Monday, July 7, 2008

To know or not to know?

Discussion topic with colleagues during lunch time having Tim Sum today:
Is it better to know when you are going to die or is it better not to know?
Both of them said "Not knowing better! So scary to know!" I wonder why? Everybody has to die anyway, so isn't it better to know how much time you have left so that you can finish whatever you really want to do before you die? But apparently, knowing when one is going to die is the ultimate torture that anyone can ever endure. Especially when the time left is really too short to do anything. I was watching this Japanese drama The Negotiator and it had an episode on a case where a psychotic criminal had set a bomb in a cafe. The bomb worked on a tremor sensor so that any strong movement will trigger the explosion. A bomb expert arrived on site to try to disconnect the bomb, but he accidentally triggered a timer to the bomb instead and it started countdown at 9 seconds. In the end, the bomb was fake but it had caused great distress to the bomb expert. He said he could not have done anything in that 9 seconds and would rather the bomb explode without counting down. In that 9 seconds, he had experienced the worst fear he could ever have experienced and he was totally traumatised. The female negotiator who was the main character in the drama said that the criminal had done it on purpose because it was in that 9 seconds where the criminal had gotten the most pleasure from the crime. So there you are, killing a man spontaneously is not as cruel as telling a man when he is going to be killed. Does it make sense? So the doctor who diagnose you having some fatal illnesses and telling you that you have only so much time left is actually quite cruel too, isn't he?
The reason I brought up the subject was because I just heard that my mum's best friend's husband has just been diagnosed of a brain tumor and has been given 2 years maximum. I feel sorry for this auntie, but apparently she is taking it very well. She has planned to travel the world with her husband and makes the best out of these 2 years as much as they can afford it. He is 60 and he is also taking it very well. So they sort of got me thinking whether it is better to know or not to know. I think I would want to know...what do you think?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

When I was younger, I had always wanted to go to a fortune teller who'll be able to tell me about who I'll end up with, whether I'll earn a comfortable living and when I'll die.

But that changed as time goes by. Right now, I subscribed to Forrest Gump's 'life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get' mentality. It's more exciting this way isn't it?

I would have never imagine living in working in London 18 months back but here I am. Oh well, I'm still thinking what is the flavor of that next piece of chocolate... hmm...

waitingkitty said...

Hey CK,
Life is so full of surprises, isn't it? But not all surprises are pleasant...and I thought that I should be ready for anything bad that is going to happen.
Talking about fortune-teller, have any of your fortune-telling came true to you? I have! I was at this fortune-teller back in Singapore many years ago. I was separated from my ex-husband and had wanted to know if the then boyfriend I was with was going to be the one. However, she told me that she could see that I have a young man in my life! The boyfriend I was with was definitely not young, so I thought the young man meant my son until I met my present husband. He is 9 years younger than me. Amazing, isn't it?

Unknown said...

Really glad for you! I've met one before who told me (when I was 19yrs old) that I will excel in the education field and then in finance sector.

I became a teacher in Singapore and then come over to London and found a finance job. Amazing isn't it?

Haha, he then told me that I'll came upon a fortune when I'm 38! Actually, I don't care very much for that as long as my family and those whom I care for are safe and sound. Silly, isn't it? :)