Let’s say that astronomers discover a huge, planet-cracking asteroid heading toward Earth. Repeated and rigorous observations from multiple sources at various governments confirm that it’s definitely headed our way. There’s no question that it’s going to smash into us, and no conceivable technological way of diverting or destroying it; it’s too damn big. Its impact will be worse than that of celestial object purported to have killed off the dinosaurs. It’s six months away.
Do you want to know?
Before you vote, please bear in mind that the question is not “Should the government keep this a secret?” or "Could the government keep this secret. It is whether you, personally, would want to be blissfully ignorant until Der Tag.
First thought: Hell yeah. I got 6 months of “Live like Charlie Sheen” to get through.
Second thought: Hell yeah. I have two kids to hold and hug and cry like a baby with for 6 months.
You know, I think I’d rather not know. I could give my son a happy hug and kiss good night, knock boots with the wife, then just not have any of us around at all the next morning. I don’t particularly think that 6 months worth of sadness, continually thinking about how he won’t get a chance to grow up and have a family of his own, and how I’m going to die in 37 days, 36 days, 35 days, is going to make things any better.
Maybe, if I were single, didn’t have a family to be sad about, and was the only person around who knew*… I could at least go out in a blaze of glory.
*If everyone knew, forget it, most of us would starve to death while everyone quits their job to “go out in a blaze of glory”. Most likely I’d go out fighting someone over a can of creamed corn.
Yes, please. It’d be nice to spend my time doing the things in life I really wanted to do, rather than dieting, exercising, and saving for the future. Plus, I’d want to have an accessible, painless suicide method ready if I lived past the actual impact – I’d just as soon not starve to death in a nightmarish post-apocalyptic world.
Definitely I’d want to know. Even if every trace of humanity is completely wiped away such that any future life or any future visitors would never know we were here, there are definitely things I want to get done before I die. Right now, many of them are on a long-term sort of plan, where I may get them done in 30 years but certainly won’t get them done in 6 months. And of those things, that vast majority of them revolve around spiritual, emotional, and mental things, not going out and partying or looting.
That is, I’d have no problem with continuing to work to maintain society, though a lot of my current work would be pointless if the world ends in 6 months so I may have to find something else to do. However, knowing the world ends in 6 months means I’d stop putting off those other things and I’d spend much more of my free time reflecting, meditating, and bringing my relationships with loved ones, not to a close, just to a balance.
Are you going to tell just me, or are you telling everyone? If it’s just me, my answer is yes. If you’re going to tell everyone then my answer is no. That is, I don’t want the whole world to know this is coming, but if only a select few people know I want to be one of them.
I would absolutely want to know. So much love to express, so much beauty to appreciate, so much dark chocolate and single malt whisky to consume … so much stress that comes from trying to live a graceful life amid the crush of others’ expectations that I could avoid in favor of savoring every living minute.
I would probably want to know, but only if I’m one of the few that knows. If it becomes public knowledge all hell would break loose, and we’d be better of not knowing at all (at least 6 more months of normal living, right?). If only a few people know, I’d get started on my bucket list and maybe get an extra mortgage or two.
How exactly are you persuading these hookers to take your money, given that a fricking asteroid is hurtling towards Earth and Captain Marvel is nowhere to be found? And you won’t be in the fucking mood anyway, I deem.
I guess it depends on whether you’ll be telling anyone else. It’s hard to see how I’d get anything enjoyable done when the mass panic sets in and society crumbles.
Well other people would HAVE to know. Otherwise who would be telling you? Plus, it says in the OP that governments and a bunch of other ppl who’ve studied it know.
Yes, I wanna know. Need answer fast?
I don’t think I’d want to know. If my skin is going to be flayed from my bones by the shockwave of superheated steam as the asteroid hits, I’d rather just be one of the ones that looks up and says, “what’s tha–”, rather than worrying about it.
Mind you, if knowing is tied to working on a viable rescue plan, that’s different. But powerless knowing? Nope.