Do you want to know your death date?

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According to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger,death has two defining characteristics. Mv%"aFC  
First, it can't be outsourced - nobody can die your death for you. The second raises more umJ!j&(  
questions. Heidegger says death can happen at any point, so it's randon. But with advances in +J;T= p  
genetics, knowing the date of our decease is becoming a real possibility. And is that good? *rH#k?  
  Imagine going about your business with your expiry date stamped invisibly on the back of your Wm#F~
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hand. You'd probably be spooked by this constant reminder of your mortality. You'd find it HCIS4}lQ  
impossible to live. You'd pass your days in envy of those your age who are destined to live longer. @;1Ym\zc  
  Alternatively, you could treat the date-stamp as an end date from which to work back. It would 5S/YVRXq  
make retirement planning and the gubbins of wills and probate smoother. It would allow you to %Ix   
take an active part in organising your own funeral. You could even plan your diet: death tomorrow  1Ht&;V  
means an awful lot of jam today. And your loved ones would have the benefit of a steady coming-to- 2}<_l 2  
terms with your passing away. T-)lnrs^  
  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 *^=zQ~  
cars, so pensioners as dit as a fiddle can still fall down the stairs. So what's the lesson? Imagine *k^'xL  
you're programmed to die tomorrow, and live today as if it were your last. 2zN"*Wkn  
Robert Rowland Smith ,2MLYW,