Let me first make a distinction between knowing the facts or being told your fate by a fortune teller. A few people believe in the latter and their actions may be guided by the teller holding their hand, or looking at a crystal ball or tarot cards. Told that they'll lead a happy life, meet a handsome man and have six children, their focus is on just that. And it could become true.
However, I'm thinking of the implications of having your future mapped out by some inexplicable force; knowing with certainty what will happen to you. When whatever you do couldn't alter your future. You may make great efforts to try and change the path pre-destined for you, but without success. That would change your whole outlook on life; you'd know the results of everything you do before you do them. There would be no surprises, no what-ifs, no anticipation.
I think the first question most people would ask would be how long they were going to live; then they'd want to know about their health and financial position. With that knowledge, they could map out their life - do they need to be careful with their money, will they plan for their old age, can they eat anything without concern? If you knew that you only had a short life, I don't think that you'd be too concerned about spending on holidays or eating to control your cholesterol or fat levels! You would be on a world cruise, eating for the moment. And knowing the future would include the smaller, less important things, too. For instance, you would know the results of exams before you took them, so revising would be pointless; or how long you'd be employed in a particular job, so incentive would be lost.
As an alternative, maybe you could learn about your future in non-specific terms, like whether you’ll live to an old age, but not for how long. That would be kinder. It would be up to you to fill in the details. You could work until retirement and live until your nineties, so could plan ahead, although not knowing how your life would end. You would maintain some control and probably choose to incorporate some planning for your long life.
I asked a number of people if they would like to know their future. Unanimously, the answer was 'no'. We may be apprehensive about what will happen to us, but we don't want to know what it'll be. We like the element of surprise; it gives us purpose to life.
At first, you may have thought it would be wonderful to know your future, but it’s apparent that it’s not. As it is, our life is full of unknowns and, maybe, that's best for us. It would be dreary not to have any surprises, good or bad, in life. We aren't sure what'll happen for the rest of the day and we're used to that. If we did know, maybe we'd only want to know the good things. That would give us hope. Having complete knowledge would take away any aspirations we may have. Uncertainty may make some people anxious, but knowing would make them worse; the state of not knowing is a healthy thing that gives us the impetus to continue with our lives along a path of unknown curves and crossroads.
Now, what will I do next, I've no idea?