What do you think about the idea of knowing when you will die?

cosmographist69 · Post by **cosmographist69** » 08 Mar 2018, 13:17

I would tell everyone. It is said Nostradamus predicted his death and was found standing up, fully erect by his bedside. In all seriousness, It shows one's mastery over fate and gives a power to us that would make us feel in control of something - at least a little bit.

Also people would totally think how awesome you are after the fact!

La solitaire · Post by **La solitaire** » 08 Mar 2018, 13:41

Knowledge is a burden, a burden that dismisses innocence and mocks faith. In my opinion it would be totally inappropriate to let human beings into such secrets as when one would die. In our fallen nature, such knowledge would only be a burden, a partial empowerment and dis-empowerment all at once. So what if you knew you were to die tomorrow, how much can you really change and how feasible will your plans be?

The bliss of ignorance and the peace of simply surrendering to a Higher Power is the essence of being human, anything else just distorts the human experience.

bluegreenmarina · Post by **bluegreenmarina** » 08 Mar 2018, 14:03

I remember when I first learned about this book, I liked the way the author handled the concept of knowing when you die. I also appreciate the sense of urgency it inevitably gives to the storyline.

mcsob16 · Post by **mcsob16** » 08 Mar 2018, 14:44

That's an intriguing idea. To some of us, it is an opportunity. We can always plan our lives better if we know with precision when to die. We will always do what matters, and leave out the less important things.

On the other hand, we can allow fear gripped our hearts based on the knowledge we possess, and we end up mixing everything up. Doing things hastily, and trying to find satisfaction in everything within the limit of time possessed.

Knowledge is good, but how we handle it matters. I would like to have the idea if science can help out.

cozark38 · Post by **cozark38** » 08 Mar 2018, 16:42

kfwilson6 wrote: ↑08 Mar 2018, 10:00
cozark38 wrote: ↑06 Mar 2018, 21:03 I understand both sides of the coin. I believe it just depends on what type of person you are. But I also think that if you did know, even those that seem comfortable with it and would want to know, then there would be too much focus on that one event. The whole purpose of life is to live it to the fullest, be thankful for what we have, and always strive for your dreams or goals. If we have knowledge of the future, we would act differently and then we would be changing the past that could affect the future of others. I know technology advancement is inevitable, but this slightly old dog is content with learning as I go, no going with knowing. We all die. We only have to do one thing in this life. We have to die so why focus on it before it happens. Silly ramblings but mine. I enjoyed all the different comments here. Good conversation. Thanks.
Ahhh but how many of us are living life to the fullest? I can honestly say, I do things every day that I kick myself over. I think I should have been kinder or more forgiving. I should have gone to dinner with my in-laws instead of staying at home. I should have called my mom this week instead of pushing it off until next week. I should have....

Kudos if you are living your life the best way you think you should be and you wouldn't change anything if you had a death notice. That is wonderful and this book has made me think that I need to get on track with a lot of things. There are plenty of regrets I can start getting rid of right now with simple choices.

This could be an age thing too. I definitely consider myself to be young and I'm in good health so I always think there is plenty of time. I'm not in a hurry to get a new job, I can call my mom next week, I can have dinner with my in-laws in a couple of weeks. But if I knew I couldn't, I'd do some of those things now.

I'm not saying I'm living life to the fullest, I do try. I'd kick myself too if I could kick that high about some things.

I guess what I really try to think is that if something is not important enough for me to do it now, then why would it be more important if I knew I was going to die in a day or a week or a short time from now. We are just humans. We do the best, but sometimes our best can be better. When we try to be better, we are living life to the fullest, at least in my mind I am. I can be a really great procrastinator so I try to watch that. I have some things and relationships that are easier than others, but equally as important. Sometimes you put them off, sometimes you don't. I think that's okay too. I'm quite a bit older than you so perhaps I just think differently now, who knows. You only get one shot, so...do the best you can and don't beat yourself up for it. I can still smack myself pretty good now and then so...there's hope, always. Thanks for the comments.

ValkyrieKit · Post by **ValkyrieKit** » 08 Mar 2018, 16:44

I think that I wouldn't want to know even if I could because I would want to live my life normally and not feel a constant creeping fear that I am running out of time. I already know that I am running out of time as is, but feeling a little more comfort in not knowing when that time is up is better to me than knowing a definite. I also think it would be bad for society as some people would view it as "I'm going to die this day anyway so I might as well go on a crime spree".

bekkirtw · Post by **bekkirtw** » 08 Mar 2018, 17:02

Wow, this is a tough question. On one hand, knowing could cause a whole lot of anxiety about something beyond my control. On the other, not knowing could cause me to waste precious time. Personally, and as someone who has faced a life-threatening illness, I guess I would rather not know the when, the how, or the why. If science perfected this technology, it would be expensive enough to be out of the reach of most people (cynical? yes). Then there would be another industry devoted to changing that outcome. It could be profitable, but it's doubtful (to me) that it would be beneficial to know.

Camille Turner · Post by **Camille Turner** » 08 Mar 2018, 20:11

I'm currently still reading the book but can say that if given the choice to know when I'd die, I'd probably be compelled to find out. However, I imagine that would only make life an endless countdown with tons of anxiety because if I found out I'd die young, I'd be freaking out my whole life. I think it's best we don't know.

Julehart1 · Post by **Julehart1** » 08 Mar 2018, 21:19

This is such an interesting topic. I could see how some people would want to know exactly when they die, but I think for me, I would not want to know. I just think it would be too much of a burden and I wouldn't be able to think of much else and just wait for that moment. Also I think there's more to this than just science, it's also psychological. According to research, patients who are told they have only a short time to live usually end up depressed and die even quicker. It's just one of those things, where I think it's better not to know.

KatrinaP · Post by **KatrinaP** » 08 Mar 2018, 22:54

This is such a complex question! Personally, I would not want to know, if only so that I didn't waste whatever time I had left worrying about how I was spending that time and about what was coming. For the world at large, I think that this book illustrates a powerful point about the freedom one would feel given this knowledge, and the inevitable chaos that would ensue from such freedom. While many people would live their lives with love and without violence when given their countdown to death, I feel quite certain that many others would use their finite timeline to unleash their animal side and hurt people. Even if this number is much smaller than those who would live out their days peaceably, even one person bent on a last hurrah violence spree could kill a lot of people. For this reason, I would prefer if technology like the one in the book were never created.

Van F · Post by **Van F** » 09 Mar 2018, 00:19

Emma13 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2018, 15:31
angelbeats1 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2018, 13:46 After all, we all know that we will die someday, so why does it matter when?
This seems like the most important point to me. We all know we're going to die, so why don't we embrace that knowledge and live with that meaning all the time, rather than waiting until the sands are well and truly running out? I'm not suggesting we all quit our jobs and start living the bucket list lifestyle, but it wouldn't hurt us to try and take more time to appreciate what's great in our normal lives.

Wow, you can tell I'm reading Paulo Coelho right now...
[/As I was reading the comments it seemed that there were a lot of people who viewed the knowledge of their impending death as a time to "get off their butts and ..." Whether your comment about - embracing the knowledge that we're all going to die so let's live our lives - is yours or Paulo's, it's spot on! Live life to it's fullest and as we all (probably) have just one life to live, don't accept an average or mundane life. Be brave. Take chances. Live the life you want and don't settle for less. quote]

berk_sumpter · Post by **berk_sumpter** » 09 Mar 2018, 02:04

Personally, while I think that the idea of knowing when you will die makes for a very interesting book, I would not want to know this information in my own life. I think that knowing when I would die would just make me paranoid and anxious. I would not want to be worrying about it. However, I think if scientist did come up with this information, that I would just have to be up to a persons individual preference on if they wanted to know or not.

CaitlynLynch · Post by **CaitlynLynch** » 09 Mar 2018, 06:52

I think knowing exactly when you will die would lead to people going to extreme lengths in order to avoid it, causing self-fulfilling prophecies... and possibly temporal paradoxes. I'm glad it's only fiction!

Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 09 Mar 2018, 08:34

I feel like this one could go either way. I wouldn't want to know, just because I think the idea of it would be depressing. But I could see how some people would benefit from this, and it would give them more of an opportunity to enjoy the life they are given rather than complain and wish time away.

Mwanyalo · Post by **Mwanyalo** » 09 Mar 2018, 10:22

Surely, this is a question that will be in the minds of everybody else who wants to solve problems in the right way instead of ruling out to 'kill'.It becomes a good theme for debating however.And to conclude this theme:Everybody has got a right to live and a right to express his or her feelings.