Comment by lordnacho

The cynic in me thinks that people on their deathbed are about as well considered as people are in general: if you ask most people about some ordinary thing, and life regrets are indeed such a thing, they will give you a canned response that is the zeitgeist regurgitated, and they can't explain why they think what they think, or any related opinions they might have thought instead.

Of course nowadays we have memes to help us completely avoid thinking at all. Ask someone what is best in life, and see how far you get!

Only rarely does one get a considered response. That would be a response that

1) Acknowledges existing thought on the issue. "Socrates mentions regret..." "The mongols thought the open steppe was very important for the good life"

2) Adds personal experience. This can be totally banal, since we don't all live exceptional lives. "I met a girl at the bakery in 1975..." But being banal doesn't mean you can't use the experience to reflect on what regrets actually are, and whether you agree with some POV.

With someone on their deathbed I guess it can be a bit jarring to subject them to the full Oxford tutorial grilling, so I can understand why it can end up being a bit bland.