Ontological Inertia: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''Anything in existence will continue to exist until a sufficient force acts against it.''}}
'''Ontological Inertia''' acts as a buffer against changes to the cosmic status quo: You cannot (well, not completely) undo something that already exists.
Writer [[Fritz Leiber]] agreed with this trope in his ''Change War'' series of stories involving time travel, and devised the "Law of Reality Conservation" as a way to show how things couldn't just [[Ret-Gone|un-happen]]. In that context, it states that you ''can'' change the past (in fact he named one of the stories in the series, "Try and Change the Past"), but Fate will force a coincidental event to ensure that history proceeds down its intended path without paradox; every time you try to prevent one historical trend or event, a similar one will take its place in history.
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* In [[Command & Conquer]]: Red Alert, Einstein tries to erase Hitler from history to prevent World War II. He succeeds and an even worse war between Russia and the Allies takes the place of World War II.
** It's implied that the Einstein that did the erasing will not see any changes. All he has done is create a divergent timeline which exists simultaneously with ours. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to go back to his lab in 1946.
*
{{quote|''But supposing you toss a coin enough times. Supposing one day, it lands on its edge...''}}
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