My second piece of speculation uses a very short format. I’ve imagined what folks would be tweeting about on December 21st, 2012, using the hashtag #2012eotw (2012 end of the world.)

All of the below are facetious or humorous because a) I imagine there’ll be a ton of tweets in this vein, and b) sincerity is worthy but boring to read. What would be funny is if people did actually start using #2012eotw to similar effect. So if you want to post made-up end-of-the-world tweets, go right ahead and use this hashtag, and I’ll collect the responses here.

My preferred doomsday scenario: beer tsunami #2012eotw

ET, if you do exist, now would be a good time to reveal yourself #2012eotw

@davidicke, just seen Kris Kristofferson on TV looking quite reptilian #2012eotw

It’d better be the end of the world –  just spent my life savings on 10kg of cocaine #2012eotw

I sense that …

What is the 2012 phenomenon? At its broadest conception, it is just a meme and, perhaps, a focal point for anyone’s hopes, fears and anxieties about the near-future.

The formal definition, such as it is, relates to the Mayan calendar, which represents time as a series of cycles. One of these cycles, known as the Maya Long Count, consisted of more than 5,000years. In our calendrical system it began in August 3114 B.C. and is due to end on December 21st 2012. One separate piece of Mayan text has been ambiguously interpreted by Maya scholars as possibly predicting an ominous event. Over time, this has become a specific prophesy identifying some kind of major cataclysm. At one extreme, some theories suggest Earth’s collision with a black hole or another planet, or a shift in the Earth’s magnetic poles. At the other is …

As a student of eschatology, I’m interested in the 2012 phenomenon – particularly its cultural impact. As an amateur writer, I’m also interested in the the creative opportunities afforded by it, particularly in the realm of speculative fiction, which I enjoy reading and writing.

2012 provides fertile ground for thought experiments and speculative explorations. Through this site I want to capture these – mainly my own I expect, but hopefully some of you will contribute – and organize them into a record of speculations on the 2012 phenomenon as we approach ‘count zero’ over the weeks and months.

I’m not hugely interested in the theories underpinning the 2012 movement as most of them are, at best, highly questionable. But what is absolutely certain is the cultural impact this phenomenon will have over the next 12 months. Whether you’re happy about it or not, it …

Black Road Project is an experiment. I’m interested in the cultural impact of the 2012 phenomenon, and the creative opportunities it offers for (wild) speculation. But although I’ll be posting my own work here, I do hope others will see potential and do the same.

You can contact me and / or send your submissions via the form below, and I’ll happily publish them here (Ts & Cs to come.) I will in no way be proscriptive about what to send, but, for reference, here are the guidelines I’ve set myself:

First and foremost, tell a good story
Avoid polemic (unless it’s satirical), New Age treatise (unless it’s satirical), conspiracy theory (unless it’s satirical)
Regardless of my own personal prejudices, assume multiple points of view – cynic, skeptic, believer, rationalist, gnostic, scientific, paranoid, fanatical
Be as weird / far out as I like; pursue extreme ideas …