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Posted on 10/30/2026 8:50:39 AM PDT by DFG
Apocalypse now?
The end of the world is going down in just two weeks — at least if a certain dystopian study is to be believed.
In a 1960 study in the journal Science, University of Illinois physicist Heinz von Foerster forecast that Doomsday would occur on November 13, 2026 (fittingly, Friday the 13th!)
The Austrian-American scientist specifically believed that our population would increase exponentially to infinity.
But rather than dying of starvation — the prevailing fear at the time — von Foerster believed the boom would culminate in a massive crowd crush of sorts.
“At this date human population will approach infinity if it grows as it has grown in the last two millennia,” the paper read. “Our great-great-grandchildren will not starve. They will be squeezed to death.”
While certainly controversial among demographers, this doomsday forecast seemed to reflect the population trends at the time. Fears intensified eight years later, when biologist Paul R. Ehrlich published “The Population Bomb,” arguably the seminal paper on the overpopulation trend, Popular Science reported.
Then, halfway to the so-called Doomsday in 1993, the predictions began to outpace the actual population trajectory. Today, the global birth rate is around half of what it was in 1960, meaning that — barring some sort of AI or nuclear apocalypse — November 13 will come to pass without incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Population growth has been tapering off to the point of eventual collapse in many Western countries now reproducing at well below replacement rates.
Heinz von Foerster must have formulated his theory based on current fads at that time....
I totally understand the squeezed thing....politicians keep squeezing my wallet. Once that’s flat, there’s only one place for them to go
Why are a lot of European villages empty?
He’s a little off the mark. The world ended in 1984 when Skynet sent the T1000 back in time to abort Sarah Connor.
Do you know the exact time, I can mark in my schedule which is pretty full already. Would hate to miss......
There was a huge wave of these nutcases back when that were sure God wouldn’t provide enough food, water, etc., and the population would grow to the point of not enough resources. Bottom line: it was ALL a ploy (from early on) to push ABORTION
Jesus Christ said it best: no one knows the day or the hour but only the Father In Heaven.
I’m kind of bust that day.
Can we, maybe, do this another time?
Busy
I’m never sure what to wear for an end of world party. 🤷🏻♀️
Buy more toilet paper.
Socks.
And your Def Leppard Armageddon It T-shirt.
So, I shouldn’t buy any green bananas?...................
The panic wasn't tied to just one single individual, but rather a collective of prominent Indian astrologers, priests, and "godmen" who issued terrifying prophecies based on a rare celestial alignment.
According to their calculations, eight celestial bodies—the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Khetu (an invisible lunar node)—were all aligning in the house of Capricorn. Astrologers warned that the last time such an alignment happened was around 3000 B.C., which coincided with the catastrophic warfare of Hindu mythology. They predicted that this new conjunction would bring global destruction, massive earthquakes, floods, and the absolute end of the world.
The Chaos It Created
The predictions caused a massive public stir and widespread hysteria across India and neighboring Nepal:
• Mass Rituals: Panic-stricken families poured their life savings into daan (donations) to holy men. They commissioned massive havans (fire rituals) and nonstop bhajans (prayer vigils) to ward off the evil alignment.
• Deserted Cities: On the predicted doomsday, markets shut down, buses ran completely empty, and streets looked like a ghost town.
• The Final Countdown: Hours before the world was supposed to end at 5:38 PM, millions of people gathered in parks, open spaces, and along the banks of the sacred Ganges River with bundles of food and water, waiting for the apocalypse.
• Delayed Royalty: The panic was so influential that even the royal family of Sikkim postponed a royal wedding until 1963 to escape the bad planetary alignment.
The Aftermath
When 5:38 PM came and went without a single cosmic disaster, the world breathed a sigh of relief. The astrologers and priests quickly pivoted, claiming that the apocalypse had been successfully averted thanks to the power of their collective prayers and rituals.
However, India’s Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was furious about the mass panic. He had fiercely refused to grant a government holiday for the day, calling the predictions completely "absurd". Afterward, he used the failed apocalypse as a public teaching moment, giving speeches urging the nation to abandon superstition and embrace a "scientific temper."
We won’t know we’re in the End Times until the Lions win a Superbowl and the Mariners win a World Series.
Yes, that is the day everyone on earth mysteriously leans to the left at the same time and reverses the rotation of the earth. I am sure von got a lot of money for this idiotic theory.
Darn, I just paid my October credit card bill.
Well going forward I’m buying whole milk and not skim.
And I’ll be ordering the extra pizza toppings
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