An Inert Contribution Does Not Begin a Causal Chain:A Structural No-Go Result

Two prior results are taken as established: that no closed physical system internally fixes the onset and direction of its own new causal chain among multiple lawful possibilities, and that if such a chain nonetheless begins, a non-internal contribution exists. This paper states a structural no-go on candidates for that contribution. The non-internal contribution required for the beginning of a new causal chain has a definite role: to account for the chain's beginning. A candidate that is inert toward the onset — present, or otherwise established to exist, but not among what brings the onset about — cannot satisfy that role. The prior result establishes that such a contribution exists; the present result excludes inert candidates from filling it. The required contribution must be efficacious toward the onset rather than merely present. The argument is structural and interpretive and alters no equation of standard physics.