If you were hoping this whole ‘Mayan 2012′ thing would just blow over and be ignored this year, I’ve got some bad news for you: it would appear roughly 10% of the population is convinced the end of the world is happening soon. According to a recent poll, one in every 7 people thinks the world will end within their lifetime, while one in every 10 think the Mayans predicted the date it’ll happen (despite failing to predict their own demise).

About one in 10 people globally also said they were experiencing fear or anxiety about the impending end of the world in 2012. The greatest numbers were in Russia and Poland, the fewest in Great Britain.

That makes sense: If I had to live in Russia or Poland, I’d probably be looking forward to the End Times. There isn’t enough vodka or perogies to ever convince me to live in either of these frozen shit-holes (I’m happy in mine, thanks). Is there perhaps some overriding factor which causes people to believe in such nonsense?

Gottfried also said that people with lower education or household income levels, as well as those under 35 years old, were more likely to believe in an apocalypse during their lifetime or in 2012, or have anxiety over the prospect.

Ah, so if you’re an uneducated twat, odds are you’ll easily be convinced by lazy journalism the Mayan calendar ‘ending’ means something more than the simple resetting of “the long count” (Carisa’s favorite YouTuber has a great video explaining all of this).

If you really want to be depressed, the figures are much higher in both Turkey and the US (two of the most religious countries in the world), where 22% are convinced the end is nigh. Oh America, you still lead the world in religiously motivated ignorance.