-- Posted by Bearsy at 6:20 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 I mean even before they discovered dinosaurs and everything, the world's ultimate fate was always on the minds of the ancient people, and you can see it in their drawings and writings and stuff. How did they know it would come to an end? And why is mankind so interested in it, like hyper-aware almost? -- Posted by HXC at 6:24 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 They didn't. they took a guess. And for the record, they still don't know. mankind is interested in it because its our EXTINCTION we're talking about. something most would like to avoid. -- Posted by Bearsy at 6:26 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from HXC at 6:24 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 They didn't. they took a guess. And for the record, they still don't know.   mankind is interested in it because its our EXTINCTION we're talking about. something most would like to avoid. But other animals aren't inheritely aware of their death other than maybe elephants. It seems that every generation and tribe, whether connected or not "guessed" that the earth would eventually come to an end. You don't think it's strange what great guessers they all were? And of course the world will end someday, mankind and the earth will both have to end at some point... -- Posted by HXC at 6:31 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from Its Bearsy Bitch at 6:26 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from HXC at 6:24 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 They didn't. they took a guess. And for the record, they still don't know. mankind is interested in it because its our EXTINCTION we're talking about. something most would like to avoid. But other animals aren't inheritely aware of their death other than maybe elephants. It seems that every generation and tribe, whether connected or not "guessed" that the earth would eventually come to an end. You don't think it's strange what great guessers they all were? And of course the world will end someday, mankind and the earth will both have to end at some point... but it's something we'd like to avoid. It's human nature to understand death. Its not a rabbit's nature to understand the concept. they go on their merry way. we have to live with the understanding that it all comes to an end. for most people, that is hard. and as for guessing, I'm gonna claim shenanigans on that. links, please, to some tribe claiming their doom. other than Aztec/Mayan/2012, which is a HUGE misunderstanding. -- Posted by Bearsy at 6:54 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from HXC at 6:31 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from Its Bearsy Bitch at 6:26 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Quote: from HXC at 6:24 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 They didn't. they took a guess. And for the record, they still don't know.      mankind is interested in it because its our EXTINCTION we're talking about. something most would like to avoid.    But other animals aren't inheritely aware of their death other than maybe elephants.    It seems that every generation and tribe, whether connected or not "guessed" that the earth would eventually come to an end. You don't think it's strange what great guessers they all were?    And of course the world will end someday, mankind and the earth will both have to end at some point...   but it's something we'd like to avoid. It's human nature to understand death. Its not a rabbit's nature to understand the concept. they go on their merry way. we have to live with the understanding that it all comes to an end.   for most people, that is hard.   and as for guessing, I'm gonna claim shenanigans on that. links, please, to some tribe claiming their doom. other than Aztec/Mayan/2012, which is a HUGE misunderstanding.   Didn't the epic of Gilgamesh talk about the end of the world? And the Ancient Chinese use to think the world was ending that one day a year when it suddenly turns dark in China. -- Posted by Silence of Thought at 10:49 pm on Aug. 9, 2008 Ever since man discovered he was mortal, I think he knew that all things must eventually come to an end. So why not the world or humanity? And although many religions claim that spirits, gods, etc. last forever, most of them even acknowledge an end of the world. So it's no wonder that even the earliest humans thought about this. I think it's become such an obsession for two reasons: 1. If we can figure out when the world's going to end, we might just be able to stop or postpone it. 2. Finding out when gives us a definite period of time to get as much done as you can. -- Posted by Alabamarama at 3:14 am on Aug. 10, 2008 It's human nature to want to know everything, and the mystery of death is the ultimate question. As for other animals, most of them are purely instinctual creatures, it's not their nature to contemplate concepts like extinction, only to avoid their own death. -- Posted by mariella at 3:04 am on Aug. 12, 2008 Regardless of global warming, the sun will eventually change, becoming a red giant, and research suggests, that at this time the Earth will be swallowed by the sun owing to "tidal interactions." Maybe people of ancient times were aware of that? -- Posted by Black American Dude at 2:55 pm on Aug. 14, 2008 Because they probably where thinking, "how the fuck did we get here? which prompted them to think... there must be an end if there was a beginning."