The definition of an absolute horizon is sometimes referred to as teleological, meaning that it cannot be known where the absolute horizon is without knowing the entire evolution of the universe, including the future. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that this notion of a horizon is mathematically convenient and does not depend on the observer, unlike apparent horizons, for example. The disadvantage is that it requires the full history (all the way into the future) of the spacetime to be known, thus making event horizons unsuitable for empirical tests. In the case of numerical relativity, where a spacetime is simply being evolved into the future, only a finite portion of the spacetime can be known.