Do you want to know your death date?

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According to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger,death has two defining characteristics. <(#xOe  
First, it can't be outsourced - nobody can die your death for you. The second raises more J/]o WC`u  
questions. Heidegger says death can happen at any point, so it's randon. But with advances in 9 N*S-Po=  
genetics, knowing the date of our decease is becoming a real possibility. And is that good? EG(`E9DZ  
  Imagine going about your business with your expiry date stamped invisibly on the back of your EvSnZB1 y  
hand. You'd probably be spooked by this constant reminder of your mortality. You'd find it \sHy.{  
impossible to live. You'd pass your days in envy of those your age who are destined to live longer. BYr_Lz|T  
  Alternatively, you could treat the date-stamp as an end date from which to work back. It would Y
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make retirement planning and the gubbins of wills and probate smoother. It would allow you to '.%iPMM  
take an active part in organising your own funeral. You could even plan your diet: death tomorrow Z/
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means an awful lot of jam today. And your loved ones would have the benefit of a steady coming-to- _>jrlIfc  
terms with your passing away. 5I)~4.U|,m  
  But Heidegger's point is, even if geneticists, extrapolating from your current condition(s), gave A"\P&kqMV  
you a reliable date of death, they'd fail to account for chance. Just as teenagers can crash their =q"w2b&  
cars, so pensioners as dit as a fiddle can still fall down the stairs. So what's the lesson? Imagine j1;_w  
you're programmed to die tomorrow, and live today as if it were your last. ')P2O\YS  
Robert Rowland Smith {m_A1D/_