If you can't stand this heretical, ungodly, religion-bashing blog, I've got some good news for you. The Death Clock app says I'm going to die in December 2039. (I don't expect to be writing blog posts after I die, unless an atheist miracle happens.)
The bad news is that this is about 14 1/2 years from now. So you're going to have to put up with many more blog posts that you dislike.
The Death Clock app calls their when-you're-going-to-die prediction "Save the Date." Church of the Churchless haters might want to start making plans for a Yay He's Finally Gone party, though I doubt restaurants accept reservations over 14 years in advance.
Yesterday I wrote about my experience with the Death Watch app in a post on my HinesSight blog.
Thanks to a story in the Washington Post, "How many years do I have left? An app gave me helpful insights," today I learned how long I have to live -- based on the answers I gave to 29 questions. The story gave some examples of the questions.
Although the specific date of death is obviously not intended to be accurate — the app’s disclaimer says it’s “for fun only” — it does tie your personal habits to your likelihood of living into old age and tells you what lifestyle changes might buy you more time. Thus Death Clock AI’s motto: “Know your date. Change your fate.”
After responding to 29 questions — including how much of the day I spend sitting, whether I get at least seven hours of sleep a night and whether I get all my recommended cancer screenings — I had my answer. A darkly humorous “Save the Date” card suggested I plan my end-of-life celebration for April 17, 2042, but I also learned the most likely ways I would die: sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease or cancer, in that order. Of course, cancer and heart disease are the two big killers in the United States. But I was surprised by how harmful sleep issues are.
As I said in the post, I decided to cancel my three-day free trial of Death Clock after getting my Save the Date results because the difference in longevity between my current habits and better habits was small, only about six months.
That's what happens when a slim, fit, vegetarian, non-drinker, non-smoker, frequent exerciser who gets regular medical screening and eats healthy with few sweets answers the 29 questions. However, I noted in the post:
The estimate is that 84% of my life is complete. Guess I need to make the most of the remaining 16%, though given the uncertainty of life and death, it could be that actually my life is 99.99% complete and I'll have a sudden heart attack before I finish this blog post. (Got to type faster...)
For most of my adult life I've been afraid of death, which includes talking about my death. So I consider it to be progress that I enjoyed my experience with the Death Clock app -- though I admit that I would have been less positive about it if I'd gotten a prediction that I'd die in two years rather than fourteen years.
Growing old seems to bring with it a natural lessening of fear about death, which I've expressed as a primal fear of non-existence. Obviously all I've ever known is existing. Non-existence is difficult to fathom, since nobody has ever known what it is like to not exist, and nobody ever will know this, because knowing requires existence.
The dream for us old folks, or at least this old folk, is to gradually accumulate enough annoying aches, pains, and other medical problems that ends up with a feeling, "I'm looking forward to the release of death." Then, ideally, death soon follows -- not too soon and not too late.
Unfortunately, this dream often is a fantasy. Many people die quite a while before they are ready to take their last breath, while many other people die quite a while after they've come to feel that life is no longer worth living. The sweet spot of dying at just the right time is, sadly, often not what happens to us.
I enjoyed what the Death Clock predicted for me because as I said yesterday in my post about the app, "Ninety-one seems like a pretty good age for me to die. Pleasingly older than I am now (I'm 76) yet not excessively old, which 100 seems to be."
I also appreciated the opportunity offered by Death Clock to face my inevitable demise head-on. Like I said, for most of my life I've avoided talking about death because I enjoy life and don't like the prospect of not living.
Sure, intellectually I understand that death is inevitable. It comes to every person, as well as to every living thing. Emotionally, though, it's difficult to envision everything that we care about -- relatives, friends, nature, the universe -- no longer existing for us, since we lack the consciousness of existence.
It's no wonder that religions promising life after death in some heavenly realm are so popular. The fear of death is a powerful motivation to embrace a faith that promises our last breath marks the beginning of a glorious new life with God.
Or, a not-so-glorious new life here on Earth, for those who believe in reincarnation. Either way, religions view the date of one's death as marking the opening chapter in a fresh story about life, rather than a page saying The End.
I deeply doubt that optimistic story is true. There's a slight possibility that it is, but until I experience life after death I'm sticking with the Death Clock and its prediction that one day each of us will be no more... almost certainly forever.
Wow.
Heh, no, I've not myself checked out the app, but I'm pretty sure it's just a fun thing. No doubt you've used in that spirit.
But in any case, here's wishing you a long and healthy life. And lots and lots more of your wonderful blog posts!
(No, really. That is, some of your blog posts are general throwaway posts. While others are wonderfully informative, and/or thought-provoking, and/or deeply insightful. But the sum of it all is much greater than the individual bits of it. The whole of it adds up to a great tool for a sane, rational exploration of the general theme of spirituality. It's a great service, this labor of love of yours, a great seva if you will.)
Posted by: Appreciative Reader | June 10, 2025 at 08:07 PM
Well, shit. I took a similar test and it says that I still have 28 years left! Don't get me wrong, I don't want to die tomorrow, but that just seems like a long time. LOL
I am glad that, according to Save the Date, you will be around for much of that time. :-)
Posted by: John | June 12, 2025 at 07:33 AM