2025, 5th of July: End of the World?

It's 5:23 pm on 6th of July 2025, Taiwan time (GMT+8). It has been more than 24 hours since the predicted time of the world's deadline. I'm glad everything's fine and I'm still alive.

To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to news of any form for years. Not having the habit of checking the news came as a blessing, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. I've seen people around me panicking every time they checked the news. As if that's not enough, they continued spreading their anxiety and negativity in every conversation. It has always been that way. Everything didn't start during the pandemic.

Here's a few examples. The first would be my mom. There's been news about kidnapping somewhere in the country. She heard it and perceived the whole universe as a danger. I was around ten at that time. My aunt grew some plants right outside our house. In the evening, she would leave the door grill half open as she watered the plants. Sometimes, I would stand behind the door and watch her tend to the plants. My mom would come running and drive me into the house. "The kidnappers will come and grab you," she said.

Another example we always see would be those sitting in the breakfast shop, reading newspapers in the morning. The same could be said about some taxi drivers who listen to the news on the radio daily as they drive. "Look at the politics. The country has no hope," they would say. "Need to save up. I have to buy houses and invest wisely. The economics is really bad. Study hard and get out of the country. There's no hope here," they would say and sigh.

These phenomena are especially obvious when it comes to apocalyptic event predictions. The one I remember vividly was the prediction about the end of the world in the year 2012. It was so widely discussed and even made into a movie. I was still in school and many of my friends were talking about it. I really believed that the world would end.

Of course, it didn't happen. 2012 was my first year in secondary school so I was working my ass off and didn't realize how fast time flew. The next thing I knew, I finished my PT3 (lower secondary examination) and went, "Oh! the world should've ended. What happened?" I was so busy I remember this event two years after the date predicted.

I heard discussions about July 5th on social media. I gave no reaction upon receiving the news. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't happen, then it's great!

Today, I see people making videos of them waking up in the morning and crying about not seeing the end of the world. "Why didn't the world end? I'll have to go to work tomorrow!" I laughed out loud. People really do have a sense of humor.

Then, I got curious. I went on Google and searched for the prediction history. I found tables on Wikipedia.

English: List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events

Chinese: 末日預言列表 (List of doomsday prophecies)

There were so many dates predicted in history! The world would have ended hundreds of times already. I even found a prediction on the month I was born, saying that "King of Terror" would fall from the sky. Maybe they're right. I'm that terror *laughs in evil*

In the year I was born, there were a total of eight doomsday predictions. Thinking on the bright side, I'm lucky enough to be born and grow up safely.

I hereby extend my greatest gratitude to the universe.