already happened. If you’re driving your car and you know you’re going to run out of gas, you can fill your head with fantasies about when and where it might happen, and what will go down as a result. But if your car has already run out of gas and you’re stranded by the side of the road, then you simply know what to do. You go get more gas. You don’t sit around fantasizing anymore about what might happen, or what you’ll do if. Instead you do it.
Action is always going to be more powerful than fantasy. The Apocalypse already happened while you weren’t paying attention. It doesn’t matter where or when it happened exactly. Just that it did. And the hard part is over. You’ve been freed from the existing power structures; the world has been turned upside down; everything’s different now than it was before. It’s time to re-build and move forward with our lives. Stop waiting and get going. And if there’s one thing that years of media inundation from movies and comics have taught me, the post-apocalyptic part of the fantasy is way cooler anyway. Why wait for it when it’s already here?
- Bring on the Apocalypse!
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September 4th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Nicely relevant Carlos Castaneda quote:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carlos_Castaneda
September 4th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
You could also think about it like this, as far as media reports and other people theorizing about the end of the world: those things you are hearing, the tidings of ill-omen, those are distant radio echoes you’re hearing from a world light years away from you. You’re hearing them in real time, but they occurred years and years ago - but just took a long time to reach you where you are. Just like how they say many of the stars we see in the night sky no longer actually exist in reality, but they are so distant from us, that their light just takes an inordinate amount of time to travel from their (now extinguished origin) to where we are today.
The Apocalypse already happened. Everyone else is just catching up with events that occurred long ago. The past is nothing to be afraid of.
September 4th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
My greatest fear is that we (as a collective species) are becoming more neurotic and instead of becoming more conscious we are burrowing further into our base subconcious. 38% of America still believes Saddam was involved on 9/11 and 59% of Americans believe the book of Revealations will become true! That fills me with a sense of despair of how tragically ignorant we are. But meditation is a remedy for despair so I meditate.
I don’t have any desire to see the world end, altough when I was a child I secretly wished for it- so I wouldn’t experience the personal pain of loved ones dying before me. Of course the fear of death is a difficult fear to get over, so it is odd when I see people desire war and events which will end the world. But the Tao is eternal and it will keep on flowing for ever.
Ghost Dog is a great movie- a quote kind of similar to Castaneda
September 4th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Hey Tim,
I love this analysis. This post is really solid thinking. “It is not made up of facts, rather it makes use of facts.” That line is particularly insightful. This is how so many mistaken, crazy-ass ideas convince people. Heh, it even goes well with the idea of “truthiness.”
I’ve never really latched on to the ideas of an Apocolypse, or End of the World, etc. Thats why I really don’t comment the Apocolypse posts, or even the conspiracy theory posts (I’m sure I must have before, but unless something catches my eye…) . Usually my mind just shuts down (no offense to you) cause I mostly, well, I don’t care. I know…I’m a selfish bastard…but I got my own shit I gotta accomplish. I got my own dreams and objectives that I need to get done. Mostly what interests me are things which will help me do that, and ideas of the Apocaolypse or Conspiracy Theories don’t. Hell, they might be true, for all I know, but that still wouldn’t affect what I’ve gotta do, so fuck ‘em…
Of course please don’t take this as a criticism. Its your blog, write what you want. Its usually pretty fuck’n insightful whatever it is, so keep it up…and I’m rambling now, so have a great Lobor Day and Be Good…
Ronin
September 4th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Just found a relevant quote at the top of my Gmail, automatically generated based on god only knows what, by Lou Holtz - “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”
September 4th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I was thinking about what I wrote earlier, and I think one reason I don’t pay much attention to Apocalypse stuff is that I wasn’t raised Christian, so the idea of the world ending never really embedded in my mind.
I can remember being in 1st or 2nd grade and other kids would come up to me and ask “Have you been Saved?” I would reply, “No, is someone out to get me?” Kidnapping scenes would run through my mind cause a big child abduction scare was running through schools across the country at the time. The other kid would reply,”Yea, Satan is out to eat your soul”…ahhh, the theology of six year olds, everyone is out to eat you…”Oh, who’s Satan?” “He’s this evil red monster who fights God. He has horns and a tail and he’s EVIL! If you haven’t been saved by Jesus then Satan will take your soul to Hell and EAT IT!”
I would go home and think about this Satan guy, then look at the pictures up on the walls of my house. One was Siva-Nataraja (Of course I didn’t know that at the time, it was just “Lord Siva”). He had four arms with a weapon in each hand, a snake curled around His neck, a circle of fire surrounding Him, and He was dancing on the broken back of a demon. I looked at the next wall and there was Kali-Ma. Her tongue was sticking out and dripping in blood, Her hair was wild, She was riding a huge water buffallo, and in Her hundred arms She had weapons and skulls and all kinds of crazy shit.
My first thought was “Satan’s gonna have a hard time getting through those guys. I don’t know about this Jesus guy (I wasn’t too impressed by the pictures I’d seen of Him holding a lamb), but Lord Siva and Mother Kali can kick butt (and I had the comic books to prove it).”
My second thought was, “A red guy with a horn and tails, thats supposed to be scary? Man, my Gods are scarier than that…”
That is one of my earliest memories of Christianity. After that I never really took it seriously (although, as I’ve gotten older, I have studied it and gained a wealth of knowledge from its mystical, gnostic side). And that includes Apocalypse stuff.
What I was taught as a kid (which I don’t necessarily buy now, but it is probably what is imbedded in my psyche) is the the world ends alot, It just runs through the cycle, and when its time is up, Lord Visnu Himself comes down and cleans house. Everything is destroyed and everyone is killed, which is not so bad because if you are killed by the hands of an Avatar, then you go directly to heaven. If God kills you, you’re karma is cut and you “Ascend.” Then this whole “world” thing starts all over again. And this cycle goes on for Eternity. So, if it happens it happens, and you don’t have much say in the matter…and if it doesn’t, well, the point is to Play the Game, whether it’s the end times or not, and that never changes…
I know this was a tangent, but like I said, it was on my mind and slightly applicable to the discussion here, and I had some exta time here at the end of the day, so…back to your regularly scheduled progamming…and have a great Labor Day again, since I have no idea what Lobor Day is…
Be Good,
Ronin
September 4th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Hey Ronin, awesome to find out more about the backgrounds of people who post here, you know? It’s very rare that people give such a nice portrait of things like that. I appreciate it.
Myself I was raised Catholic and I don’t think I remember even once my parents or any priest or person at Church ever even mentioning the Apocalypse. Catholics don’t seem to really concern themselves with it so much. Or at least the ones I grew up around who were sort of hippy-fied.
I think I actually became more interested in Apocalyptic stuff through comic books, movies and all things science fiction. The idea of Apocalypse for me was always way more rooted in fantasy/sf than religion and as such I think I’ve always thought it was more exciting than scary, because those stories that deal with Apocalypse always deal with it after the fact, not before or during, you know? What happens after is way cooler when everybody rebuilds and gets on with life!
September 4th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
Over here, in England, I have not come across any apocalypse stories that cause alarm and panic to anyone. It may be quite different to the media you are encountering in America which may engender a different illusion there.
I quite agree with you in fact that it’s a good idea to paint the picture of what happens after the oil runs out or after the global warming has caused the sea level to rise and the climate to change by a certain amount.
I accept James Lovelock’s (author of Gaia hypothesis) that it’s too late to avoid what’s happening - in his estimation we should have started 150 years ago to prevent what is now being predicted, because he accepts human nature and institutions are what they are. What he says therefore is stop panicking about how to prevent the “catastrophe” and start planning calmly how to survive it with dignity and comfort. And this is not happening.
Now, assuming that the function of journalism is to inform (though admittedly in the guise of entertainment) the practical consideration of “what do we do post-apocalypse” has to be preceded by the conviction that the apocalypse will in any case occur. Otherwise it’s just a game.
It seems from what I hear that in America, which of all countries will have most to lose from the “apocalypse”, there is a good deal of “apocalypse denial” going on: Kyoto agreement an over-reaction, the whole thing a product of European pessimism and world’s desire to revenge on America for being so successful etc.
Your initial post, Tim seemed to be motivated by this spirit of denial. The rest of the world grieves for America’s attitudes to many things perhaps especially this tendency to denial.
Any apocalypse will be man-made. To repeat, oil running out is predictable and is not justifiable cause for war. Global warming is probably making species extinct already and increasing poverty and killingon a minor scale, if you count the increase in hurricanes and the effects on agriculture and ecosystems which have already been noticed.
But I think that current journalism focus, over here at any rate, is falsely focused on averting catastrophe and hardly at all covers steps to survive after the event. And this is not the fault of journalists, who report what pundits say and then comment on that. Is it the fault of the pundits? Probably.
If this is your point, Tim, I am your most loyal supporter.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:32 am
nothing is created or destroyed but is in perpetual flux, the “world” is an idea, nothing more
September 5th, 2006 at 12:38 am
No, I’m not denying that there are problems or that things are changing. Cause that would be stupid. I am denying the super-freak-out people seem to be in. And I’m not really referring to journalism so much as indicting the so-called alternative and counter-cultures who by and large seem to be throwing up their hands and selling out my future and any idea of hope I might have without my consent. The level of despair seems to have reached a saturation point and I’m completely done with it. Nobody is stealing my future from me. Nobody.
September 5th, 2006 at 1:17 am
a·poc·a·lypse \ə-pɒk’ɒ-lɪps\ n -s [ME acopalipse Revelation of St. John (book of the New Testament), revelation, vision, fr. LL apocalypsis, fr. Gk apokalyptein to uncover, reveal (fr. apo- + kalyptein to cover, conceal) + sis — more at hell] 1 : a writing professing to reveal the future; esp : such a pseudonymous writing in Jewish or early Christian circles between about 200 b.c. and a.d. 150 predicting the future shape of eschatological events by means of a symbolism understandable to the faithful but hidden from others 2 : something viewed as a revelation : disclosure
The Apocolypse is here. The cataclysmic, liberatory event has already occurred. You may live the life you dream of living.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:02 am
Well, the idea of it having already happened takes some of the punch out of it, because then you’re safe — the worst is over! What then? I mean, sure the apocalypse has already happened, but it’s also going to happen — it’s not an event that can be isolated in space-time — but if you get to thinking that death’s hand has already washed over your area and that you somehow eluded it, then you don’t have to think about dying anymore, which is the great advantage of the apocalypse mentality.
It doesn’t make me despair; it puts me into survival mode; I become more appreciative of my life, it makes me less ham-handed in my endeavors, and it gives my life a greater feeling of significance — my focus goes to my immediate experience. I don’t get to lapse into old routines, because my whole way of life is about to go down the tubes, and so, I become less attached in general — I have to think about what I want to do and do it! It’s a great motivator for me. It isn’t just a thrill-ride or a shot of adrenaline for me — it has very real consequences for my world-view, and I how I relate myself to the world.
Obviously, I don’t adopt an apocalyptic view independent of my personal ideological interests, but I think though, speaking objectively, there will be an apocalyptic scenario occuring on the world-stage in the near-future, but people’s hope is such that it will not let them recognize it, except in retrospect, any way.
I think in the end, there is dual lesson here: everything is ending, and everything is continuing — no matter what.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
My favorite thing to tell people concerning the end of the world is: “I’m not afraid of World War III– I’m more afraid of World War V, because then I’ll be too old to do anything about it.”
The obvious implication is that there will be more of these going on as we get older.
September 5th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Yeah, I’m also fed up with apocalypse doomsday crap. I know exactly what you mean when you say that you’re tired of hearing it from the groups that always seem to be pushing it. What’s amazing to me is that a certain percentage of the doomsayers seem to really get off on the idea of everything going to shit and ending horribly. And beyond that, they get off even more on the notion of “…and it’s UNSTOPPABLE. It’s GOING TO HAPPEN. for sure. There is NO ESCAPING IT.” that’s like the icing on the cake for these guys. Not only do they love the idea of the apocalypse, they love the idea that there’s no escape from it. It’s like a child who’s seen a really scary horror film and is now trying to get everyone he knows to watch it too, so he alone doesn’t feel the total weight of the worry on his shoulders.
If it’s “GOING TO HAPPEN”…and “THERE’S NO ESCAPING IT.” and we’re all going to die, (and of course, not just simply “die”, but die horribly…you know, like being gang raped to death by the cast of the road warrior while forced to watch our children being fed to wild dogs, etc etc.), then why wait for it? Why don’t we all just commit suicide and get it over with? Anytime I see that same hysterical, screeching, annoyingly self involved and self defeating rhetoric posted on a forum or written in an article somewhere, that’s what I want to write to the person: “OK, you’re right. I’m going to go buy a gun after work today and shoot myself in the head. I decided I can’t take what’s DEFINITELY coming, so that’s what I’m going to do. Why bother trying, right? Like you said, ‘THERE’S NO ESCAPING IT’, so why try?” Because what other fucking reaction would make sense in light of the ugly, awful scenario they’ve mapped out for us? (remember now, it’s INEVITABLE, too.) What kind of fucking moron would sit around and actually think “Oh I’ll just wait and see…” if it’s UNDENIABLE and TOTALLY, 100% WITHOUT-A-DOUBT DEFINITE that we’re going to be thrust into a Thunderdome reality, IF we don’t all die in the process?
Well, quite a few I guess…because no one is committing suicide over this shit.
What blows me away is why anyone would WANT the scenario they’ve mapped out to come true. Why, so you can prove that you were right when you go back to post on the conspiracy theory message boards? “BOO YAH! Told you all I was right! We all have horrible sores and we’re all dying of radiation poisoning…yet somehow there are gangs of buffed, well-fed, non-radiation poisoned, yet scary looking guys on a seemingly unlimited supply of souped up vehicles, driving by and raping us and killing us and then strapping our dead bodies to their vehicles to replace missing panels….BUT I WAS RIGHT! and YOU idiots were WRONG!!! In your face!”
I’d rather not read the news and the doomsday shit and just fucking live my life if it’s so fucking INEVITABLE. If it’s inevitable, then why even talk about it?
Maybe because it’s NOT INEVITABLE…and the very fact that there are people talking about the stupid-ass apocalypse is proof of that. If it’s something that can be debated, then it’s not inevitable. If it’s something that needs the annoyingly shrill commentary of a doomsday conspiracy theorist to gleefully convince everyone else, then it’s not inevitable. If we’re all talking about the exact same shit that was being whined about back in the 1970’s, it’s not inevitable.
People, (at least in this country) are so fucking set on being predictable and mentally weak and severing any and all connection they have to the UNDENIABLE and INNATE higher potential that we’re all capable of.
September 5th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
A crash of civilization would probably save a lot more life in the long run. Not just human, of course. Any ways, people who are really fighting the apocalypse mentality seem to be thinking in solely a winner/loser script.
Also: how deeply are we going to identify ourselves with civilization? Is it right that we necessarily feel endangered, when it’s endangered? How much of our being is contingent on it?
September 5th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Sometimes I really think that the transition to the 21st century, even though we almost wholly avoided the stupid Y2K crap, unhinged something in the world, especially in America.
The “number,” the only thing people used for some sort of marker or dividing line, made many people very scared, irrationally of course. People are afraid of the future, and when people are afraid of the future and life itself they do all manner of stupid shit (like “elect” our dear Leader–twice–to beat an already thoroughly pulverized horse).
September 5th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Hey Tim,
Thanks. Yea, its so easy to “forget” about any real persons behind the screen and just peg ‘em to your own mental construction of them. I do it all the time. Of course this happens in “real” life too, but thats for another time…
Catholic, huh. My first girlfriend was a Catholic. I attended a couple of Masses with her and they were very interesting…ritualistic like my wicked, Hindu ways. I’ve always thought that, were I to convert to an orthodox religion (a long shot, I admit), it would be to Catholicism, mostly because its pretty much a pagan religion anyway….
I see what your saying about the Apocalypse culture. Most of the Catholics I know don’t pay much attention to it. It seems to come more from the Protestants. Where I grew up it was the Southern Baptists in particular. There was a particularly virulant Southern Baptist church who would push apocalypse junk every week, and then the members would come to school and tell everybody they’re going to hell unless they let Jesus into their hearts, which was funny as hell because almost everybody was Christian anyway. I’m guessing its these people that make the “Left Behind” shit such a big hit.
And its cool to know where you’re coming from on the Apocalypse side of things. Post-Apocalyptic stuff was very prevalent during the late eighties and early nineties, wasn’t it.
And you are dead right, the stories was always more interesting placed after the fact rather than during it or before.
If you haven’t read it yet, THE best book on the Apocalypse, which just happens to be set during it, is “Good Omens” by Pratchett and Gaiman. Its one of the funniest books I have ever read. I’m laughing to myself just thinking about it. Pick it up, and give yourself a couple of hours ’cause you won’t want to put it down.
Be Good, and enjoy the sunshine…
Ronin