2012: Science or Superstition
Timewave Zero is the theory postulated by author/philosopher Terence McKenna that calculates the rise and fall of novelty (dynamic change) in the universe. When McKenna graphed it over time, he found that it reached infinity on Dec., 21 2012, the end of the current Baktun cycle of the long-count calendar of the ancient Mayas. Since the concept was introduced in the 1970s by McKenna and Jose Arguellos, speculation has been rampant as to what the world might look like when it approaches its omega point, and there have been a plethora of books and films on the subject in recent years, the most anticipated being Roland Emmerich's film "2012" due in October. A recent direct to DVD documentary, "2012: Science or Superstition," directed by Nimrod Erez, explores the meaning of the Mayan Calendar's end date and what it might mean for the world and does so with restraint and intelligence. Talking heads discuss whether 2012 will bring a singular catastrophic event, a gradual transition to a higher level of consciousness, or nothing at all. The documentary features discussion by such unconventional thinkers as Graham Hancock, author of the major international bestsellers "The Sign and The Seal," "Fingerprints of the Gods," "Supernatural" and "Heaven's Mirror"; John Major Jenkins, an independent researcher who has devoted himself to reconstructing ancient Mayan cosmology and philosophy; Daniel Pinchbeck, author and lecturer who in 1994 was chosen by The New York Times Magazine as one of Thirty Under Thirty destined to change our culture; Alberto Villoldo, PhD, a medical anthropologist; and Anthony F. Aveni is the Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology and is considered one of the founders of Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy...