Gambling is scary. The slot machines in Vegas made a college kid like me not care about losing $100 because there is always a chance that I may win $200 on the next spin. Gambling with life doesn’t work that way; The first time you lose, you’re dead, there is no re-spin.
We tell ourselves that after our gamble with life that there may be a better life afterward. The Heaven’s Gate religious cult took quite the gamble. Dressed in matching sweatsuits, Nike shoes, and arm bands, they believed that they would board an alien space-craft following the comet Hale-Bopp by killing themselves. Seems crazy, but soon we may be boarding the same space-craft. Anyone willing to take a bet on when and how?
Conspiracy theorists, religious figures, even everyday people try to predict the end of the world. There are infinite ways the world may end: asteroids, nuclear war, God’s wrath, or overly intelligent robots. Some people gamble on their predictions for the end of the world. I’m hoping no one gets in too big of a bind and has to induce the end of the world themselves to win a bet!