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

Use this forum to discuss the March 2018 Book of the Month, "Final Notice" by Van Fleisher.
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hettieknight18
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Re: What do you think about the idea of knowing when you will die?

Post by hettieknight18 »

I personally would definitely not want to know how much time I have left, as someone who has faced a life-threatening illness in their lifetime, I think it would just feel like receiving a terminal diagnosis. I think it's important to make the most of each day anyway, so I don't think a time frame would drastically change the way I live my life in order to 'make the most of what time I have left'. I personally feel that knowing when you would die would make me more stressed and as the time approached I would feel as if I was walking on eggshells and about to walk into my own execution. Just my 2 cents.
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Sefiros2211
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Post by Sefiros2211 »

Knowing your time's up is a dangerous thing. I remember this episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys when a hard-working politician is starting the process to apprehend a high-ranking criminal when his death date is revealed. In 24 hours he'll be dead. He will not live to see his goal realized. So he takes matters into his own hands and kills the criminal. He becomes just as bad as the quarry he hunted.

This kind of desperation can turn a good man bad. Foreknowledge can shift a man's motives because it promises limited consequences, if not absolve them entirely. For every man to conduct his affairs and say final goodbyes, there are two others that will engage in a killing spree because they won't live long enough to be judged for their actions. That's what I think about the foreknowledge of death. It's just too big a risk.
Salihu Auwal Lugga
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Post by Salihu Auwal Lugga »

It would be better not to know when I would die. If not, I would be already dead before my time.
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yonyan0314
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Post by yonyan0314 »

If I know when will I die I do the things that I loved, to explore, to meet other people in different country, and to have a happy family even though I know my life is limitness. I will assure that I will fulfill all of these so I have no regrets if the day has come.
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Post by Wesley Liu »

Honestly, I am terrified of the thought of death. There are many unknown answers to questions I have always pondered. What will happen when a human dies? Through this fear of the lack of knowledge of something so important, I created my own theory about what would happen, using other scientific theories to intertwine each possibility into one overall understanding. Unfortunately, I do not know if my theory is even remotely correct, but I think that this unknown knowledge is actually a blessing to humans. If people do not know answers to everything, they will depend on beliefs to try to satisfy those unanswered voids. This creates religion, unity amongst people, and also gives people motive to learn about life. On their path to reach this one form of enlightenment, to understand everything about life and death, humans also discovers new things about the universe. Additionally, the lack of knowledge also gives humans a possibly "invisible" time constraint on life, where they are harbored by the fear of knowing that their life might be their last. This motivates people to live life to the fullest, and be as generous as possible to try to create an impact on the world where you can live on in others, even if you aren't in the universe. Overall, although the thought of death is negative and scary to many people, the possibility of eternal death has so much positive impact on the way people try to live their life.
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Post by book_worm 101 »

I've seen and read many books that have touched the topic of knowing when you'll die. I wouldn't want to know when my time was going to be up because I wouldn't enjoy life, knowing it'd be over in a couple of days. I appreciate the fact that gun control was somewhat brought up in this book because of how big a problem it is today. In conclusion, I believe nobody should ever possess such knowledge and guns are only bad if the person who withholds the gun has bad intentions.
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Emmy bestlove
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Post by Emmy bestlove »

since death is certain, knowing when it will come is not a bad idea. it will help one to prepare his/her heart and save mankind from the torment of fear of death. whatsoever that is born will die, its a natural law that does not need our opinion, so lets know when.
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Post by Lolababs94 »

There are just too many sides to consider. If science could predict when you would die (and perhaps even how), wouldn't it be possible to do something to change that end? Or does the prediction mean you can do nothing to change it? If so, that would change the school of thought that says we make chpices everyday that could change our future.
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Laura Del
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Post by Laura Del »

I feel like this is something that is better off not finding out. If you know when you're going to die, all the rest of the time you have on this Earth is automatically tainted. I think if this ever becomes a thing, scientists should keep it to themselves. You don't want to be biding time until your death, you should just want to live your life.
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Post by JR Mercier »

I wish there was a filter. I would like to know if it was a disease or something caused by my own body because then it could maybe be prevented but if it's a violent death like being murdered... I would be better off not knowing.
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Post by aprjvr »

:techie-studyingbrown: I like the idea of being able to know on when exactly are we going to die but at the same time, just thinking about it makes me scared and lonely, because in my own opinion if i were to know my "ending" i wouldn't be able to enjoy life. i wont feel life. probably i will live my life everyday thinking about that day. To the point that maybe, i would live my life smiling for others, thinking that, i should make them happy, that i should leave them a good memories with me wearing those fake smiles and laughter throughout the day, that my heart, my body and my mind are conflicting to how i act. I would probably selfish to myself and die sad, without knowing my true worth and reason for living.
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Post by vwalter93 »

First, any sort of time telling technology has got to be a bad idea. People having that kind of knowledge would cause nothing but duress.

My knowing my death date would be one of the worst things to happen for me. Instead of living like the world depended on it, I would be overcome by sadness. I'd spend my time trying to change the future instead of enjoying the time I had left.

As for humanity as a whole, could you imagine the crimes that would be committed? Folks wouldn't be deterred by potential jail time, death, or any other punishment.
SPasciuti wrote: 01 Mar 2018, 12:59 This is a huge theme in the book and it’s one that has been addressed in a number of other books as well. This is the first time I’ve been introduced to a book that addresses it alongside the conversation of gun control, but I was wondering what you think about this potential technology?

Is it a good idea? Would you want to know? How do you feel about science being able to predict something like this? Would you want scientists to release this information if they ever do learn how to get it?
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Post by elwhiz »

The idea of knowing when you will die, one word "SCARY". i believe knowing such would only put one through a kind of mental trauma, at the end of the day you might end up dying before the said time.
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Post by TrishaAnn92 »

I imagine lots of anxiety for me. Maybe turn in to a blubbering mess. If I led a good long life, maybe I'd be peaceful about it and would actually use the time to tie up loose ends, make sure my family is taken care of.
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-brintontaylor
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Post by -brintontaylor »

In my opinion, I'd love to know when I was going to die. I suppose it gives you peace of mind as well as knowing how much time you have left to do the things you enjoy! At least then you know what you can and can't do..
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