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I will be run over by a green bus on Elm Street
By Franklyn Gallup of Woodfloorist.com
Technology today can tell expectant parents the sex of a baby before it is born. Ultrasound is very amazing. Often the doctor will ask the parents if they want to know or if they want to be surprised when the child is born. Parents who want to know often take that knowledge and purchase clothing, paint the walls of the baby's room and other things related to the child's gender. With the increasingly fast pace of advances in technology the question I wish to explore with you is this:
If technology at sometime in the future will be able to tell you When, How, and Where your life will end with absolute certainty, would you want to know?
If you did know would you make adjustments in you life accordingly. The variables in this information would be infinite from very specific to very broad. Take the statement in the title of this Intel.
Suppose the technology could tell you When this would happen. Would you want to know just the year, or the year and month, or the year month and day, or would you want it down to the very second and what would you do with that information? If you knew what day it was you could stay home that day, for example. If you knew it was a green bus you would be on the lookout for green buses. Of course, the question that Ebenezer Scrooge asked the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would also factor in.
Before I draw nearer to that stone, tell me! Are these the shadows of things that must be, or are they the shadows of things that MIGHT be?
Would the information provided by the technology be written in stone or would it be able to be changed by changing lifestyle and other factors? Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, "A Christmas Carol" explores this concept of knowing what the future holds for one's life and that the results are consequences to one's actions in life. Ebenezer obviously made some drastic changes in his life as a result of this knowledge. The basic differences between Dickens and my premise is that Ebenezer receives the information in a dream and I am suggesting it would be available by technology perhaps related to time travel. My Intel also gives the option of choosing not to know where Ebenezer didn't really have that option. With the life expectancy being currently at less than 120 years the question doesn't become if your life will come to an end at some point but when where and how. So if you could know would you want to know? I believe if humans were immortal most religions would actually be unnecessary. Let me know your thoughts on this subject.
I Teach Wood Floors
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Paycheck (film)
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 |  | Michael Jefferson agreed with this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | Samantha Decker liked this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | noline appreciated this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | R Foreman liked this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | Charles Chua C K liked this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | Heather liked this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | tozcal2008 liked this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | Ron Kule, Author applauded this intel. Sep 2, 2011 |  | | Allen Wesley Williams liked this intel. Sep 4, 2011 |  | | ontravel appreciated this intel. Sep 13, 2011 |  | | tink-r liked this intel. Oct 23, 2011 |  | | Vegetable Oil liked this intel. May 3, 2012 |
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I'm surprised a smart writer like the author of this intel buys the notion of time travel - perhaps evidence that Hollywood is succeeding in dumbing down America with increasingly silly scripts with no basis in science. The only way I could predict your death is by bringing along a lethal weapon, and making sure my prediction doesn't go further than 5 minutes into the future. Not that I'd want to shoot you, since I do enjoy reading your articles.
 | | nick Sep 2, 2011 07:41 |  appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I am not saying time travel is possible or even desirable. Cell phones, ultrasound and landing on the moon had no basis on science not too long ago. This Itel is more hypothetical with the question of, "If it was possible to know when, how and where your life ended would you want to know."
Those are excellent thoughts. I for my part don't want to know the future. The proud old age of 120 years doesn't appeal to me either. I think it is much more important that we may have a say against artificial prolonguation of life by doctors.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I agree with you that I would not want to know and 120 years old does not appeal to me either. My point is considering the question helps us put a higher value on the valuable gift of life we have NOW.
It's a good question and it brings up the subject of games. Games contain freedom (choices), barriers (the rules of the game) and purpose (the aim of playing the game) ... plus a quality of not-knowing. (Not-knowing is a type of barrier.)
Living is a game. Knowing the end exactly violates that aspect, so I would rather not-know. A no-game situation would be boring; sitting on a mountaintop knowing All would be boring.
Knowing as I do, that we are Immortals, however, means that we need not fear death, for it is temporary - another lifetime will come along. We get to play the game all over again. We have played the game many times, balancing the qualities of know and not-know. Like Miyagi said in "The Karate Kid, "There is a balance to all living ... wax on, wax off!"
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I agree. Knowing the end of the game is a like doing a crossword puzzle while looking at the solution and just filling in the blanks. What would be the point? I am a big fan of Miyagi. I remember the first time I saw the first movie on the big screen and when he said, "Sand the floor"!! My kind of teaching. I knew when I wrote this Intel it was a little risky subject to get into but one which I feel is worth pondering over.
No, I wouldn't want to know. It would be like having a death sentence hanging over me.
 | | odls Sep 5, 2011 05:30 | appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Interesting comment. There IS a death sentence hanging over each one of us. I am not sure how knowing or not knowing when, where or how changes that unless ..... Maybe denial is the answer!
I wouldn't want to know. As tempting as it might be to find out: 1. There are so many variables in this world that I think a higher power would heap a dose of irony on us and we would never die in the manner that was "predicted." 2. We should be living each and every day as though we might be gone tomorrow. Plan for being here forever - live like you might die today. So I don't think "knowing" when you might die would improve us at all.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks for adding your ideas for consideration
Good Intel go Dickens!Or should we look at other possibilities outside the box.
This is kinda like having a set appointment: you know what time, what place, how you're getting there, what it's for, maybe even when you'll get done.
Does that make me change what I do before? Maybe, maybe not.
Does that make me want to do more before I go? Perhaps.
If this earthly life was too unbearable for me, would I chose my time, place, and space to leave it at my will? I don't know. Maybe I would prefer that, to not having that option. I originally wrote "control" but changed it to "option" - interesting.
 | | tink-r Oct 23, 2011 04:06 | appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
You have asked some of the questions this Intel was designed to cause readers to pause and consider.
Interesting comments on this intel. It is a thought provoking subject isn't it? I would like to know the week that I die.My life is a balance of planning, working,saving etc. for the future and living each day as if it might be my last. If I knew for sure when I was leaving this world then I would know when to drop everything and take a roadtrip cross country and visit my family. (maybe a year)I would not want to know the day or hour because in my mind the anticipation would be pretty consuming.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
I found the comments very interesting.
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