This is a fair point. There is no (individual or combined) source of information that’s trustworthy enough to get much more half the people to half-believe it (meaning: willing to make immediate personal sacrifice in any way). I imagine something like a little countdown timer appearing in the new HUD that everyone suddenly has, with a personal appearance of an avatar who explains that the simulation will be shutting down at 00:00 on 31-12-2023 would do it. That would have other effects than simple announcement of impending doom, though.
This is a fair point. There is no (individual or combined) source of information that’s trustworthy enough to get much more half the people to half-believe it (meaning: willing to make immediate personal sacrifice in any way). I imagine something like a little countdown timer appearing in the new HUD that everyone suddenly has, with a personal appearance of an avatar who explains that the simulation will be shutting down at 00:00 on 31-12-2023 would do it. That would have other effects than simple announcement of impending doom, though.