Would you want to know when you're going to die

Our clock starts ticking the second we're born. If you were given the chance to know when you were going to die, would you want to and why?

Personally I wouldn't. I prefer to live every day as if it were possibly my last, eventually I'll be right and it will be. If I knew when I was dying, my fear is that my existence would somehow become slightly fake and planned around some future date. So which is it people, yes or no?

No, and we can't know. Think about it; it's a paradox. If you knew, you could change events, and in a way alter time. Time is a dimension we know, but can't unravel or alter (yet, or it's allready in experimental phase through black ops)

Would i want to know when I'm going to die? DEFINATELY. I'd want to know when. I'd want to know how. I could plan the future better. I could plan my family's future better. It would be helpful both spiritually (in getting ready) and materially.

Definately.

reply to post by peter_kandra


I would want to know for a few reasons

1) I could minimize the finacial impact that my family would bear the burden of if I died unexpectedly(pay off/down bills, secure funeral arrangements, etc..)

2) I would know exactly how much time I had to procrastinate doing certain things in life that I might never get to do if I thought I had longer than I actually did

3) I would have less hesitation doing reckless things(skydiving, spelunking) knowing that doing these things wouldn't cause my death

4) in the end(last few months) I would know that my time is limited and I could focus on spending that time with the people that matter most to me in this life

the list could go on, but this is a good place to start

Yes I kind of would, I'm fully aware that I am going to die anyway so knowing the exact date would help a lot with administrative tasks.
Hell I'd even be able to dig my own grave and jump in to save other people the bother

Originally posted by WeZet
No, and we can't know. Think about it; it's a paradox. If you knew, you could change events, and in a way alter time. Time is a dimension we know, but can't unravel or alter (yet, or it's allready in experimental phase through black ops)

I agree to an extent..

It could be some inevitable thing.. maybe cancer or some disease. Or say you knew you'd be hit by a bus.. sure then maybe you just never go outside near roads... and the bus comes crashing through your wall

kalisdad said it well.

Good answers so far. You don't think you'd have a lingering case of anxiety though if you knew? OMG, 8642 more days, 8641 more days...it's like you'd have one of those countdown clocks you see to New Years or Saint Patricks day or something constantly inside your mind. Several people mention being able to prepare better. That's certainly a valid point, and hopefully more and more people are planning ahead for the inevitable.

I definitely wouldn't want to know.

I mean, if I found out I was going to die at, say, 82, then I'd think ''cool, plenty more time'', but it gradually weigh more and more heavily on your mind as the days, months and years ticked by.

I suppose the upshot would be that you'd live the rest of your life without a worry of premature death, or if you got in a hairy situation, you'd know it was your time to pass.


Overall, though, I think what stops most of us from living in a perpetual state of anxiety and depression, is the fact that we delude ourselves and willingly ignore our own inevitable mortality.

Logically thinking, yes, I would like to know, for reasons already presented by previous posters, like planning the future of my dear ones better, being able to do things I currently can't for fear of dying in the process, etc. Reasonably thinking, I wouldn't, because I certainly would be terrified, especially during the last two or three years.

Honestly, I dont' think I would want to know either. Though, I always believed I would die by fire, it doesn't have to happen like that. Life it what you make it.

Yes then I would know when I could stop worrying about paying all these bills. I would go out and live it up like I never have. I would do things I would never have done before. I would live like there is no tomorrow because for me there wouldn't be.

reply to post by peter_kandra

name any other adventure in life that compares to death and what lies beyond?

any anxiety that I might feel(and there would be plenty) would be excitement for that next step.

I have had no fear of death for my entire adult life, and many years before that...

however if I was told I would die a mangled mess and live in agony for x amount of time, then I wouldn't want to know...

All the reasons given for wanting to know do appeal to me. I´d certainly want to set things right before I depart. Tell everyone how much I love them. And do more good things that will be worth remembering...

But I must still answer definately not. I really envy everyone who does live their life like every day is the last. This is something I hope to learn to do. But it will require time. I would rather die in the middle of dreaming about a better future than be forced to realize I never did anything I dreamed of doing - and then die!

It is a very tough question. I´ve had second thoughts typing this, but I stand by it for now.

reply to post by kalisdad


Fair enough. I can understand conditionally wanting to know based on when or how. I'm Catholic, but certainly not an overly religious person and based on those fundamental Catholic beliefs, I'm not afraid of what comes after death. Like you, I'm not afraid of dying and really don't think about it too often. I'm only 41, so hopefully I'm only maybe halfway there.

what if you found out your going to die at seven, or 14. what if they passed a law that you could only know after you become an adult at 18 and then find out you're going to die 3 days later.

it would be a nightmare, society would be a walking depression pit. they'd probably seperate society into long lifers and short timers.

the long lifers sipping champagne and dancing and listening to music on a carribean beach and the short timers walking around like zombies waiting to die.

An old question, and well-worth thinking about.

Most agree, such knowledge would change our life, at least on a superficial level, we could make arrangements, not worry as much in between, get reckless, etc.

But we DO have this knowledge, to an extent. We know we're not real likely to live to 90. We also know we "could" die in an accident, or get sick, etc. These parameters are rather narrow when we really think about it.

SO, this being the case, in other words, we already "know" to an extent when we will die, so how ARE we living?

All of us can use a bit of introspection, moments where we "take inventory". Thinking about "final matters" is exactly such a meditation, and it can be very beneficial.

A recently popularized "exercise" that can have great benefits in the here and now, is to write our own obituary. Other vintage suggestions might have run something like, "What would you like to have on your gravestone?" But the point is the same. What is it that we would like to be remembered for? What do we consider noble, in that very "final" sense?

Obviously, the idea is that if we can focus on this "vision" of our better selves, we can indeed become that better self. Whether we believe in an afterlife, or not, all humans seem to want to "make a difference" (somehow) now, and perhaps be remembered for it (in some way) after our short time ends. Ego? Maybe, but I prefer to think it is simply in our nature.

We are indeed like Elton John said, a "candle in the wind", in the greater scheme. How "should" we live our lives, knowing this fact?

JR

I wouldn't mind something like a one month warning :p Then I could write a will and say goodbye and stuff like that. But I would definitely not want to know if it were a long time away, for the reasons others have already stated. If I'm going to die in 2050 or whatever, I don't really want to know; I'd rather just live life until then.

sure I would. Now the question for me would be would I want to know HOW...