Thanks, dude. And sorry for writing the wrong name at the top of my post.
A-types, let’s reframe the question. There actually is a class of people who know the exact date and time of their death. I’m referring to death row prisoners who have exhausted all channels of appeal. Do you envy them?
I’d rather die suddenly. My mom died long and slow and painfully, and I’d really rather not.
Regarding the death row guys, I don’t envy the fact that they’re locked up, but the “death” part wouldn’t bother me.
The way I look at it… we’re ALREADY in a similar situation to the death row guys. I KNOW I’m going to die… I just don’t know when or how.
I still remember the exact moment I really GOT this fact… I was 12 at the time, and it suddenly occurred to me that, no matter what I did, I WAS going to die, most likely in the 2040’s, barring violence and accidents.
Ever since then, I’ve had zero fear of death. I still hate pain, and worry about being maimed or crippled, but I accept death.
I’m often glad of it… no matter how screwed-up my life might get, I know that I only have to put up with about another 4 decades of it.
So, you see, I ALREADY take some comfort in my rough knowledge of my own death, and I think a more specific knowledge would be an improvement, assuming I don’t have to put up with a lot of needless suffering to obtain the knowledge (i.e., lingering diseases, etc.).
Ordinarily, I’ll take option B. The problem with Option A is one of suffering and timeframe.
Five years, for instance, is far too much foreknowledge. I’d be burdened with the choice between letting friends and family know now, or hiding it from them.
A day or two is too little. Not enough time to really close up shop properly, so to speak, and it’d result in a lot of scrambling.
If death would give two weeks’ notice, though, that’d be awfully professional of it.
I used to say I wanted to see it coming, but now I don’t know.
My father is 93, lives in a nursing home and is 100% confined to bed. He is in the midst of congestive heart failure and is dying an inch at a time. He has a truly miserable life and has asked me several times to smuggle him a pistol.
My mother died of a heart attack at the age of 85. Very sudden and very fast. I guess I would prefer her way instead of my father’s.
What if there were no pain or suffering involved in choice A?
Like, what if your doctor could tell you, “Look, your heart is going to give out in five years on the date ______ . There’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop it, but you won’t suffer at all. You’ll just die in your sleep that night. In the meantime, you can continue to do all the things you’ve been doing–or even take up some new activities. It won’t make a bit of difference.”
What then?
I’d still find it morbid. I don’t want to know when death will find me. I want it to be a total surprise.