Blogging about the End Times: Dealing with the Fringes of Archaeology

Abstract

The 2012-phenomenon is based on the idea that something important was expected to occur on December 21, 2012, a date associated with the ancient Maya Long Count calendar. Even though the date has passed, the overall phenomenon is unlikely to disappear because the dominant themes of the end of the world and/or a transformation of consciousness can be found in other ‘alternative’ histories. These non-academic histories are ultimately apocalyptic in nature. The 2012-phenomenon is also an example of an ‘incorporeal hyperobject’, i.e. an object widely distributed and repeated. It is not anchored in a specific time-space unit but it is manifested in many different corporeal objects. The 2012-phenomenon is different from the academic Mayanist incorporeal hyperobject because each of them uses different distinctions of what exists or not. These different objects cannot communicate directly in different media ecologies since different distinctions have formed each one. Hence, there can never be a sincere understanding of each camp. Only by perturbing another object can information be translated into meaning. The blog is such a medium that can affect incorporeal hyperobjects. This article discusses the way one blog has interacted with the 2012-phenomenon.