Would you like to know when you are going to die?

[Ortac]

Back when I was a student many years ago, this question came up during a class discussion. There was an almost unanimous consensus among everyone in the lecture theatre that they most definitely would not like to know when they were going to die. Most people didn’t even need any time to think about it; they said no instantly. I got the impression that was because they just found the idea creepy and unpleasant to think about.

 

My thoughts however were that yes, I would like to know, for two main reasons. Firstly, it would allow me to plan finances with absolute precision. It could be that I am ploughing lots of money into a pension fund which I may never get the benefit of if I die before I retire. Conversely, if I knew that I was going to live a very long time after retirement, I would know that I needed to be putting even more money away into a pension fund whilst I was still working.

 

Secondly, whilst many people will have periods of illness and deterioration before passing away, there will be many others who die suddenly and unexpectedly, which is extremely sad and upsetting for friends and family members. If someone knew that was going happen to them and when, there would be a chance to say proper goodbyes to friends and family and forward plan accordingly.

 

Yet when I voiced these thoughts to the other students in the lecture theatre, I got stares suggesting they all thought I was insane! I suppose to use a Star Trek analogy, I was thinking like a Vulcan, they were thinking like humans!

[Homer]

Meh.

 

I'd like to decide this myself  anyway.

[Touchofinsight]

It certainly would help but im living fast anyways but yea be nice so i could try a bunch of crazy shit years before I go. IF in some wayward world i make it to 60... ugh nevermind.

[Sea Lemon]

Nope nope nope! I don't want any warning whatsoever, I'd rather it took me completely by surprise - dying is one of my biggest fears, so I'd rather not come face to face with it if at all possible. 

[Kelpie]

No. That would probably make me anxious for weeks before that date and then I would basically waste a lot of time before my death that I could use more wisely. 

[Ennis]

I'd like to know. I'd know when it'd all be over. And I could use my time until then.

Like Ortac said, it's also great if your friends and family know in advance so you can say goodbye.

 

I'm not afraid of dying, sometimes I even look forward to it.

[Lord Jade Cross]

Yea, it would be convenient to know when I would die.

[Félinferno]

N.O.P.E. No way. Dying is one of my biggest fears, and knowing when I'm doing to drop dead would just make me depressed and anxious for the rest of my life.

[Guest]

for sure

 

[chair jockey]

I faced something analogous to this in the stupidest way recently.

 

I was having an abdominal artery ultrasound when the tech mumbled "A lot of gas there." Except it could have been "A lot of cancer." I knew that, under the law, the tech wasn't allowed to say anything to me, so I ignored it. I also didn't want to risk upsetting my family or stir up legal ass-covering by medical professionals, who would have closed ranks and protected each other. So I just remained silent with everyone in my real life and waited for my appointment with my family doctor four days later to ask about the ultrasound results.

 

Well, the results weren't ready, so I had to wait another week to see my doc again. And at that appointment I did ask him whether any signs of cancer had been detected, and he said no. But he did confirm signs of gas. That's currently being treated.

 

My life consists entirely of medical things and the waiting time between them. In those two weeks between the ultrasound and the doc appointment with the results, I had a lot of time to think about the possibililites. Including the possibility that I was terminally ill. And that possibility didn't upset me! There was one brief episode one evening as I was going to bed to try to sleep when I experienced some moderate instinct-based fear of death, but that was it for the negatives. For the most part I experienced myself as potentially having entered a new phase of life, one in which long-term plans were off the table and I'd be making a bucket list I'd never bothered to make. Or just deciding to continue living exactly the same life I'm living now for however long I had. And I felt comfortable with both. The real concern was that my brother would rob me of my autonomy by insisting that I undergo last-ditch treatment that would make my last days worse than miserable (because cancer treatment DOES make your last days worse than miserable if it fails) and I'd die anyway. He had done that with our mother in 2011 just before her death of causes other than cancer.

 

You can't prepare yourself for an experience. No matter how much you educate yourself about what might happen in the future or certainly will happen in the future, until it's actually happening to you, you can't know what it will be like, how you will feel about it, or what you will do. And while I don't know how I would be affected by confirmation that I have a life-threatening illness, I do know how I react to the possibility that I indeed do have one. That's something I'm grateful for because knowing is half the battle.

 

tl;dr I'm pretty sure I'd love to know the exact timing of my future death. Sometimes I'd experience instinct-based fear of death, but for the most part I'd be fine with it and it would be helpful in the ways Ortac outlined, as well as in other ways.

 

(Oh, and my family will never know about any of this. Why scare the crap out of them? And why start a stupid war of words with my interfering brother?" No point.)

[Anthracite_Impreza]

Definitely not, I'd just end up wasting whatever time I had left in a pit of existential angst.

[SithAzathoth WinterDragon]

No , not really.

[arekathevampyre]

I am not sure . Always had the feeling I will not be able to live pass 25 years old so yeah and I am already 20 . omgomgomg

[NerotheReaper]

Well I would rather know when rather than how, because if your death comes from being in a car accident you will be afraid of cars not knowing when. Knowing when can be anxiety inducing for sure, but at least you can plan for it and do a few crazy things before you die. 

[9Lives]

Definitely not!

[funfetti]

Yes.

 

And as one of the stoic philosophers once said (I believe it was Marcus Aurelius in Meditations), if there's something after we die our body will transform into whatever it needs to be transformed into. If there's nothing after that, then there's nothing after that.   I'm not afraid of dying. 

[arekathevampyre]

I ever had a dream that my sis will be killed in a car accident and I witnessed it . there were many times she nearly got knocked down and I pulled her back 

mainly because of listening to music on earphones . So I told her my dream (my premonition level is somewhat accurate) and told her to be careful

[cinary]

Well I guess that death is scary. Or more precisely not living anymore is scary. But I'd like to know when that will happen. I'm kind of a control freak so I'd like to plan my life. My finances, career, things I'd want to try in my life. I don't know when I will die. It can happen any moment now. So I can't really plan anything, I can just hope I'll be able to do what I want. So I'd like to know when I will die and plan everything. And then be able to say goodbye to everyone. It happens all the time that people die and are in the middle of the argument with someone important or are not talking to them. And if you'd know you would be able to really say goodbye and every other thing that you want to everyone. Yes, I'd like to know. 

[Dark General]

Absolutely not. I don't like to think about dying or death. If I knew when I was going to die, I'd be depressed for the rest of my life and I would have trouble living a happy life. One of my goals is to live for a very long time. It would be super depressing if I found out that I wasn't going to live for a very long time. Death is something I want to just not think about and throw to the back of my mind. 

[Cobie]

Definitely not.

[Mauru]

Absolutely not.

[Grumpy Alien]

5 hours ago, EtherealHaze said:

N.O.P.E. No way. Dying is one of my biggest fears, and knowing when I'm doing to drop dead would just make me depressed and anxious for the rest of my life.

Exactly this

 

all aboard the nope train choo choo

[Dreamer23]

Absolutely!

Sounds super convenient

I could get everything done by then and all. (I mean, I'd also be invincible until then. If I can't die any earlier than the disclosed day, I'd take bullets to the chest for money! )

[XYZ96]

I'm going to say, probably not... that way I can continue with the illusion that I will live forever and never stop existing  ... 

[Yatogami]

Absolutly. Nothing like a deadline to motivate you to not waste a second. I'd plan to go out like a tragic character dying doing/protecting what he loves. I'd try my hardest to engrave myself into history. 

[Not Active]

No, because I would worry about not being able completing all of my goals before that date.

[andreas1033]

I would rather my time to die, would hurry up.

The world, is a sick place, and humans can mess it up all they want, i want nout to do with living here.

I am certainly glad being asexual, i will not be bringing anyone into this vile world. The world without humans, would be great. Animals would just exist, and do what nature does.

Humans and there know everything about nothing brains, really make the world a horrible place for most people to live in it.

I would not want to know the exact time to die, just for it to hurry up already.

Humans will make one sick mess of this world, and you deserve it.

[aeimquy159]

No, what's life without a little uncertainty. 

[njosnavelin]

Have anyone considered where were you before your birth? Is that not the same place you will enviably end up only now you are unconscience of it.

 

Think of a line as the continues state of conscience. That line creates a ripple in it and flattens out again. The rippled in the line represents your life, a new state, for the line. After your life the ripple in the conscience state line continues on.

 

Multiply this thought over billions of times and you have a tapestry of ripples in the line -- the fabric of our collective existence. 

 

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To answer the question: What if I was told I am going to die at the age of 231?

[Sylvastor]

@njosnavelin This reminded me of how I thought of it as well.

 

I don't think I would mind knowing as much as most people, but it would surely stress me out in a way:

I would push myself more to achieve some of my life goals before said date or would get frustrated if it was too close to fulfill any of those.

I know I won't ever be able to fulfill all my goals, but that's okay. Having goals up to old age gives life more purpose – as long as you don't get too obsessed by it. This is what my aunt says as well each time she was telling birthday wishes: "…and have most of your wishes be fulfilled, just not all, so you can have some for later and a purpose." and I totally agree with her thoughts. A life without goals and wishes would be boring.

 

Overall, I rather take life as the unpredictable mess it is though. It allows me to enjoy it more without putting any greater pressure on myself. If I happened to find out when it will come to an end, well, then I know it. Still got to make the best of it.

I surely wouldn't beg for knowing it though.

 

What I wouldn't ever (and under any circumstances) want to know is how I will die. This would make me paranoid because I would know what source of danger it definitely would be but wouldn't know when it would strike.