> Adding the separation of lightyears seems to make people talk as if they do know what will happen in the future, which we don’t.
Perhaps a distinction is that we like to think that at least in principle we can influence almost any future events that are causally downstream of previous events on Earth. Even someone with very lethal radiation poisoning (alive but predictably dead) might just be one hypothetical stem cell transplant treatment away from defying the previous odds. So we don't treat those as set in stone.
Something causally separated on the other hand is seen as a mechanistic process. And there are very few things that would stop a star from becoming a supernova.
Perhaps a distinction is that we like to think that at least in principle we can influence almost any future events that are causally downstream of previous events on Earth. Even someone with very lethal radiation poisoning (alive but predictably dead) might just be one hypothetical stem cell transplant treatment away from defying the previous odds. So we don't treat those as set in stone.
Something causally separated on the other hand is seen as a mechanistic process. And there are very few things that would stop a star from becoming a supernova.
That reminds me of the short story Schwarzschild Defense https://archive.is/SZbHa#selection-1162.0-1162.1