How to explain the human obsession with the end of the world? It seems as if there have been doomsayers wandering the streets ever since humans walked upright, and these days, with the world in a constant tizzy, there is no shortage of prophets, filmmakers, and assorted crackpots ready to help you prepare for the End Days. “As impressive as the scope of world-enders’ thinking these days is its overwhelming detail. Everything from events in the Middle East to the technology of cloning has been worked into one end-times commentary or another.” The details serves to obscure the lack of evidence, even as it makes the scenario more real.