I mentioned earlier that I would like to focus on silly food related patents. However, I found this patent so silly that I have to blog about it - the "Life Expectancy Timepiece". US Patent #5,031,161, in simple terms, is a watch which estimates when you will die.
Personally, I think the watch may end up further reducing your remaining lifetime. It is depressing. Instead of focusing on living your life to the fullest, you get reminded of every second of life you have remaining - if it is even accurate in the first place. Moreover, there have been cases where terminally ill patients recover, at least slightly, when they live life positively. Positive thinking leads to a stronger immune system whereas negative thinking does the opposite, even culminating into depression.
Back to the invention, the inventor supports his timepiece by stating that insurance companies routinely updates the actuarial table of average lifespan based on factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and family (genetic) history. His invention thus includes the ability to program these factors and other habits and events in the user's life to predict his remaining time. Although I understand the need for insurance companies to know the average life expectancy in order to price their products appropriately, but would any single individual have a need for such knowledge? Sure, we go find fortune tellers to predict it, among other things, but I believe it is mostly to find peace and assurance.
Sources:
http://www.funnypatentsandinventions.com/great-invention-idea-watch-that-predicts-your-death
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US5031161.pdf
Personally, I think the watch may end up further reducing your remaining lifetime. It is depressing. Instead of focusing on living your life to the fullest, you get reminded of every second of life you have remaining - if it is even accurate in the first place. Moreover, there have been cases where terminally ill patients recover, at least slightly, when they live life positively. Positive thinking leads to a stronger immune system whereas negative thinking does the opposite, even culminating into depression.
Back to the invention, the inventor supports his timepiece by stating that insurance companies routinely updates the actuarial table of average lifespan based on factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and family (genetic) history. His invention thus includes the ability to program these factors and other habits and events in the user's life to predict his remaining time. Although I understand the need for insurance companies to know the average life expectancy in order to price their products appropriately, but would any single individual have a need for such knowledge? Sure, we go find fortune tellers to predict it, among other things, but I believe it is mostly to find peace and assurance.
Sources:
http://www.funnypatentsandinventions.com/great-invention-idea-watch-that-predicts-your-death
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US5031161.pdf
I came across this invention too when i was browsing through silly patents online and it definitely caught my eyes as well. What can I say, I have to give the inventor some credits for novelty and nonobviousness, as I have never seen anything like it before. I mean, it would make a good Halloween prop and it is hard to imagine people have ordinary skills in the art (of watch-making in this case) would easily think of creating a death calculating watch.
ReplyDeleteThis patent is pretty funny in an intelligent way. Personally I hold the same perspective as you, which I do advocate living positively. Take my laptop setting for example (excuse me for being silly about the example I'm using :P), I never wanted to show the battery percentage on the screen, because it makes me anxious in general. Having this kind of lifetime count down device is going to paralyze most individuals. It's usefulness is... I'd say very minimal?
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