Countdown 2012

"Well then by tomorrow we might all be dead, but than how is that different from any other day?" - Morpheus, The Matrix Reloaded

We are still a relatively long way from 12/21 2012, plenty of time at least for the History Channel to get a lot more mileage out of its Nostradamus shows. Its already got quite a bit out of the several it already has circulating. Of course when I say "several" I mean several different titles, Nostradamus revealed, Prophesies of Nostradamus, the Lost Book of Nostradamus, and of course Nostradamus 2012. However, all these "different" shows feature pretty much the same material. The same quatrains, the same crackpots, the same hand ringing "These prophesies are so accurate can we possibly escape the fate they predict?" Oddly enough though, one of the shows did feature a prophet (or rather prophetess) whose predictions were remarkably accurate, Mother Shipton. Her prophases not only seem to be rather accurate but (unlike Nostradamus') are specific enough to not be dismissed as probably just some drug induced 16th century ravings that happen to meet up with historical events now and then. Naturally enough I suppose accurate prophecies of future events brings up the question of freewill and determinism (at least if someone does not like the prophecies). But Mother Shipton's are interesting in that they do not involve asteroids or autocratic rulers but sometimes the actions of the general public...

"And now a word in uncouth rhyme Of what shall be in future time, For in the wondrous far off days, The women shall adopt a craze To dress like men and trousers wear And cut off their lovely locks of hair. They'll ride astride with brazen brow As witches on a broomstick now
Then love shall die and marriage cease, And nations wane as births decrease. The wives shall fondle cats and dogs And men live much the same as hogs."

This seems fairly precise and quite plane. Yet it required millions to cooperate of their free will in order for it to come true?
Perhaps the true seer is more akin to the scientist than the mystic. Observing events and making predictions based on patterns.
But whether it is an asteroid or social decadence one prediction seems pretty safe. It is not a lack of free will that will be mans undoing, it will be his lack of using it properly.