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

Alyssaaarandall · Post by **Alyssaaarandall** » 07 Mar 2018, 11:22

Sometimes ignorance is bliss in cases like these.

SparklesonPages · Post by **SparklesonPages** » 07 Mar 2018, 12:28

No I wouldn't want to know when I die. I feel that the dread of impending doom would overshadow the joys of everyday life.

mnmueller · Post by **mnmueller** » 07 Mar 2018, 13:05

I am conflicted. On the one hand, I would like to have time to put my affairs in order and try to experience as many of the things I've been wanting as I can before my time was up. On the other hand, the sense of helplessness and desperation would probably make me feel cheated, so I'm not sure I would even get a chance to enjoy those experiences.

The part that hurts most for me is the idea of knowing when someone you care about is going to die. I have lost family members in recent years and have other family members currently fighting against life-threatening illnesses. I personally have not found that knowing that it was coming or may be coming made it any easier. In fact, the sense of dread and desperate, irrational hope leading up to it warred heavily with the sure knowledge that, for the sick, it was the only way their suffering would end. I think knowing the exact time that someone I cared for was going to die would just cause me more suffering. The idea that they would also know and everything that entails makes me feel sick.

I think, in general, it's not a good idea. It would cause emotional distress or carelessness, which would sometimes result in people getting hurt. There are already too many instances of people around the world destroying other people and places, killing themselves in the process. Giving people notice that they will die soon would probably increase those numbers.

Astrocelot · Post by **Astrocelot** » 07 Mar 2018, 13:14

Zilelabelle wrote: ↑03 Mar 2018, 14:17 It’s an interesting thought experiment. Personally, I think if I knew when I was going to die, it would motivate me to get off my behind and get out in the world more. I don’t think I’d waste my remaining time settling old scores. I mean, why should I do anything other than taste every new experience I could get my hands on?

This is a great point, and I completely agree with you! I'm certainly in the minority here, but I'd love to know when I was going to die for this reason. If I had only a few years left, I wouldn't bother with a lot of things I'm doing now; planning for the future by working my butt off for a degree, stuff like that. If I had another fifty years, it'd be reassuring to know that what I'm doing now will pay off. And it'd be motivating to get as many life experiences crammed into the timeframe we knew we had!

Zilelabelle · Post by **Zilelabelle** » 07 Mar 2018, 13:26

Exactly! If I knew for sure I had another fifty years, I'd probably do something insane, like get a fancy degree and go into politics. But if I only had a few months, or a few years? I think I'd take my kids and travel the world.

angelbeats1 · Post by **angelbeats1** » 07 Mar 2018, 13:46

Quite a heavily debated topic. I think if I had the chance to know before hand I would want to. I would not waste anymore time planning ahead and I would live in the moment more. Knowing when I would die would allow me to prepare myself mentally more and complete relationships with others before departing. I feel like you would have more time to come to terms with it. After all, we all know that we will die someday, so why does it matter when?

Emma13 · Post by **Emma13** » 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...

dphelps1113 · Post by **dphelps1113** » 07 Mar 2018, 16:18

I am extremely intrigued by the idea. This way both my family and I can prepare for "dooms day", so to speak and possible ease some of the tension that surrounds a person's death.

Delioness · Post by **Delioness** » 07 Mar 2018, 18:50

Thoughts of death stirs up negative emotion. It is a fact that at one point or the other, we must all die. Nevertheless, a precise knowledge of one's presumed date of death produces anxiety and tension, which often times leads to depression mostly characterized by recurrent thoughts of death. I personally see it as one of the major causes of death, and thereby posit that if such knowledge is drastically minimized or kept secret, a lot of tension surrounding death will experience a downward turn.

BookInspector300 · Post by **BookInspector300** » 07 Mar 2018, 19:37

I'm not the greatest fan of bring made aware of when I'm going to die. If we were to be made aware of when we were going to die, I believe nobody would be comfortable and anxiety would be the order of the day. Why don't we just let fate run it's natural course without meddling? It would save us from a lot of heartache.

Irishmom · Post by **Irishmom** » 07 Mar 2018, 19:57

Terrible! I am anxious enough about life without this!

eli_j_writes · Post by **eli_j_writes** » 07 Mar 2018, 20:25

If science ever developed a way to determine when we will die, I would never want to know. I would spend all of my time thinking about getting closer to that moment and forget to live my life. I would rather live every second of my life to the fullest and never know when my time will come. I think the only benefits of knowing when you will die is so you can prepare. Not for death itself, but for the remainder of your life and the people around you. If you have any loose ends or bad relationships with people, it would be nice to know that you should probably work on fixing them before it's too late. It would also give you a chance to attend your own funeral, which I think would be cool.

mef_writer1 · Post by **mef_writer1** » 07 Mar 2018, 22:30

Personal opinion: I would rather not know when I'm going to die. Even though it would be intensely intriguing to be able to tell when I would die, I think I would live better without that knowledge. If I know when I'm going to die, I will put off things that maybe I actually need to do today instead a week from now. I think part of life is the unknown. If we didn't have that, would any of us really be motivated to do anything in our lives?

EricaWilson · Post by **EricaWilson** » 07 Mar 2018, 23:22

I personally wouldn't want to know when I was going to die. I feel like I would just be counting down the days left instead of enjoying every moment.

Lg_99 · Post by **Lg_99** » 08 Mar 2018, 00:01

I wouldn't want to know when I'm going to die. Honestly, that would be a huge burden to me; I can't imagine myself trying to smile and live my life while knowing that it all will come to an end soon. I prefer to remain clueless.