Editorial: It's not the end of the world

If you're reading this, chances are pretty good the world did not end on Friday.

Yup, the Mayans were indeed wrong about the world crashing to an end on Dec. 21, 2012 - that is if you believe the worldwide hype about the ancient civilization predicting the world would come to an end on this day, supposedly because one of their calendars listed no more days after Dec. 21.

Fortunately, those among us that purchased the 2013 "Sports Illustrated" calendar - the one that has little to do with actual sports - did not waste their money.

(We have to ask - if the Mayans, who had an extensive and impressive culture, were indeed clairvoyant enough to see the end of the world coming thousands of years ago, why could they could not foresee the Spanish conquest, and why did they not take more appropriate steps against their European invaders? This question is probably better directed at Armageddon hype-believers, though.)

Since we're all still here, why the mass hysteria?

For crying out loud, NASA included an extensive list of FAQs on its website - www

.nasa.gov - debunking the alleged end of the world according to the Mayan calendar. There's even a video - a discussion by Dr. David Morrison, a senior scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center - stating that Dec. 21 would be no different than any other day on the planet.

Evidently, NASA had reason to calm our fears.

According to the Houston Chronicle, NASA received hundreds of calls and emails about the coming end of the world.

So why not get the word out that the sun would indeed come out today?

Let's be honest, much of the hype was not inspired by Mayans, but money - from people wanting to sell nonsensical books/magazines, generate hits on websites and get viewers/listeners to watch their television shows and radio programs.

If they couldn't make a profit off doomsday, that would be the end of the world.

And in that regard, Friday was just like any other day on planet Earth.