Would really want to know???

[rodi]

OP: This topic has been discussed here before, I don't think it makes many uncomfortable. I'd definitely want to know. I could get DW better prepared and make the most of my time left, accelerate the bucket list (I do have one). Not knowing makes planning WAY more difficult!

I agree. I have a bucket list I'd accelerate.

My brother died rather quickly at a youngish age (48). I saw him full of regrets of not having time or health to do the things he wanted to do. He went from full health to death in less than 6 months - with a rapid decline in his health... He wasn't healthy enough to deal with his bucket list. This shapes my thinking about wanting to know.

I know folks who say live every day like it's your last - but that's not pragmatic.

 

[Willers]

I do not want to know my departure date, and I hope it comes suddenly, without warning, so that my final minute is as joyful as life is today.

+3 (or so)
I am not at all analytical on this subject. My only hope is that I go before DW (not that I'd want to know that either).

 

[Live And Learn]

I want to know so that I can do the ultimate retirement plan but as soon as its done I'd like to immediately forget, except for a nagging 'I KNOW I can retire TODAY .... I can't remember why, but I KNOW it !"

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I want to know. No blindfold, thank you.

I want to see the G** d*** bullet. Maybe I can catch it in my teeth.

Maybe it is genetic. Every soul in my family (and DW's as well) puts up a fight. Obdurate Dutchmen and cantankerous pioneer farmers. Think: a family of Harry S. Trumans.

We are prepared now. Anything different will be an improvement.

 

[NW-Bound]

I agree. I have a bucket list I'd accelerate.

My brother died rather quickly at a youngish age (48). I saw him full of regrets of not having time or health to do the things he wanted to do. He went from full health to death in less than 6 months - with a rapid decline in his health... He wasn't healthy enough to deal with his bucket list. This shapes my thinking about wanting to know...

But your brother did know. He had 6 months, while people dying in a stroke, heart attack, or an accident do not what's coming. Many people have the same fate as your brother. I would not know what to do, or how I would react if faced with the same prognosis.

 

[Buckeye]

I do not think I want to know the exact date. For one thing, knowing the exact date in advance would be to basically say that there is nothing one can do to change it. I would find that very depressing and demotivating.

Knowing the exact date would not be depressing or demotivating for me. The fact I will die is a given (and that can be a little depressing). Knowing the exact date doesn't make the inevitable more or less likely to happen. It IS going to happen!

 

[kaudrey]

I look at it a little differently from the emotional side. Since it is a hypothetical question, I start to think about the hypothetical affects.

If everyone knew when they would die, our thoughts/feelings about death as a society (and individually) would be really different. People would plan their entire lives around how much time they have - maybe a 25 year-old who was going to die at 30 wouldn't ever get married or have kids. Someone who knew he was dying at 20 wouldn't bother with college or trying to get a job, someone who was going to live to 95 might choose not to marry someone who is dying at 35, etc...I think our thoughts about death would be very different than they are today. No shock, no unexpected deaths to grieve over, etc.

I like the idea of knowing, from the "bucket list" angle as well as planning, so maybe I am overthinking the rest....but since it is that type of question, I guess I am allowed.

 

[gozer]

If we were born with an "expires on date" stamped on our butts, my only complaint would be it's hard to read in the mirror.