The end of the world?

Eskey (Liu Hongchen), an astrologer and occultist prophet in Beijing, who has more than 210,000 followers on Sina Weibo.

A1: I don't believe in it. I once participated in a conference supported by a nonprofit group in the United States and devoted to ideas worth spreading. I talked with some historians who said the Mayans didn't say Dec 21 would be the end of the world. Instead, they actually wrote on the stone that the day would be humanity's new start. There are many prophecies about doomsday, but I think most lack scientific validity.

A2: The year 2012 has witnessed some astrological positions that only happen once every 100 years, such as annular eclipses and the transits of Mercury and Venus. It rarely happens that they all occur in the same year, and this is an indication that that human society will experience big changes.

A3: I will stay at home and watch The Big Bang Theory. I don't believe in doomsday, so there's nothing for me to prepare. But I offered a discount for students who entered their names for my astrology class in January before Dec 21, as an encouragement to say "No" to doomsday.

A4: There would be many "big" regrets; the children in the orphanage would not receive the gifts that I prepared for New Year, for example.

A5: Poor international relations in some areas and the economic downturn in Europe. Both will bring more horrible problems to people than some doomsday that will definitely not arrive.

Eskey was talking to Yang Wanli.

Liu Cixin is the author of the best-selling sciencefiction trilogy Three Body, which describes how the entire solar system is flattened and becomes two-dimensional during an apocalyptic battle between earthlings and aliens.

A1: The human system on Earth is as unstable as a swirl in a river. The Earth will end someday, like everything else. Doomsday will come anyway, but the date will not be Dec 21 as the Mayans predicted.

A2: Science fiction writers have imagined at least 18 ways in which the Earth will disappear and human beings will be destroyed. In my opinion, the most likely scenario will be a sharp drop in temperatures. Ice ages actually happen periodically and the last one was only 10,000 years ago. I am fully confident that another will hit the Earth and kill billions. By then, some people may have starved to death, anyway.

A3: I have not prepared anything. My mission is to change people's perspective so they can face their destiny. Many people take the Mayan prophecy as a joke, but they have to understand the day will come, for sure. If the end of the world comes, I will store as much food as possible to improve my chances of survival. When the planet is extremely cold, as in an ice age, the agricultural system will be crushed and we won't stay alive without sufficient food.

A4: If we all die on the same day, I won't have any regrets.