This is one of the “kalog” sides of Isaac Newton as we discussed in Political Science 193 (Modern Political Thought). Contrary to popular belief that Isaac Newton was just the boring nerd that he was there were also rumors that he preferred to be referred to as “pretty” rather than “handsome” during his time. This of course is not connected to the End of the World prediction. I’m just imagining that if the rumors were indeed true then he could have started a 17th century version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy considering the weird fashion they had during those days. Weird as it may seem I’m also imagining Newton dancing with Sandara in a Rejoice commercial flipping his white curls while singing the Rejoice jingle. What’s with the wig, honestly?
Okay fine. Aside from the popular “Science-geek” image Newton has I’ve learned that one of his “hobbies” aside from Alchemy was Biblical Exegesis a.k.a. Careful Interpretation of the Bible. Lucky for us he did not base his apocalypse prediction on reason but rather on religion. This is of course a good thing considering the fact that he actually discovered or invented (whatever!) his laws of motion and other science stuff that we actually follow today. If he based this prediction on reason then I might have ample reason to believe that we are doomed but the fact is that he did not. Party na ito! Lol.
Come to think of it even if it turns out to be true should we really care? Should you care? Well I think I shouldn’t care. I was born in 1985 and by the time 2060 comes I will be what, 75? I am not aware of the average life expectancy of a Filipino male but I honestly believe that I will not live to be 75. Come on, 75? Boring. If you were born earlier then I think you should not worry about anything. If you have a kid and he or she was born before 2010 then you might have to worry but I think you should leave the worry to him or her because he or she will more or less be 50 when that time comes – old enough to worry by him or herself. What about your grandkids? Let their parents worry for them.
And so what was Newton’s basis for this apocalypse prediction? Well he interpreted Daniel 12:7, the contents of which I am not aware of because I haven’t read it. Apparently he predicted that the world will come to an end 1, 260 years after the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne in 800. As for the manner by which the world will end like I said I still have not found anything about the comet-hits-sun prediction in the Internet as mentioned by Prof.
I also managed to download a JPEG copy of two of the Newton manuscripts that surfaced in the Internet with regards to this issue. Thanks to Newton’s very legible handwriting the two JPEG files could now be found in my desktop’s Recycle Bin. If you want a soft copy of the said manuscripts then you are welcome to use Google and Yahoo to search for it -- that is if you want an adventure similar to decoding an Egyptian hieroglyph. Sorry I’m just bitter that I can’t read his handwriting. Maybe you can. Good luck.
I am not really interested about this End of the World thingie. It has been predicted before that the world would end in 1998 and then 1999 and then 2000. It just goes on and on and on until it finally comes true and the one who “accurately” predicted it becomes a celebrity for a minute or two before we all perish. What interests me is the comet-hits-sun thingie which my professor mentioned. I think I should ask him about it. It’s just a unique end of the world prediction. It has always been a Deep Impact or Armageddon prediction, Geocentric you may call it (Aba aba ina apply ang lesson, lol). This one is unique in the sense that the sun is the target, Heliocentric (naks!). As for my opinion I think that the end of the world prediction I actually believe in right now is the Death of the Sun prediction which is not really a prediction but a fact. As we know from high school astronomy the sun is destined to die because that’s what stars do in the long run, die. But I think that will not occur in a few million years so why bother. If you are interested in some of the many versions of the End of the World then read on.
Another popular End of the World prediction is that of the Mayas -- those indigenous people who used to and the descendants of which still live in what we know today as the country of Guatemala. According to their calendar the end of the world will be in the winter solstice of the year 2012, more or less Christmas of that year. This is according to the Mayan calendar and ancient Mayan predictions stating that the world would just last 13 “baktuns.” I don’t know what a “baktun” is but I think it is a measure of time. The online source says 144, 000 days.
I saw a book about this Maya End of the World stuff at Powerbooks even before we discussed Newton. I think I might buy the book but definitely not soon because Midterms week is already approaching. In Diliman the end of the world happens each time a semester ends, when you start praying that 3.0’s would appear in your class cards and not 4.0’s nor 5.0’s. I think it is safe to say that the End of the World happens in Diliman every October and April. Newton is not even sure of 2060 because he said apocalypse could come later than that. At least in Diliman we have accurate dates.
To Sir Isaac Newton, man of science and religion, I offer thee this song of praise: Kahit anong dumating kaya tong harapin, kaya kong abutin. Kering keri subukan, suntok sa buwan tatamaan. Kahit saan magpunta napupuna na nila na iba ang ganda, sa Rejoice ko nakita, sa Rejoice lumigaya. Kering keri susunod sa aking galaw. Kering keri laging nangingibabaw. Kering keri, kering keri ko! Thank you tekkenzaibatsu.com for the lyrics, love ka ni Newton. =p
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