Y2K and Today's Eclipse Paranoia
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| Fake Total Solar Eclipse photo |
It doesn't seem to me to have been a quarter century ago that the world was fretting about what the "millennium bug" was going to do to the global economy, financial institutions and electronic systems everywhere. Hoopla about the so called Y2K bug was fomenting visions of the apocalypse and End Times. It all rested on the fact that in the early days of digital computing words of memory were expensive and many CPUs operated with only 32,000 bytes on memory. To conserve storage and computing speed the programmers and designers figured a 2-byte date for the year would suffice. Therefore 1970 was only stored as 70. Of course back when the decision was made there was in excess of fifty years to concern ourselves with the shortfall of that design.
As we approached the 21st century many pundits realized that 1999 would be 99 but 2000 would become 00 as in 1900 not 2000. All types of cataclysms were predicted. None of them ever materialized. That was not without major retooling of programs and databases though. The fact that there was a stirring of fear we actually did something to avert the collapse of our electronic world.
Humans have always looked for signs of the End Times. The birth of Christianity with its Book of Revelation and the prophesy of a Second coming of Christ only amplified the conjecture. Even the notion of the Mayan calendar ending in mid- 2012 has sent people scrambling for the safety of some sort of sanctuary against some nebulous peril. After nothing happened, some pundits even suggest we actually DID transition into an alternate dimension and most people remain unawares of it.
In March 2024 numerologists, astrologers and religious zealots believe the soon approaching total solar eclipse heralds the end of one era and the beginning of another. They suggest there will be major upheavals and disruptions which will last possibly for many years if not a human lifetime.
They point to the fact that the April 8, path of totality will pass over 7 towns in the US named Ninevah as proof there is some biblical connection. An earlier total eclipse in August 21, 2017 crossed over the American continent passing over an alleged 7 towns named Salem and intersects with the 2024 path at a point near Paducah, Kentucky. The third 7-reference is it has been 7 years since the last eclipse crossing the North American continent. Wow, three 7s, I guess I should bet of the lottery.
Not only is there an upcoming total solar eclipse crossing North America, buy worry is being stoked for there being a Corona Mass Ejection (CME) from the sun due soon and could disrupt radio communications and utility grids. Earthquakes and volcanoes are predicted as signs from God that there is a deity connection.
A comet is in earth's vicinity and is being pulled into the gravity well of the Sun. It may come close to earth and on some future passage might strike the planet (or not.) In 100 years or so from now, everyone alive today will be dead anyway. So why worry?
Never underestimate the gullibility of humans in large numbers. There are so many people acting like summer campers sitting around an evening bonfire scaring each other relating tales of ghosts, monsters and axe murderers. I swear all those stories are absolutely true. "It floats."
So worrisome is the eclipse the Governor of Oklahoma has activated National Guard troops to be ready for "something." Various conspiracy mongers, like Alex Jones, suggest there is some nefarious government plans to create an incident. Tiktokkers are touting the prospects of natural disasters and other perils.
The biggest danger comes from the 100s of thousands of eclipse-watchers converging on small towns in the path of totality in order to see this event. Several communities have suggested residents stock up on a week's worth of food and fuel in preparation. Such a recommendation has little to do with a breakdown of the supply chain or infrastructure failures as it does the clearance of shelves and gasoline by the influx of travelers who came unprepared to make the trek and return without creating a negative impact by their presence.
One might consider that the flow of itinerants into the countryside as being like a microcosm of what would happen if a major disruption actually did take place. I think it will be interesting to see how the public acts and how communities respond.
