The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation

Is it time to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye?

The Doomsday clock remained set at 90 seconds to midnight in its newest update Tuesday morning, January 23, 2024 - the latest iteration of a decades-old international symbol meant to illustrate how close humanity is to reaching "global catastrophe."

In 2023, the hands of the Doomsday clock inched forward for the first time in three years to show 90 seconds to midnight - up from 100 seconds to midnight, where they had remained since 2020. The foreboding leap by 10 seconds was motivated by the ongoing war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza, the hottest year on record, advances in artificial intelligence, and a man running for the Presidency of the United States who feels he's immune from breaking the law.

Scientists and experts at the helm of the Bulletin said their decision to hold the clock at 90 seconds to midnight in 2024 - the same position it held in 2023, the closest to midnight it's been in its history - came as "the risks of last year continue with unabated ferocity" to pose "an unprecedented level of risk" to societies everywhere.

Will mankind survive?

The Roman Empire lasted (1,000 years), the Mayans (3,000 years), and the Egyptians several thousand years.

By any measurement, those civilizations could be deemed immortal but they ended. However, the difference between then and now is the world continued.

According to the Doomsday Clock, the next end will be total extinction.

The Doomsday Clock includes measurements by climate change, nuclear threats, mass shootings, and other mass psychosomatic effects of stress like social hallucinations: UFOs and deep state conspiracy theories.

Signs of mass hysteria

There have been 627 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. 597 people died. Americans have more guns than anywhere else in the world and they keep buying more.

America is the only country with more civilian-owned firearms than people.

As a group of Mormons in Canada kidnapped a family and ran around naked waiting for the final moment, the Earth's inner core may have stopped turning.

UFO reports have skyrocketed to an all-time high.

A land mass larger than the State of New York broke off Antarctica and Greenland is melting quicker than the ice in your beach cocktail.

More wars, more super weapons, and pandemics plague the planet.

Around 150–200 plant and animal species go extinct on average every day. Around 137 of those species go extinct due to deforestation.

The Bible has a built-in doomsday clock as prophecy is read in the Book of Revelations.

The Hopi Indians thousands of years ago told the end of all things as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance.

From zombie apocalypse and global famine to meteor strike and WW3, the 16th-century prophet Nostradamus predicted it all.

When the Buddha was born time was transcended.

So what moves the Western Doomsday Clock is modern time and time driven by madness.

The daily occurrences of an out-of-control world filling our heads, release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Our muscles tighten, the digestive system breaks down, insomnia occurs, and worse panic and paranoia set in and drive people over the edge.

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock has served as a reminder of the dangers of nuclear war and other man-made catastrophes.

Until I came across the Doomsday Clock article on CNN's website I didn't know a group of academic influencers had created the clock. I never heard of them or their clock before.

I get the symbolism of it and the idea to create awareness. I understand the folks at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists promote themselves, but when has the modern world not been on the brink of destruction?

Depending on your POV the clock is stuck eternally at 11:59 pm - the hour of not quite rain.

Artists throughout history have portrayed the end in songs, paintings, literature, film, and recently social media.

We've seen the end of the world so many times we've normalized it.

Don't fear the reaper - the hands of the Doomsday Clock can be moved backward.

What can you do to help yourself and the world?

Restore balance.

Believe in hope.

Don't underestimate the power of talking about these important issues with your peers.

Join a cause and contribute something.

To make a positive impact on climate change, look at your daily habits and see if there are small changes you can make in your life such as how often you walk versus drive.

Eating seasonally and locally, reducing food waste, and recycling properly are other ways to help mitigate or deal with the effects of, the climate crisis.

Revere all forms of life.

Enjoy your favorite doomsday show like "The Last of Us" but don't get swept up into a hysteria that the sky is falling.

Avoid fake news and conspiracy theories.

Too much negativity only breeds pessimism. Seed positivity.

There's no avoiding the evil side of humanity so rise to the challenge and spread goodwill.

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