Do you want to know your death date?

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According to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger,death has two defining characteristics. a+LK~mC*  
First, it can't be outsourced - nobody can die your death for you. The second raises more BT[|f[ 1  
questions. Heidegger says death can happen at any point, so it's randon. But with advances in 'hr_g* i  
genetics, knowing the date of our decease is becoming a real possibility. And is that good? G$Mf(S'f  
  Imagine going about your business with your expiry date stamped invisibly on the back of your m@+v6&,  
hand. You'd probably be spooked by this constant reminder of your mortality. You'd find it !8U
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impossible to live. You'd pass your days in envy of those your age who are destined to live longer. tdRvg7v,N%  
  Alternatively, you could treat the date-stamp as an end date from which to work back. It would FA-cTF[,(  
make retirement planning and the gubbins of wills and probate smoother. It would allow you to QYo04`Rl  
take an active part in organising your own funeral. You could even plan your diet: death tomorrow F*U(Wl=  
means an awful lot of jam today. And your loved ones would have the benefit of a steady coming-to- ^O7sQ7V"f=  
terms with your passing away. kfas4mkc  
  But Heidegger's point is, even if geneticists, extrapolating from your current condition(s), gave
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you a reliable date of death, they'd fail to account for chance. Just as teenagers can crash their Nut&g"u2  
cars, so pensioners as dit as a fiddle can still fall down the stairs. So what's the lesson? Imagine aWTurnee^  
you're programmed to die tomorrow, and live today as if it were your last. B`eK_'7t  
Robert Rowland Smith Q(w;