Let's say everyone in the world has the option to know exactly when they will die, and can choose at any time throughout their life to find out. Once you've chosen to know, you cannot go back to not knowing, no matter how much you want to. There is no way to change when or how you will die even though you now know.
Would you choose to know, or remain ignorant?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Feh.
I don't want to know - I prefer to think my life is not pre-determined.
-Trevor
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I would prefer to know where I am going to die.
And then I'd never go there. Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
I'd choose to not know. If I knew I'd spend the rest of my life worrying about how close to that moment I was getting.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*agrees 100% with RRR*
Posted by Jess N (Member # 6744) on :
Mr. P--You can't dodge Death. Somehow, Death would readjust and find you. (boy, that's a morbid thought)
I'd rather not know because I wouldn't want to focus the rest of my life around that event. I prefer to live each moment and enjoy the adventure.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
That's assuming you can change the outcome Mr. Head.
As the hypothetical goes, the information you receive is 100% accurate - from Upon High.
And if it's an unpleasent death - something involving cows with uzis, for example, I'd just as soon not know.
-Trevor
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
Kylie, do you know something I don't?
I don't want to know when I am going to die. Be it tomorrow or 100 years. I like having some control over my life and what I do with it. Knowing when I was going to die would cause me to change everything to work around that. I want to live my life with everything I have.
Then again, maybe once I was married, and had had good years with my wife, would we together decide that it might be nice to know how long was left? I don't think even they I would want to know.
[ August 25, 2004, 11:58 PM: Message edited by: Zevlag ]
Posted by Jess N (Member # 6744) on :
OK, Trevor---I just snorted out loud. Do you have a latent fear of cows or do they have to wield weapons to get your attention?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Nah, I figured I was pushing my luck on the cow jokes.
But I thought I'd quit while I was ahead because the steaks were so high.
-Trevor
Edit: For typo
[ August 25, 2004, 11:58 PM: Message edited by: TMedina ]
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I'd rather not know.
Though I might want to know a little bit about it, like the approximate age. It would be nice to know if I will live a long life or not. It would be nice to know approximately how much time I've got left. Sudden deaths seem harder to deal with for all concerned than deaths you kinda knew were coming.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Bev does have a point - knowing I will not die until X time at Y date under Z circumstances, I could go absolutely nuts and raise all sorts of hell knowing I'd live through it.
Of course, surviving and living through are two entirely different scenarios.
-Trevor
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
Part of me would want to know if I had months or years, but the exact moment in time and possible method is not something I would want to carry around. I think it would just tarnish whatever time I had left, and I'd rather live without that kind of emotional pain.
Posted by Jess N (Member # 6744) on :
Trevor:
My experience with your cow observations has been a moooooving experience. (Sorry, couldn't resist--I promise to stop).
I try not to think about dying too much. That could be because I would rather pretend I'm at least part hobbit and will live an extremely long, happy life.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I wouldn't mind knowing. I wouldn't pay anything to find out, but if someone were handing the information out free, and I could know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was true, and it didn't involve them whipping out a gun, saying "right now, sucker," and pumping me full of lead? Sure, I'd be interested to know. I don't think it would bother me unduely.
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Joshy, I know lots you don't know.
Maybe I'm weird, but I think I would prefer to know. I'm a planner like that, I guess. It'd be like going on a holiday and not knowing when it was going to end -- just waking up one day and being told, right, that's it, go home today. I mean I'd want to do all the fun stuff I wanted to do on the holiday before the end. Then again, maybe I'd keep putting things off because I knew I had ages left (or not, as the case may be). I'd also like to have everything sorted, family, friends, etc, not leave loose ends.
Heh. I guess I'm just too organised. But I'm hopeless at making decisions, so I'd probably end up not knowing, because I'd procrastinate over deciding to know. Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Jess - You want to be a long-lived hobbit? Make sure you have knockers on the door - you never want a wizard ringing.
-Trevor
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Does it tweak anyone else out to think that one day, they will actually die and everything will be different?
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
I would want to know. Say I found out that I was going to die 4 or 5 years from now. I wouldn't bother finishing school or getting a job if I had that information. I'd just be a lazy prick for the rest of my short life. Hmm, sounds good.
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Oh and just to clarify, you only get to know the time, not how or where or anything else. You just can't change how, where, or when, even though you know when.
There is no charge, all you have to do to find out is ask. The information is 100% accurate.
[ August 26, 2004, 12:14 AM: Message edited by: tt&t ]
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Goodness no! Did you read my landmark?
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
quote: Does it tweak anyone else out to think that one day, they will actually die and everything will be different?
Yes. Very much so.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
AS my middle school social studies teacher said, 'As long as I haven't died, I have no proof that I'm not the first of a race of immortals.'
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
I like that line.
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Icky -- yes. I just re-read it, in fact. Still brilliant. Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Aw, shucks--cut that out!
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
I think I might like to know when I would die...although I have to admit I'd get awfully nervous if I was in a potentially very painful situation right near the end of the countdown...
but I would like to prepare everyone so they might be able to handle it better...
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
Honestly, I don't know if I want to know or not. If I die early, I would live the rest of my life disappointed. If I die late, I'd do stupid stuff for the rest of my life.
I guess that I don't want to know. Just guess and live each day to the fullest.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I think I'd want to know. Big Fish kinda sums up why...
quote:I was thinking about death and all. About seeing how you’re gonna die. I mean, on one hand, if dying was all you thought about, it could kind of screw you up. But it could kind of help you, couldn’t it? Because you’d know that everything else you can survive ... From that moment on, I no longer feared death. And for that, I was as good as immortal.
I don't think I'd want to know exactly when I would die. I'd rather know how I was going to die. (And then relax if it was one of those nice die-in-your-sleep-with-family-all-around sorts of things).
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
According to deathclock.com i'm going to die whn i'm 90. Excuse me while i go hang myself, and survive.
Of course everyone knws i'm immortal so it wont matter anyways. Nah Nah Poo Poo
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
I don't really plan on dying.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Yes. I want to know.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I plan to live forever... or die trying...
And knowing FOR SURE when you'd die raises so many questions I don't even want to think about it.
Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Oh, I know it raises a lot of questions. It couldn't work -- people could run up huge debts or commit crimes just before they died, or even just quit their job and live on the unemployment benefit. People could do ridiculous things and take huge risks throughout their lives knowing they wouldn't die until that hour. No, it wouldn't work in practise. I was just curious whether people would want to know, and why.
On a sidenote, assuming you could find out, would you want to know the date of your partner/spouse/child/parents death? Each person can only ask the date of their own death, so you wouldn't know unless they knew, but would you want them to tell you?
For me, I think it'd be fine not knowing if they didn't want to know themselves. But if they did know, then I would probably want them to tell me. Heck, I think I just like knowing things. Just call me Nosey Parker. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, ok, IF it were possible, all questions aside... I think yes, I'd be interested. And also interested in knowing when everybody would die.
Remember, it's not curiosity that killed the cat. It's hesitation.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I am not a fan of personal uncertainty. I'm irritated I don't know this information already.
Posted by Zotto! (Member # 4689) on :
I'm torn between knowing or not knowing when I'll be snuffed out.
On the one hand, I'm like you, Kylie, in that I'd like to know and plan for all the assorted loose ends that surround death.
On the other, it gives me the heeby-freakin-jeebies to think of my body being wormfood, so I'm not sure if I'd REALLY want to know. *laugh*
I think I'm leaning more towards the "know" side (in this hypothetical world where I have no chance of changing the future, which I don't believe).
All this entropy sucks. Stoppit rightnow! *glares at universe*
[ August 26, 2004, 06:34 AM: Message edited by: Zotto! ]
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
quote: I'd choose to not know. If I knew I'd spend the rest of my life worrying about how close to that moment I was getting.
ExACTly.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
If I were terminally ill, I would like to know how much time I really had. I knew someone with cancer who suffered through all sorts of treatments to gain time, and then died within six months. His wife said if they had known, they would have spent more time living than trying not to die.
My mother was not told she was going to die, even though I am pretty sure she must have known. That was my grandmother's idea, to hide that fact from her. What right did she have to do that?
I also think of Warren Zevon, and I listen to what he did with his remaining time. Just beautiful.
[ August 26, 2004, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
This happened with my dad's mother. They didn't want her to know how serious it was, so they wouldn't let him say goodbye to her. This still bothers him 35 years later.
Dagonee
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I wouldn't want to know the exact hour/day I was going to die. However, like Elizabeth, if I were dying witha terminal disease, I would like for them to be truthful with me about how approximately how long I had left, so I would know how much time I have to get my affairs in order for my kids.....
Farmgirl
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Was he a child when it happened, Dag? (I am actually afraid of this answer, thinking he might be around my age)
I think that, as a society, we tend to try to shield children from death in their real life, while bombarding them with it in books and on television. It always confused me as a small child, because there were all my devoutly Christian family members said that there was a Heaven, but then they were so sad when a person actually got to go there. I always wondered why I couldn't go to the party.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
He had just graduated college. The thing is, he knew she was probably going to die, but she wasn't told. He thinks she actually knew, though, because she told him whatever happened he was not to postpone his wedding.
Dagonee
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, how sad.
Sometimes, in my more cynical moments, when people here say "Hatrack is my family," I think, why would you want it to be? I think people's own families can hurt them worse than anyone else, sometimes. (recent family strife has kicked me into cynical mode on this)
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
That's true. In this case, everyone was acting out of love with absolutely the best intentions. Doesn't make it hurt any less, though.
Dagonee
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
No, it doesn't, and it is hard to confront a family member when they put up the wall of best intentions. You don't want to hurt them, either, and the hurt can't be taken back anyway, so you are left with simmering resentment.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
It's going to take me one whole hour to die?
Man, I coulda done without that information. . .
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Elizabeth, his dad might have been just following the doctors' advice. He had limited education and was likely not up to questioning their advice.
This was before a lot of the reforms to end-life care were made.
Dagonee
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
True, Dag. Things are definitely different now. I try to be as honest as I can with my kids without going over the line to scaring them. It is very hard!
Have you listened to Warren Zevon's last album? I was so impressed that he did that. Some of the songs are funny, some are heart wrenching, and he asked many of his old music compatriots to help him, so it is a star-fest.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Have you listened to Warren Zevon's last album? I was so impressed that he did that. Some of the songs are funny, some are heart wrenching, and he asked many of his old music compatriots to help him, so it is a star-fest.
No, I haven't heard it, but I'm definitely going to check it out soon.
Dagonee
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
quote: I am not a fan of personal uncertainty. I'm irritated I don't know this information already.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I love my family, and they mean so much to me. All of my family. For me to say that Hatrack is like family is a high complement. I am sad that so many people have such painful experiences in their family and I wish things could be different. Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
Elizabeth, I share your strong feelings about death and children. I have tried to discuss death openly with my children. For instance, we have good friends whose little 1 year old daughter had to go through open-heart-surgery. When we talked to our 5 year old son about praying for her, we were very up-front about the idea that she might die and that would make us all very sad.
I think that the funerals that I have been to have not been overly sad because of the honest-to-goodness faith of those in attendance about an afterlife. There is a certain joy and peace at these funerals, and it does feel like a celebration of their life. It is a time for family to get together and enjoy each other while discussing how wonderful the person who died was. It is a healing, beautiful time. The only sorrow is at the temporary separation. We miss them, but we are happy for them at the same time.
[ August 26, 2004, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: beverly ]
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
When I grow up, I'm going to be God. Then i won't have to worry about this nonsense.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Beverly, I love my family, too. They just don't seem to love each other anymore. (not my immediate family, my extended, and my hub's as well)
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I understand, Elizabeth. I'm really lucky to have the family that I do have. Certainly the people closest to you have the most opportunity to hurt you deeply, so it's not surprising that so many have been deeply hurt by even well-meaning family members.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I have recently experienced both the best and worst of believing in heaven. During the trip to say a final goodbye to my dad-in-law, we explained to the boys that Grandpa was very sick and might die.
My 5 year old said, "He will die and go to live with God." He then went back to singing a silly song.
The simple faith and comfort of that statement awed me. There is no fear of death in this little boy. There is no fear in this little person.
Later, and quite out of the blue, he said. "Mom, I want to die." Startled and already sad, I said, "Honey, why do you say that?"
He said, "Because I want to see God and go play with Grandpa."
I know I'm selfish, but when heaven starts luring my little boy before he has even had a life, heaven scares the hell out of me.
As for the original question, I'm only interested in making sure that my kids outlive me, and I plan to live a long time.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I really don't have much fear of death anyomore. When I was younger I did--I was terrified of it. Now, though, not so much. I'm not looking forward to the dying part, and I don't like the idea of going before my loved ones do, and having my death cause them pain. Death itself, though, doesn't hold any real terror for me. Of course, I've also never been in a position where, say, I was looking down the end of a gun or something, so it's entirely possible that this lack of fear would melt away when push came to shove.
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Somehow, Death would readjust and find you. (boy, that's a morbid thought)![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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