Re: Leap Years, 2012 & The Mayan Calendar

TL;DR

The Mayan calendar does not have leap days, but this does not mean the world should have already ended.

Transcript

Hello, Internet. A lot of you sent me this image making the rounds which concerns the Mayan prediction that the world will end on December 21, 2012. The claim is that the Mayan calendar short counted the years because they forgot about leap days so the world should have already ended. This is followed by Mind = Blown, which I'm not sure how to take... Read More

Key Insights

• 🥳 The Mayan calendar did not include leap days because it focused on tracking the days since the creation of the Mayan religion, not seasons.
• 📅 Leap days are a feature of the Gregorian calendar and are not applicable to the Mayan calendar.
• 📅 The completion of the Mayan calendar's long cycle on December 21, 2012, does not signify the end of the world.
• 😒 It is important to use the term "Maya" as the correct singular and plural noun for the Mayan civilization.
• 📅 The Aztec calendar stone, which was shown in the video, is not actually a calendar according to archaeologists.
• 🍉 The term "Stone Age" refers to a technological classification and does not imply that the Maya were primitive or stupid.
• 🏍️ The Mayan calendar is known for its complex cycles within cycles structure.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why did the Mayan calendar not include leap days?

The Mayan calendar did not consider seasons, so it did not need leap days to keep the calendar in sync with the Earth's orbit. It focused on accurately tracking the days since the creation of the Mayan religion.

Q: Did the Mayans miscount the years?

No, the Mayans did not miscount the years. The idea that they did is based on a misunderstanding of leap days in the Gregorian calendar. The Mayan calendar simply followed a different system.

Q: Should the world have already ended according to the Mayan calendar?

No, the completion of the Mayan calendar's long cycle on December 21, 2012, does not mean the world will end. It is simply the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar, and the world will continue as usual.

Q: What is the difference between the Mayans and the Mayan language?

The Mayans refer to the people who belonged to the Mayan civilization, while "Maya" is the correct singular and plural noun to use. Mayan is the term used for the language spoken by the Mayan civilization.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The Mayan calendar did not include leap days because it disregarded seasons and focused on tracking the days since the creation of the Mayan religion.

• The idea that the Mayans miscounted the years or that the world should have already ended is based on a misunderstanding of leap days in the Gregorian calendar.

• The Mayan calendar will finish its long cycle on December 21, 2012, but that does not mean the world will end.