True prophecies always eventually settle into a stable timeloop where the prophecy doesn’t change the outcome. If the prophecy can change the outcome, then it does, and that changes the prophecy, and the process repeats until it falls into a stable shape.
Therefore, in most cases such a prophecy cannot fall into the hands of someone who would try jumping off the Empire State - unless they’re destined to be miraculously saved. This boy was only able to hear the prophecy because he’s the kind of guy whose self destructive experiments won’t actually kill him. If he were capable of suicidal choices, he wouldn’t have heard that prophecy.
However, a complicating factor which invalidates what drag says can interfere: sometimes the stable timeloop stretches across two timelines. For example, in one timeline you hear you’re destined for old age, and you kill yourself trying something dumb. In the other timeline, you hear that you’re destined to kill yourself doing something dumb, so you decide to be careful and end up living to old age. Each timeline gives rise to the other. Each prophecy applies to the other timeline, invalidates itself, and makes the other prophecy true. However, a skilled oracle can tell when their prophecies are multi-timeline and will therefore always give single timeline prophecies.
So if you hear a prophecy that makes you want to go do dumb suicidal stuff, and you’re the kind of person who would actually do it, it means your oracle is an amateur and you shouldn’t trust them.
Of course, by listening to this advice, you’ve become someone who hopefully won’t trust amateur oracles, which means you can’t tell if your oracle is good anymore.
Wait…so then what happens if he just jumps off the empire state building top floor with a mirror in his hand?
Time travel to this moment.
It would come down to one of the possible time travel mechanics.
True prophecies always eventually settle into a stable timeloop where the prophecy doesn’t change the outcome. If the prophecy can change the outcome, then it does, and that changes the prophecy, and the process repeats until it falls into a stable shape.
Therefore, in most cases such a prophecy cannot fall into the hands of someone who would try jumping off the Empire State - unless they’re destined to be miraculously saved. This boy was only able to hear the prophecy because he’s the kind of guy whose self destructive experiments won’t actually kill him. If he were capable of suicidal choices, he wouldn’t have heard that prophecy.
However, a complicating factor which invalidates what drag says can interfere: sometimes the stable timeloop stretches across two timelines. For example, in one timeline you hear you’re destined for old age, and you kill yourself trying something dumb. In the other timeline, you hear that you’re destined to kill yourself doing something dumb, so you decide to be careful and end up living to old age. Each timeline gives rise to the other. Each prophecy applies to the other timeline, invalidates itself, and makes the other prophecy true. However, a skilled oracle can tell when their prophecies are multi-timeline and will therefore always give single timeline prophecies.
So if you hear a prophecy that makes you want to go do dumb suicidal stuff, and you’re the kind of person who would actually do it, it means your oracle is an amateur and you shouldn’t trust them.
Of course, by listening to this advice, you’ve become someone who hopefully won’t trust amateur oracles, which means you can’t tell if your oracle is good anymore.