Explaining the sped of light

[fromderinside]

Most of the universe is dark energy and we don't know what that is.

We use the word "space" and don't know what it is scientifically. It's like missing the ocean.

You are not suggesting dark energy and space are one in the same are you?

 

[bilby]

Dark energy - like everything in physics that we don't yet understand - is NOT a human scale phenomenon.

A force that is only relevant at galactic scales is not able to provide a mechanism for communication between soul and body. In the absence of any possible mechanism for this, dualism is impossible.

It is now known that there are no unknown particles or forces that operate at a suitable scale or energy to allow for any such communication. A separate 'soul' is therefore impossible.

Unless quantum field theory is very badly wrong. And it's not - we checked.

 

[Wiploc]

The speed of light is constant.

It's called the theory of relativity, not the theory of constantivity. The speed of light measures the same to every observer, no matter how fast that observer is going, which means that it is anything but constant. Or, phrased differently, it is constant relative to the observer.

Doesn't matter the position or speed of the observer. This we know.

We know that if you and I are going .5c relative to each other, each of us will perceive light as going c relative to us, and anywhere from 1.5c to .5c relative to the other.

So is this because the speed of light is really just the speed of the expanding space?

No, that doesn't make sense.

 

[Wiploc]

Would you mind backing that claim up?

It's a consequence of simple arithmetic. As we know from the twin paradox, the moving observer experiences time passing more slowly than his stay at home twin. The faster his journey, the less time he experiences; For a journey that takes place entirely at c, the apparent time elapsed is equal to the time as measured by the stationary observer, multiplied by zero.

Each of the twins sees the other as slowed down. Neither sees himself as slowed down. Each experiences time normally.

You cannot extrapolate from that to conclude that one would quit experiencing time if he went fast enough. You could make this extrapolation:

As Joe approaches the speed of light (relative to Harry) he sees Harry as slowing down, as experiencing less and less of the passage of time. Therefore, if Joe could reach the speed of light (which he can't) and if we could conclude something about that (which my physicist friends insist we can't) then the conclusion would be that Harry, not Joe, would seem stopped to Joe.

So the conclusion is not that the photon doesn't experience time. Rather, the conclusion is that the rest of the universe would look frozen and timeless to the photon.

Again, that's if we could draw conclusions, which I'm told we can't. It involves dividing by zero, or something like that.

 

[Juma]

It's called the theory of relativity,

Which is a misnomer since Newton created the real theory of relativity.
Einsteins theory is really introducing something absolute, removibg some relitivity...

We know that if you and I are going .5c relative to each other, each of us will perceive light as going c relative to us, and anywhere from 1.5c to .5c relative to the other.

Eh... no. all speeds will be less than c. There are no absolute speeds so sll speeds are relative.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Which is a misnomer since Newton created the real theory of relativity.
Einsteins theory is really introducing something absolute, removibg some relitivity...

We know that if you and I are going .5c relative to each other, each of us will perceive light as going c relative to us, and anywhere from 1.5c to .5c relative to the other.

Eh... no. all speeds will be less than c. There are no absolute speeds so sll speeds are relative.

Newton thought time was absolute and any observer anywhere in the Universe would experience time the same. He was wrong.

It turns out the speed of light is absolute, everything else changes with your speed.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Most of the universe is dark energy and we don't know what that is.

We use the word "space" and don't know what it is scientifically. It's like missing the ocean.

You are not suggesting dark energy and space are one in the same are you?

No. Just remaining open minded.

Lots of scientific jargon seems limited to me. Motion and space are at the top of my list.

You can use lots of things as doorstops, but that doesn't make them just doorstops, if you get my meaning.

 

[Juma]

Which is a misnomer since Newton created the real theory of relativity.
Einsteins theory is really introducing something absolute, removibg some relitivity...


Eh... no. all speeds will be less than c. There are no absolute speeds so sll speeds are relative.

Newton thought time was absolute and any observer anywhere in the Universe would experience time the same. He was wrong.

It turns out the speed of light is absolute, everything else changes with your speed.

Nitpicks but...
it has nothing to do with light. Light is just one of those things that travels at maximum speed.

The central point of the theory relativity is that we always move at the maximum speed.
Not in space, but in spacetime.

 

[migrant]

"A theory is the highest form of certainty that exists in science, migrant."
Thanks Elixir, I know that, but if I may correct you, there are no degrees of certainty, it is an absolute.
This would be mere pedantry, were it not the very nub of my point.

Thanks joedad, complacency is exactly what I'm aiming at.
Though not a scientist, I understand enough of its workings to agree with Max Planck when he said that "Science advances one funeral at a time."
If you study the history of science, you will find, as I did, that he was correct.

 

[Juma]

"A theory is the highest form of certainty that exists in science, migrant."
Thanks Elixir, I know that, but if I may correct you, there are no degrees of certainty, it is an absolute.
This would be mere pedantry, were it not the very nub of my point.

wow. just. wow.

you believe in absolute truth?

wow.

knowledge about the real world always comes in degrees.