Why have we ruled out the possibility of finding something faster when we’ve only scratched the surface of space exploration and understanding?
In: 144
The only reason we call the speed of light “the speed of *light*” is that light is the first thing we discovered that moves at that speed. In truth, the speed of light should really be called “the speed of causality.” Because as far as we call tell, when anything happens in our universe, the fastest the universe will let the effects of that thing propagate is 670,616,629 mph. That’s the speed of light. So truly, no matter what occurs, anywhere, the effects of that event move no faster than the speed of causality.
Light moves at this speed. So does gravity. Even information moves at the speed of causality. And the reason we believe nothing can move faster than this is that, contrary to intuitive human understanding, the nature of motion seems to be part of the makeup of the universe itself. It appears that beyond that speed, there really isn’t such a thing as motion anymore. Saying “go faster than light” is a nonsensical statement, like saying, “be more round than a sphere,” or “be less than nonexistent.” We can say the words, but the apparent reality behind them just don’t make sense if you actually understand what you’re saying.
Assuming that Einstein was right and the universe is constructed the way *every single test of Relativity, ever* indicates that it is, if we were to discover “speeds” beyond the speed of light, they won’t be the same kind of moving that we currently consider motion to be. And nothing made of the matter or energy we know about now will have anything to do with it.
But in short, light is the fastest thing in the universe because “fast” has an upper limit based on how our universe works, and light just so happens to be one of the few things that moves at that upper limit.
There is a common misconception that the speed of light is an important limit in the universe, and that confuses people into wondering why nothing can be faster than light. “What makes light so special that it dictates the speeds of the universe. Surely there must be something faster.. no?”
Well this is the wrong way to think about it, but you should not be blamed in thinking this way, the way that science is presented and taught kind of led you this way.
The truth is that it is the other way around. Light wants to go as fast as it can. Light will always go as quickly as it can in any volume/medium that it is travelling in.
The maximum speed that light can go in a vacuum is not up to light, it is up to the universe. The max speed is actually the maximum speed of causality. Otherwise known as, the maximum speed that information can move in the universe. And since light can carry information the speed of causality holds it up.
Nothing that we have found as of yet, can move faster than the speed of causality. (There is a thought that maybe entangled particles might allow us to move information faster than causality, but this is purely theoretical and has not been proven to actually work)
The only reason we call the speed of light “the speed of *light*” is that light is the first thing we discovered that moves at that speed. In truth, the speed of light should really be called “the speed of causality.” Because as far as we call tell, when anything happens in our universe, the fastest the universe will let the effects of that thing propagate is 670,616,629 mph. That’s the speed of light. So truly, no matter what occurs, anywhere, the effects of that event move no faster than the speed of causality.
Light moves at this speed. So does gravity. Even information moves at the speed of causality. And the reason we believe nothing can move faster than this is that, contrary to intuitive human understanding, the nature of motion seems to be part of the makeup of the universe itself. It appears that beyond that speed, there really isn’t such a thing as motion anymore. Saying “go faster than light” is a nonsensical statement, like saying, “be more round than a sphere,” or “be less than nonexistent.” We can say the words, but the apparent reality behind them just don’t make sense if you actually understand what you’re saying.
Assuming that Einstein was right and the universe is constructed the way *every single test of Relativity, ever* indicates that it is, if we were to discover “speeds” beyond the speed of light, they won’t be the same kind of moving that we currently consider motion to be. And nothing made of the matter or energy we know about now will have anything to do with it.
But in short, light is the fastest thing in the universe because “fast” has an upper limit based on how our universe works, and light just so happens to be one of the few things that moves at that upper limit.
The only reason we call the speed of light “the speed of *light*” is that light is the first thing we discovered that moves at that speed. In truth, the speed of light should really be called “the speed of causality.” Because as far as we call tell, when anything happens in our universe, the fastest the universe will let the effects of that thing propagate is 670,616,629 mph. That’s the speed of light. So truly, no matter what occurs, anywhere, the effects of that event move no faster than the speed of causality.
Light moves at this speed. So does gravity. Even information moves at the speed of causality. And the reason we believe nothing can move faster than this is that, contrary to intuitive human understanding, the nature of motion seems to be part of the makeup of the universe itself. It appears that beyond that speed, there really isn’t such a thing as motion anymore. Saying “go faster than light” is a nonsensical statement, like saying, “be more round than a sphere,” or “be less than nonexistent.” We can say the words, but the apparent reality behind them just don’t make sense if you actually understand what you’re saying.
Assuming that Einstein was right and the universe is constructed the way *every single test of Relativity, ever* indicates that it is, if we were to discover “speeds” beyond the speed of light, they won’t be the same kind of moving that we currently consider motion to be. And nothing made of the matter or energy we know about now will have anything to do with it.
But in short, light is the fastest thing in the universe because “fast” has an upper limit based on how our universe works, and light just so happens to be one of the few things that moves at that upper limit.
There is a common misconception that the speed of light is an important limit in the universe, and that confuses people into wondering why nothing can be faster than light. “What makes light so special that it dictates the speeds of the universe. Surely there must be something faster.. no?”
Well this is the wrong way to think about it, but you should not be blamed in thinking this way, the way that science is presented and taught kind of led you this way.
The truth is that it is the other way around. Light wants to go as fast as it can. Light will always go as quickly as it can in any volume/medium that it is travelling in.
The maximum speed that light can go in a vacuum is not up to light, it is up to the universe. The max speed is actually the maximum speed of causality. Otherwise known as, the maximum speed that information can move in the universe. And since light can carry information the speed of causality holds it up.
Nothing that we have found as of yet, can move faster than the speed of causality. (There is a thought that maybe entangled particles might allow us to move information faster than causality, but this is purely theoretical and has not been proven to actually work)
There is a common misconception that the speed of light is an important limit in the universe, and that confuses people into wondering why nothing can be faster than light. “What makes light so special that it dictates the speeds of the universe. Surely there must be something faster.. no?”
Well this is the wrong way to think about it, but you should not be blamed in thinking this way, the way that science is presented and taught kind of led you this way.
The truth is that it is the other way around. Light wants to go as fast as it can. Light will always go as quickly as it can in any volume/medium that it is travelling in.
The maximum speed that light can go in a vacuum is not up to light, it is up to the universe. The max speed is actually the maximum speed of causality. Otherwise known as, the maximum speed that information can move in the universe. And since light can carry information the speed of causality holds it up.
Nothing that we have found as of yet, can move faster than the speed of causality. (There is a thought that maybe entangled particles might allow us to move information faster than causality, but this is purely theoretical and has not been proven to actually work)
The best explanation I ever saw, for the speed of light, came from [PBS Spacetime](https://youtu.be/msVuCEs8Ydo).
The important thing is that the speed of light has nothing to do with light itself. The speed of light is the speed of causality. The speed of “cause and effect”. Light just moves at that speed because it has no mass to slow it down.
The best explanation I ever saw, for the speed of light, came from [PBS Spacetime](https://youtu.be/msVuCEs8Ydo).
The important thing is that the speed of light has nothing to do with light itself. The speed of light is the speed of causality. The speed of “cause and effect”. Light just moves at that speed because it has no mass to slow it down.
The best explanation I ever saw, for the speed of light, came from [PBS Spacetime](https://youtu.be/msVuCEs8Ydo).
The important thing is that the speed of light has nothing to do with light itself. The speed of light is the speed of causality. The speed of “cause and effect”. Light just moves at that speed because it has no mass to slow it down.
I understand why light and causality are the fastest things, but what determines their precise speed limits? Why is C set at the number it is as opposed to any other number as the maximum speed in the universe?
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