Predictions of 2012: Transformative and Destructive Hypotheses
January 1, 2016 Jon Leon Torn
The 2012 phenomenon, initially promoted by José Argüelles and Terence McKenna, evolved from whispers about global consciousness into a mainstream cultural fixation on apocalypse, entwined with singularity concepts and Hollywood disaster films. Amid the spectacle, calls for using the date as an opportunity for spiritual and political transformation—seeing past capitalist ideologies and recognizing ongoing ecological disaster—were muted. The consciousness movement, a loose affiliation of thinkers in technologically advanced Western countries, latched onto 2012 to promote the idea that political and scientific solutions to existential crises require a prior mental and cultural paradigm shift. Daniel Pinchbeck concludes that literal-minded films like 2012 curtailed deeper thought by making the subject appear ridiculous, though the notion of divine intervention may open space to conceive of human intervention.