Two of the first ten results from a google search on 'death' are websites that feature versions of 'The Death Clock,' an online programme designed to predict the date of one's death: http://www.deathclock.com/ and http://www.findyourfate.com/deathmeter/deathmtr.html.
Personally I find it surprising, if not shocking, that there are (apparently popular) websites dedicated to such a thing. The very idea of using an internet website to predict one's death seems very strange to me. The first website (http://www.deathclock.com/) asks for no more information than birthdate, sex, 'mode' ('normal,' 'pessimistic,' 'sadistic' or 'optimistic'), BMI and smoking status. Quite how one's death can be predicted based on such little information I don't know. The second website (http://www.findyourfate.com/deathmeter/deathmtr.html) is far more detailed, asking a total of twenty-seven questions on six different topics (personal, lifestyle, health, diet, environment and family), yet I still find it very hard to come to terms with the idea of asking a website - an inanimate object - when I am going to die.
No doubt part of the reason for this is the design of the websites. Their predominantly red/black colour scheme, and the images and soundbites they contain ('find your fate' and 'the internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away...') are clearly attempts to achieve a morbid and fatalistic atmosphere. Had the websites been laid out differently and named, for example, 'The Healthometer,' I would no doubt have felt differently about them.
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2 comments:
It does make you wonder what makes these websites so popular. Also we need to question whether some people take it seriously. I remeber using the death clock and your blog has made me question my reasons for using the site so casually. Are we reducing the idea of death to a joke? And if we are is it because of our insecurity about the subject matter?
I have never googled death but couldnt resist following the links. Having found my etd of 2022 to 2025 I think it encourages me to get on with things. I would guess that this is more of a joke for younger people as they have fewer intimations of mortality.
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