In a couple weeks the film 2012 will be released, and with its promise of big budget special effect laden scenes of mass destruction, and John Cusack moodily blundering his way through relationships while listening to indie hits form the 80s, movie nerds are creaming their saggy, unfashionable pants in anticipation. Alongside that, talks about doomsday prophecies have also reached a fever pitch, particularly those that relate to the so called 2012 apocalypse.

Apocalyptic warnings have always been attractive to a certain type of person–bearded men without jobs primarily–and now that a lot more people are unemployed (and presumably bearded), anticipation of a world where our credit card debts have been wiped clean by a horrible calamity is building. What’s a couple billion dead if it gets Citibank off your ass, right? So, to see if there was any truth behind this 2012 phenomena, and track down where it originates from and what it could mean, I interviewed some of the leading specialists on history, science and new age studies from around the world. [1]

Everyone, make sure you stock up on your Cheetos and polluted bottled water.

Why We Should Be Terrified of the 2012 Apocalypse (Cracked)