Probabilities Collapse

Light cones are interesting concepts, but if you think about them relative to humanity, they could push you into an existential crisis. Think about a child that has just been born. At that moment, that child's light cone spans the widest, covering the most area and possibilities it will ever be. Sure, it has a cut off in about 80 years, but there are so many paths it can take between that child's birth and then.

But as time goes on and the child grows up, experiences life, has life happen to them, that light cone narrows. Being born in a third world country would significantly reduce the area of their light cone. Contracting debilitating diseases would do the same. And as they get even older their own decisions would begin to affect the light cone. Whether or not to go to college, having children at a young age, chasing or not chasing a career. 

Imagine that during this child's high school years they skip school and hang out with friends who are not the best influences. This significantly cuts down on the chance that they can get into college, cutting down the chance that they could become a Doctor or an Engineer or some other highly paid professional. Their decisions and actions, or lack thereof, has an effect on their light cone. An impact on their own probabilistic future. 

But the most insidious factor in a persons light cone is time. Ever ticking forward, unrelenting. Every day the light cone narrows, possibilities narrow. Every day, something that was once a possibility in your future gets pruned and is no longer possible, simply because there is no more time to accomplish it.

Every day you put off doing that thing because you have time in the future. But every day that time ticks away, until one day you no longer have time left.