Do you want to know your death date?

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According to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger,death has two defining characteristics. k+*DPo@)
 
First, it can't be outsourced - nobody can die your death for you. The second raises more x9fNIuAQ  
questions. Heidegger says death can happen at any point, so it's randon. But with advances in /SLAg&  
genetics, knowing the date of our decease is becoming a real possibility. And is that good? *Q=3 v  
  Imagine going about your business with your expiry date stamped invisibly on the back of your r >%reS  
hand. You'd probably be spooked by this constant reminder of your mortality. You'd find it HS1Gy/6'  
impossible to live. You'd pass your days in envy of those your age who are destined to live longer. }1EfyR  
  Alternatively, you could treat the date-stamp as an end date from which to work back. It would :\ %.x3T'  
make retirement planning and the gubbins of wills and probate smoother. It would allow you to A0L&p(i  
take an active part in organising your own funeral. You could even plan your diet: death tomorrow ?QzA;8H  
means an awful lot of jam today. And your loved ones would have the benefit of a steady coming-to- IfyyA  
terms with your passing away. K \?b6;ea  
  But Heidegger's point is, even if geneticists, extrapolating from your current condition(s), gave YyI4T/0s_  
you a reliable date of death, they'd fail to account for chance. Just as teenagers can crash their M>Yge~3  
cars, so pensioners as dit as a fiddle can still fall down the stairs. So what's the lesson? Imagine R-xWZRl>  
you're programmed to die tomorrow, and live today as if it were your last. <28L\pdG`  
Robert Rowland Smith [8Zq 1tU;G