The truth is that they could be wrong. Other interpretations of the same calendar data suggest the Doomsday has already passed. Others suggest it will come years and decades in the future. Dec. 21 or 23, 2012 are not nearly as cut-and-dried as their proponents would have us believe, but that will be a difficult argument to make until after the dates have passed, and then nobody will care about who opposed them.

An alternate theory is that the date somehow denotes a "shift in consciousness," or perhaps the fateful day that a UFO lands on the Whitehouse lawn. It has even been suggested that the Starchild Skull, a 900-year-old bone skull poised to prove its alien heritage, might be the defining "enlightenment" event. As someone on the inside of that Project, I find it hard to imagine that 15th century Mayans somehow knew about the series of stumbles, fumbles, and falls that would delay the Skull's crucial moment of DNA proof until late 2012, but it may well play a part in global disclosure, possibly even as the straw that breaks the camel's back.

I personally believe that the world is not going to end in 2012, although if it does, my guess is that it will be the result of a solar event. I think a 2012 date derives its power from being a mobilizing factor to stimulate people to think and question more as the clock ticks down. I hope that the date will be a turning point on the self-destructive and counter-productive path the mainstream seems to be on right now, but like everyone else, all I can do is offer my best guess.