# Would you prefer to find out the cause or the date of your death?



## OP (Oct 22, 2016)

JR CreativeGenius said:


> I guess it is paradox. The statement that you are referring to, "You can't change either the cause or the date no matter what," illogically contradicts the other statement that O.P made, "Would you prefer to find out the cause or the date of your death?"
> 
> Both statements are logical by themselves, but together they create an illogical conclusion.
> 
> ...


Your answers are definitely the most thoughtful ones in this thread so far 

The statements don't contradict each other in this case – the question assumes that both the cause and date are fixed variables (Edit: this isn't a science experiment lol). I've seen variations of this questions on other websites before, and the askers didn't bother to close any loopholes, so people naturally gave answers such as _"if the cause is a car crash, I can just not get in a car ever again"_ and "_if I find out the date, I'd commit suicide to prove it wrong"_. I made an effort to close these loopholes by clarifying that at the beginning.



JR CreativeGenius said:


> with this question, I am given three options: two of which are being immortal until I die versus not being immortal.


Actually, none of the options will make you immortal. The question relies heavily on Murphy's Law: if something can go wrong, it will. In the polar bear example, that polar bear _is_ going to find a way into your underground bunker in the middle of New Mexico on your 20th birthday. (Edit: Or you'll somehow be kidnapped and taken to the North Pole, and you can't escape.) You're still doomed.

I'll put it this way: you can choose to find out the cause (mauled by a polar bear) but not the date; the date (February 21st, 2020) but not the cause; or neither – the outcome will be the same.








Source: Baby Polar Bear - Demotivational Poster | FakePosters.com










JR CreativeGenius said:


> mauled by a polar bear in my scenic trip to Antartica that I went on for my 20th birthday.



FYI, there are no polar bears in Antarctica at the moment... but that could change in the future.


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## JR CreativeGenius (Dec 2, 2015)

Bismuth said:


> Your answers are definitely the most thoughtful ones in this thread so far
> 
> I'm glad that you appreciate my thought
> 
> ...


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## OP (Oct 22, 2016)

JR CreativeGenius said:


> There are actually multiple paradoxes that exist in this question. Here is the first one.
> 
> *The Self-Centered Paradox Which Fails To Recognize That The Minds Of Other People Are Changed. *
> 
> ...


Two words: accidents happen.

To use a more common example, people who drive for a living have more qualifications than those who only drive to work and back, but these professional drivers still get into car accidents. They could be caused by something as simple as not getting enough sleep. Sure, sleep is in their control, but they wouldn't sleep later than usual one night and wake up expecting an accident.



JR CreativeGenius said:


> Here is a strong paradox.*The Paradox Of The Utter Lie. *
> 
> Here is the only paradox that really matters. Your question specifically asks whether or not I would like to know the date or cause of my death. It does not ask whether I would like to change the cause of my death. Let's take the parachute example. Originally, it is my birthday, February 21st, 2020, and I am going skydiving to celebrate. Unfortunately the parachute malfunctions and I live an exhilarating last few seconds as I crash into the earth and die instantly. I die a completely painless death. Here is my original death. Now, when I find out about the parachuting death, of course I don't go parachuting, but let's say that exactly on my birthday, somebody has lost control of their "free will" and they are parachuting in a place where they normally would not be. This place happens to be directly over the submarine which I am currently celebrating my birthday on since I didn't go parachuting. Also, the submarine is miles below the waters of the Bermuda Triangle. Anyway, the person who is parachuting is forced to not pull the rip cord and they instead crash into the water and sink down to the submarine. Of course, somehow they end up sinking right into the turbine of the submarine which cause the engines to fail, and thus the machine plummets to the ocean floor. Water begins to flood the compartments after the crash, and I am impaled in all my limbs by super hot shrapnel from an exploded boiler. As I collapse to the ground in agony, a giant squid enters through the gaping hole of the submarine and it strangles me in a slow bone-crushing death. All of this has been caused by the parachuter.
> 
> ...


It's my fault that I forgot to state in the question that you'll get a vague idea of the cause (e.g. skydiving) but not the exact details (e.g. you were celebrating something and your parachute malfunctioned). Therefore, you're not being lied to. Does that change anything?



JR CreativeGenius said:


> I like your creativity with the kidnapping idea.  I didn't think of that. Anyway, I meant temporarily immortal, so if you found that your death would occur on February 21st 2020 wouldn't you be immortal until that date. Wasn't it stated that I cannot change the outcome so therefore I could Base Jump off of Mt. Everest with no parachute and I would have to survive because I wasn't meant to die that day. Or if a nuke is dropped on my house would I survive? What about if I go to space, cut the tether that attaches me to the shuttle, and open my suit. Would I float around in space for years until my death? I don't understand how this work. It sounds like temporary immortality to me. Even if I asked to know the cause, and I found out that I would die from drowning, I could run into battle and get shredded by hundreds of bullets, but I would still survive.


Actually, these scenarios are all possible in real life. Many people have survived in situations where they were expected to die, such as shark attacks, diseases with a 1% survival rate, the Titanic, murder attempts, or even live burial. Why do these people survive when most people don't? No one knows for sure. My point is that almost anything is possible.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

since i already know the cause of my future death
a date would be nice


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## dawnriddler (Sep 14, 2016)

outofplace said:


> I voted for the date. That way, I could start working on my "bucket" list.roud:


You shouldn't need to be dying to have a bucket list. Just use every moment of your life the way you want to and there will be no need for any bucket lists.

As for the question:
I would rather know the cause, because date would be irrelevant. Knowing when you will die but not from what is kinda pointless. If you know the cause, you can be prepared for it and make peace with it.


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## Zoquaro (Oct 23, 2016)

dawnriddler said:


> You shouldn't need to be dying to have a bucket list. Just use every moment of your life the way you want to and there will be no need for any bucket lists.
> 
> As for the question:
> I would rather know the cause, because date would be irrelevant. Knowing when you will die but not from what is kinda pointless. If you know the cause, you can be prepared for it and make peace with it.


I suppose this was what the poll was trying to get at: different reasoning between the Types for the decisions they make. Like for me, I'd hate to know the cause of my death, because rather than being able to overcome it, I'd just get really paranoid 

I reasoned that the date of my death would at least remind me of my mortality, and thus help spur me on to live each day to the fullest.


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## dawnriddler (Sep 14, 2016)

Zoquaro said:


> I suppose this was what the poll was trying to get at: different reasoning between the Types for the decisions they make. Like for me, I'd hate to know the cause of my death, because rather than being able to overcome it, I'd just get really paranoid
> 
> I reasoned that the date of my death would at least remind me of my mortality, and thus help spur me on to live each day to the fullest.


I know i am just pointing out my opinion


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## Zoquaro (Oct 23, 2016)

dawnriddler said:


> I know i am just pointing out my opinion


Yup, just building on what ya' said. Just wanted to discuss a bit


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## dawnriddler (Sep 14, 2016)

@Zoquaro _Like for me, I'd hate to know the cause of my death, because rather than being able to overcome it, I'd just get really paranoid _
hahah okay... so how about working out the paranoia, instead of making it consume you?


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## nádej (Feb 27, 2011)

I wouldn't want to know either.

If I knew, I'd fixate on it and it would be a source of stress for me. I much prefer my blissful ignorance; when it happens, it happens.


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## Zoquaro (Oct 23, 2016)

dawnriddler said:


> @*Zoquaro* _Like for me, I'd hate to know the cause of my death, because rather than being able to overcome it, I'd just get really paranoid _
> hahah okay... so how about working out the paranoia, instead of making it consume you?


It's just sorta like...if I knew that I'd die by a disease or something I could go along with my life just fine - nothing much I can do. But what if it's something like electrocution? 0_0 Like one day I might be 'working' (cough cough) on my laptop, and then *ZAP* an electrical current short circuits my brain and fries me to death.

It feels (for me) tough to do the whole letting go thing. But I guess in its own way it's just another reminder of our mortality...ah well, maybe I'll turn to Buddhism - they're really good at the whole 'accepting death' thing ^^


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## dawnriddler (Sep 14, 2016)

Zoquaro said:


> It's just sorta like...if I knew that I'd die by a disease or something I could go along with my life just fine - nothing much I can do. But what if it's something like electrocution? 0_0 Like one day I might be 'working' (cough cough) on my laptop, and then *ZAP* an electrical current short circuits my brain and fries me to death.
> 
> It feels (for me) tough to do the whole letting go thing. But I guess in its own way it's just another reminder of our mortality...ah well, maybe I'll turn to Buddhism - they're really good at the whole 'accepting death' thing ^^


but if it's something abstract as electrocution wouldn't that mean that you don't need to focus on it. Because if it's something like that you would just drive yourself insane trying to figure out all the things that could kill you, so eventually you'll get over it and move on..


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## Sporadic Aura (Sep 13, 2009)

I don't believe in predetermined date/causes of death, that's still to be determined by my future choices.

For the sake of this, if I accept the premise that death is predetermined I'd choose the date. Cause I'd be too curious not to pick one and choosing the cause would likely just make me paranoid as hell (ei cause is choking, I have a freak out every time I have to eat something).


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## Aladdin Sane (May 10, 2016)

The date.


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## Peppermint Mocha (Jun 19, 2011)

I chose date

That way I can have as much fun, and cram in as much experiences, before I go. No regrets or "could of, would of, should of"


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## thirdmind (Nov 4, 2016)

INFP/INFJ here...I chose Cause. I don't really care _when _I die. I just want to know if I will be in pain or not. I hate pain. I would rather die in my sleep or something romantic like that.


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## Zoquaro (Oct 23, 2016)

dawnriddler said:


> but if it's something abstract as electrocution wouldn't that mean that you don't need to focus on it. Because if it's something like that you would just drive yourself insane trying to figure out all the things that could kill you, so eventually you'll get over it and move on..


Yeah, you're probably right  If I _had_ to know the cause of my death, I'd have no choice _but_ to get over it. That's how the stages of grieving go I think? The last one was 'acceptance' if I remember correctly...sounds peaceful ^^


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## dawnriddler (Sep 14, 2016)

Zoquaro said:


> Yeah, you're probably right  If I _had_ to know the cause of my death, I'd have no choice _but_ to get over it. That's how the stages of grieving go I think? The last one was 'acceptance' if I remember correctly...sounds peaceful ^^


Not entirely sure, but it could be


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## Hei (Jul 8, 2014)

If I must know, I suppose the cause. I think I would be more haunted by knowing the date. Also if the cause turns out to be cancer, for instance, you can be more diligent in spotting it because you know to look for it. You could then also assume the worst and plan accordingly.


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## OP (Oct 22, 2016)

Personally, I'd rather know the date so I could drop out of school/quit my job a few months beforehand and do whatever I want before I die.


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## coconut sharks (Apr 26, 2015)

Knowing the cause of my death would make me paranoid and avoidant.
Knowing the date would be useful. I could plan out the rest of my days, do things I want to do and say goodbye to my loved ones.


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## Shinnicakes (Nov 14, 2016)

I honestly wouldn't want to know either because I feel like my anxiety would take over and I'd be way more obsessed with avoiding the cause and the date that I wouldn't be able to live my life as fully. >.<


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## TTIOTBSAL (May 26, 2014)

Knowing one or the other would change the deal, leaving you with false information. The cause: avoidance of it or doing any other crap that may get you killed, the date: doing all the crap possible and dying earlier. 

Neither.


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## MonieJ (Nov 22, 2010)

I would rather know the date


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## Simpson17866 (Dec 3, 2014)

INTP: I would want to know the date.


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## Siri (Aug 1, 2015)

Date, so that I can plan my funeral accordingly.


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## Dante Scioli (Sep 3, 2012)

The type difference here is impressive. One of the better polls. Look at that NF-NT divide, particularly on "Neither."

If it absolutely cannot be changed, why would you want to know the date of your death? Can you not foresee how that would suck the joy out of life?

On the other hand it's an absurd question because it's also an "absolute guarantee" that you WON'T die until the appointed date, which has absurd consequences akin to invincibility.


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## Doll (Sep 6, 2012)

No. I'd never enjoy life if I knew either of these things. What's the point of knowing it if you can't change it?


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## Ratatoskr (Nov 16, 2016)

INTP here. It seems to me that doing everything you want before you die is something you should work at every day, like your health, your career, your relationships, etc. It also seems to me that funerals are not parties for the dead; they are for the living; so planning my funeral is pointless. Spouse knows I want a) to be donated or b) to get planted with a tree seed as far as actual disposal, but ultimately, it's someone else's decision.

Avoiding the cause, given the grounds of the question, or getting paranoid or depressed about it, seem like a waste of energy to me, but I'm very NT. Avoiding the date: who commits suicide to prove a date wrong? An ideology, or a social or political law, that could be proved wrong with a death, and that would be useful. A date? Who cares? - I suppose it would be fun to know the date if I knew I'd get to be transhuman, because then I could think about how transhumans could die, but I don't expect that to happen, both because I have serious doubts that it can and because I wouldn't be rich enough to 'have it done'.

I don't want to waste an opportunity to learn information, so neither is not an option.

It's not that I wouldn't find one answer stressful. I have high expectations for myself. Therefore, knowing the date would put pressure on me to succeed more, more quickly, and I might forget to do stuff like actually enjoying what I'm doing on the way to accomplishing what I feel I must. But deadlines have their uses, too, so that's not not a possibility.

In the end, it comes down to socioeconomic and spousal considerations. We're poor. Spouse isn't good at improvising in complicated legal, social, or medical situations. I am. Therefore, I wish to know the cause, so that I will know whether I am more or less likely to be fully functional until death, whether I should make preparations for low-cost care during a potential terminal period when I am still useful but not fully competent, whom I should appoint as executor of my estate and whom as my attorney-in-fact under a living will, and how much to save up to cover decline, termination, and funerary expenses.

If it's electrocution, of course, I may well have been bedridden at a hospital with stage IV cancer and then have gotten an accidental jolt from lifesaving equipment. If the person with the answer is a creep and just told me "Overdose" and not of what, that would be annoying, but I'd know it would have to be an accident since I'm highly conscious about exposure/ingestion levels, and that would mean 'plan for a quick death' _probably_, unless the OD is administered during the course of long-term illness treatment by someone not me or by me beyond my right mind. So some preparations toward terminal illness would be necessary regardless, and naturally I've done that, including saving money and going over some critical philosophical and economic points with the living-will decision-maker.

But if it's smallpox, I'll know that paying extra principal on the mortgage is pointless, because powerfully ugly social and political things would have to happen in order for me to get, let alone die of, smallpox. Or of being cooked for eating, or of being mustard-gassed. This would be useful. Increased cash flow would both financially and emotionally allow spouse and I (both pretty stereotypical first children, though I'm worse) to have more fun while we're young.

Smallpox and mustard-gas are really uncool though. I'm just saying in case the future destructor of civilization happens to be reading. Seriously, try to go for something airborne and painless, or a monster meteor. It would be such a bummer if we died of something we failed to kill, including an eradicated disease and a diseased invention.


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## Ladyenfj (Nov 19, 2016)

Neither


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

Neither. I could care less. Live for today. Consider each day a gift.


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## Miss Nightingale (Aug 10, 2013)

Cause just so that I could know if I could prevent it.


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## Stormyx (Dec 4, 2016)

XNFP here~
It's better to remain ignorant XD
I think I would go paranoid if I knew the date of my death. I'm going to get nervous every time I have a birthday, knowing how closer to death I am. I like fantasising about the future. I think I would spend most of my time going crazy at the countdown if I knew the date. 

The cause isn't so much better. I would probably go paranoid every time I go near anything that's related to the cause of my death, which would make me miss out on a lot of opportunities. I want to live in a world with bright, unexpected paths that I could take without worrying~


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## Stormyx (Dec 4, 2016)

Also, I'd like to point out that having those as uncertainties makes me think that the future is unpredictable, which would make me treasure every moment I have because my death would come at any date. Soo, yeah!

I also noticed that over half of NFs answered "neither" XD It's better to have the future fuzzy so that we can dream about different possibilities, isn't it? <3


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## Meliodas (Nov 16, 2016)

I feel like if I knew...I would smirk and think "who is idiotic enough to think the future is set?". Just give Death a raise and put him off for a few years. There is always a price, and even if you don't want to pay the initial price, you can manipulate the other party into paying something that you do want to. You don't think Death is an exception? Now I am not talking about haggling - because only scum do that shit. I just remind the other party that it is in both of our interests to compromise. But it's still _technically_ a fair deal. 

The point being, I always get what I want. That's the way life should be.


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## Mmmm (Jul 6, 2012)

I'd like an option for both. :wink: But I voted for *cause.*


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## pinwheel (Sep 17, 2016)

Neither. I don't think it's necessary to know.


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## JR CreativeGenius (Dec 2, 2015)

Bismuth said:


> Two words: accidents happen.
> 
> To use a more common example, people who drive for a living have more qualifications than those who only drive to work and back, but these professional drivers still get into car accidents. They could be caused by something as simple as not getting enough sleep. Sure, sleep is in their control, but they wouldn't sleep later than usual one night and wake up expecting an accident.
> 
> ...





I can't believe I never replied to this. Your points did not solve any of the issues and paradoxes I have mentioned. 

The issue is that the question can only be set in a determined universe. Do you agree? Certainly you must because if I the date of my death and the cause are known, then that means that they have already been determined despite not happening yet. Now that we understand that this question only exists in a determined universe (I believe we already live in a determined universe) here are the reasons that your explanations did not solve the paradoxes.


The first paradox I brought up was the paradox of the utter lie.

Here it is.

"Here is a strong paradox.The Paradox Of The Utter Lie. 

Here is the only paradox that really matters. Your question specifically asks whether or not I would like to know the date or cause of my death. It does not ask whether I would like to change the cause of my death. Let's take the parachute example. Originally, it is my birthday, February 21st, 2020, and I am going skydiving to celebrate. Unfortunately the parachute malfunctions and I live an exhilarating last few seconds as I crash into the earth and die instantly. I die a completely painless death. Here is my original death. Now, when I find out about the parachuting death, of course I don't go parachuting, but let's say that exactly on my birthday, somebody has lost control of their "free will" and they are parachuting in a place where they normally would not be. This place happens to be directly over the submarine which I am currently celebrating my birthday on since I didn't go parachuting. Also, the submarine is miles below the waters of the Bermuda Triangle. Anyway, the person who is parachuting is forced to not pull the rip cord and they instead crash into the water and sink down to the submarine. Of course, somehow they end up sinking right into the turbine of the submarine which cause the engines to fail, and thus the machine plummets to the ocean floor. Water begins to flood the compartments after the crash, and I am impaled in all my limbs by super hot shrapnel from an exploded boiler. As I collapse to the ground in agony, a giant squid enters through the gaping hole of the submarine and it strangles me in a slow bone-crushing death. All of this has been caused by the parachuter.

The question I have is, why would I want to change from an instant death to this horribly agonizing death.

The point that I am making is, I am being completely lied to about the cause of my death. The real cause is that my parachute malfunctions and I die, but instead my real fate is changed into some horrendous nightmare death. The statement is that I will know the real cause of my death. My interpretation of the question is by far the most logical and reasonable interpretation that makes for by far the most interesting discussion."




You responded to this by saying, "It's my fault that I forgot to state in the question that you'll get a vague idea of the cause (e.g. skydiving) but not the exact details (e.g. you were celebrating something and your parachute malfunctioned). Therefore, you're not being lied to. Does that change anything?"


Your response changes nothing. By the way, you did mention that I only get a vague idea of the cause, however, I don't mean that the cause that was verbally told to me is the lie. I mean that I was pre-determined to die one way, (in the example I was destined to die instantly from falling after a parachute malfunction) but then in order to trick me, my actually pre-determined way I was going to die (Remember We Both Agree This Question Can Only Exist In A Determined Universe) was changed. So, I was going to die one way, and if I hadn't asked for the cause then I would've ended up dying that way, but because I asked for the cause, the very pre-determined cause of my death was actually changed. Not only that but it was changed into something horrible and unimaginably more painful.

The paradox is that when I ask to know the PRE-DETRMINED cause of my death (painless parachute accident), the true cause I was actually asking for is changed. If I hadn't asked at all I would have died from the painless parachute accident, but because I asked I actually died from the horrifically tragic parachute accident that was horribly painful.

Do you get the paradox now.

Remember, this is a determined universe because if it wasn't then the future would not exist yet and it wouldn't be known so there would be no point in asking how I will die or when. In this determined universe it is already known. By asking, I changed the event that was actually going to take place.







After this paradox I said,

"I like your creativity with the kidnapping idea.  I didn't think of that. Anyway, I meant temporarily immortal, so if you found that your death would occur on February 21st 2020 wouldn't you be immortal until that date. Wasn't it stated that I cannot change the outcome so therefore I could Base Jump off of Mt. Everest with no parachute and I would have to survive because I wasn't meant to die that day. Or if a nuke is dropped on my house would I survive? What about if I go to space, cut the tether that attaches me to the shuttle, and open my suit. Would I float around in space for years until my death? I don't understand how this work. It sounds like temporary immortality to me. Even if I asked to know the cause, and I found out that I would die from drowning, I could run into battle and get shredded by hundreds of bullets, but I would still survive."



Personally, I didn't think it was possible to be more clear with this, and even other posters have been pointing out this flaw. I'm not even the only one.

However, your response fails to see the point.

Here's what you said,

"Actually, these scenarios are all possible in real life. Many people have survived in situations where they were expected to die, such as shark attacks, diseases with a 1% survival rate, the Titanic, murder attempts, or even live burial. Why do these people survive when most people don't? No one knows for sure. My point is that almost anything is possible."

Really. None of this is even relevant. Murder attempts, shark attacks, the Titanic, and live burial don't even hold a candle against the fury of a massive nuke exploding on your head. All of the events you mentioned have a survival rate and are scientifically very feasible for humans to survive. You actually said that people have survived diseases with a 1% survival rate! If there is a 1% survival rate then one percent of the people will survive so don't be surprised when one percent survives. 

What is more deadly, a shark attack OR a being shot in the head by 1,000,000,000 bullets, then crushed by a 10 ton wrecking ball, then disintegrated with 10 flamethrowers only to have the your ashes cast into the depths of space. Scientifically, it is not possible for the human body to survive the latter. Would you like to debate this?

The issue is that according to your question, if I know that the date of my death is in 100 years, if I shot in the head by 1,000,000,000 bullets, then crushed by a 10 ton wrecking ball, then disintegrated with 10 flamethrowers only to have the my ashes cast into the depths of space, I will still somehow survive because you said that this date is true.

Now do you get it.




To address my "The Self-Centered Paradox Which Fails To Recognize That The Minds Of Other People Are Changed," you said, 

"To use a more common example, people who drive for a living have more qualifications than those who only drive to work and back, but these professional drivers still get into car accidents. They could be caused by something as simple as not getting enough sleep. Sure, sleep is in their control, but they wouldn't sleep later than usual one night and wake up expecting an accident."

Your explanation entirely misses the point and does not address the paradox.

Here is the example I used in my paradox.

"I'm living a normal life completely unaware that I will die when in thirty years from now when I volunteer to go to Mars on a trip of no return, however, the shuttle malfunctions and due to an air leak, I die of suffocation halfway to mars. When I am then told that the cause of my death is Hypoxia--suffocation in Space, of course, I decide to never go to space, and instead I move deep into the woods, change my name, shave my head, sandpaper my fingerprints, burn my face, and practice to make my voice far more high pitched. At the time I am known by very few people, and the scientists of the NASA program who are meant to choose me to go to Mars have no idea who I am. Here is the paradox. In order to be sent to space to die of Hypoxia, the "free will" of other people will have to be tampered with by a force that is beyond human control. If I am hunted down by NASA, captured, and stuffed into the space shuttle just so I can die of Hypoxia, then the "free will" of the every single person involved in my capture has been completely violated. 

First of all, how did they get the information of where and who I am? Whoever is pursuing me must either be under mental control of some kind, or they are put up to the task by some divine power. What motive do these people have to track me down for no reason, drag me over to a space shuttle, and have millions of people watch on television as I am launched into space against my will to die. I suppose you might say that I will die from Hypoxia because another astronaut in space suffocates, propels the ship into the atmosphere upon death, and somehow the ship does not burn up and instead it lands on my head. However, this would still be tampering with "free will" for the astronaut has been killed just for the only purpose of killing me. This astronaut has been forced by some divine out of control power to align himself exactly over my head, make an error in something that he is very trained and capable of doing, and kill himself even though he was not meant to die in this way. In order for this grand plan to kill me to work, an elaborate mind control must control many people, and physics must be bent. None of this makes any sense whatsoever."



The point is that other people's lives will be changed and they may actually have do act as mindless drones to ensure that the cause of my death is true. Your response was to say that people make accidents, and that has nothing to do with what I said. My example was that there is no way I will die of hypoxia (suffocation in space) without people bringing me to space on a shuttle and leaving me. Read my example again. Why would anybody have any motive or any possible reason to search for, (and if they can't find me then how will this ever even happen) force some random guy in the woods (me) to go on a shuttle and into space just to kill me. Nobody in the world would do this. The people at NASA are being controlled like puppets just so the cause that I was told will come true. This is ridiculous.














I want to make it clear that I believe that my interpretation of the question is far more logical, plausible, paradox-free, interesting, realistic, intelligent, thought-provoking, conversation-inducing, and better in every single way.







Here was my interpretation of the question.



I am very strongly in favor of knowing the cause of my death rather than the date, and here are my reasons. Let's see if I can convince you.

1: If I know the cause of my death I could spend a bit of my life donating or helping to fix the cause.

Real life examples:

Death by disease (using most common deaths): Donate to research, begin foundation, get check ups more often, etc.

Thoughts on this: If I make quite a bit of money then I could actually make a very big impact in this, especially if the disease is rare and currently has very little research being done on it. Maybe I could work to start the next ALS ice bucket challenge which made a very large amount of money, or I could raise awareness in some other way. Whatever it may be, I know that this will pose a threat to my life and I can start preparing in advance. Maybe there are vaccinations to take. Early treatment is always more effective than late treatment. Maybe the reason I die is because I am treated too late and all I needed was to be treated sooner. Even better, if I find that it is a genetic disease that I have and was unaware of then I can consider this when having children. If I find that I will die of lung cancer and I am a smoker, well now I'll be stopping for sure. If it's an incurable disease then I have no reason to be paranoid because I am unaware of when it will happen, and it could be 100 years for all I know. Overall I can only benefit, for knowledge is best.

Death by car accident: Use a new form of transportation such as a bus or train, helicopter, limo, or plane. Drive safer. Don't drink and drive if that was the cause of death. Wear seat belt. Design very safe car, have it custom built, and drive that.


This may be the most concerning death sentence to receive just because working around it would be a very big inconvenience in life, and ignoring it would lead to paranoia because it can happen at anytime. However, I believe that this knowledge would be extremely good to know because there is so much that I can do to prevent the death. Of course, if I have a lot of money I can switch to taking a helicopter around which would be awesome. More practical solutions would be to take the bus, train or subway, which would be especially easy if I live in a city. If not then I'll have a car custom built that is bigger, has extremely advanced airbags that sacrifice ascetics for protection, has an interior that is protected by styli shish memory foam cushioning, and has larger than usual crumple zone compartments for additional safety. Not only this but I'll be driving much safer so the accident will be very unlikely to happen. Now I can be a peace knowing that my life has been significantly extended, and my children or whoever else would be in the car with me when the accident was meant to occur would be safe and alive as well. Tragedy would be bypassed, for knowledge is best.


Suicide: Solution = don't commit suicide. If I have to then I'd know to get mental help if I needed it.





Now that the most likely forms of death are out of the way, here are a bunch of others in rapid fire.


Death by plane crash: Take a boat or yacht or RV to other countries. That would make life more of an adventure. If not then switch forms of aerial transportation such as to a new airline that you have never heard of, etc. If you are a pilot then sorry but at least your life has been saved over your job. Knowledge is best.


Death by drowning: If you believe that you are a good swimmer, and you don't want to give up swimming, then realize that your drowning was most likely caused by some stupid injury such as hitting your head on the diving board or such. All you have to do is be aware and it is very unlikely you will drown. Not swimming won't kill you though. Drowning will. Knowledge is best.

Death by parachute failure. Don't go skydiving.



I'll explain the big misconception that most people have with this question, but first let's see if there are any benefits to knowing the date.


Knowing the date:

Personally, I want to be cryogenically frozen so I suppose it would be helpful to know when to have it ready by, but overall I don't really think this helps much. Most likely, I will find out that as I am born in 2000, my death will be 2078 which is the life expectancy of a male in the U.S. but you can add 5+ years because that's the expectancy now. If I am given a date such as this, I can most likely assume that I will die of some sort of disease, so all I can do is wait. At least I can make sure to say goodbye to everyone before I die, but that's the only thing this bit of knowledge helps me with.

This knowledge would be more helpful if I die due to some sort of accident or injury that I have at an unusually young age. For example, if I see that my death will come on December 31st, 2039, then I guess I'll be having a very boring New Years, but at least my life will be saved. If that is the case, then I will know that I most likely died in some kind of accident, related to New Years, so if I just prepare for that day and make the safest possible environment to live through such as staying at home and sitting in a room full of pillows, then I will likely survive, and my life will be extended.

The point is that if I see that my death is low then I will likely be able to completely prevent it because it is probably accident related.

The reason that knowing the date seems less useful in my view is because I am more likely to be given a date such as 2078, which won't help me much. If I know the cause, I can stop it and live longer. Overall, knowing either one, or both, would be very good and it would save my life.



Here is the issue in thinking that most people have had when addressing the question.
Most believe that they will be unable to change the outcome, however this is untrue.


I am being told either: The Cause Or The Date Of My Death

Think about it this way. First of all, this question can only exist in a determined universe, so to anyone who disagrees that we live in a determined universe, I want you to recognize that you put no thought into your belief that the universe is non-determined, as you had no objections to the foundation of this question. Now that this is out of the way, here is what I meant to say.

If God knows how you will die, and what will be the cause, that means that he knows how it is before he intervenes and tells you.

Example. I am living my life normally, completely unaware of my future death in the year February 21st, 2020 which is only four years only. Not only this, but I am unaware that I will death will be caused by getting mauled by a polar bear in my scenic trip to Antartica that I went on for my 20th birthday.

This is what God knows. He knows that this is exactly, as the question said Would you rather know "The Cause Or The Date Of My Death"

Knowing this, God tells me that I will die on February 21st, 2020, by being mauled by a polar bear. He has done exactly what the question asked. he told me the time and date of my death.

Now that I know the time and date of my death, when the date February 21st, 2020 approaches, I will not go to Antartica, or the zoo. Actually, I will have retreated to the middle of the arid and dry New Mexico where I will be hidden in an underground bunker miles away from any sort of animal shelter of any kind. Also, I will purchase a gun and I will hire an animal control team to guard my bunker for the entire day. 

However, besides not going to Antartica on that day, all of this would be highly unnecessary.


God informed me of what would happen before he told me what would happen. In effect, by telling me what would happen, he could only change what would happen. He acted as another constant variable that was added to the equation.

If you would like to debate this, I gladly would.



Here is an even more basic arguments to consider.

If you believe that we would be unable to change the outcome if we were given the knowledge of the outcome, then consider this.

If I was told that I would die in 100 years as you were sitting on the edge of an open aircraft door, flying at a 11,000 feet, and immediately after finding out I jumped without a parachute, would I survive? Could I stop eating and drinking? That would be ridiculous. 












Nevertheless, I love this thread and the fact that it exists. Thanks for reading.


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

Neither. The evil is sufficient until the day thereof.

EDIT: 

Post above this one: WOOF! Ain't nobody got time to read all that.


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## OP (Oct 22, 2016)

@JR CreativeGenius
That's the longest post I've read in a while. I mean, that's some serious dedication right there. I'll try my best to address most of this stuff, but I can't guarantee that my response is going to be as interesting as yours. I'll type it up when I have time later.


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