The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum: Philosophy Forums

Philosophy Forums » Philosophy of the Arts » The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum » The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum

The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum

The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum

Paul
Tenured Poster

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Mar 10, 2002
Location: Sacramentoish
Total Topics: 451
Total Posts: 11832

Posted 04/10/02 - 12:33 AM:	#1
A longish short story: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/iplus/stories/jpkli... Magical realism, science fiction, and physics... plus, of course, philosophy. "My condition. Should I describe a typical day? But then the notion of day is another fiction. The laws of science do not distinguish between past and future. Here the arrow of time spins at random, as in a child's game. I'm never sure when I fall asleep whether I'm going to wake up tomorrow or yesterday." What's illusion, and what's reality? Do we really know what we're talking about when we distinguish them? "Here's a theory. Say you're travelling at 299,792.46 kilometers per second and for some unknown reason you want to go faster. You would then exceed the speed of light propagated in a vacuum. But what if spacetime does not yield up its absolute so easily? You attempt to accelerate beyond c to, say, c+v, the smallest, the most infinitesimal increment in velocity you can imagine. However, there's still a little infinity lurking between c and c+v, no matter what value you assign to v. What if it takes forever to achieve c+v? What if the speed of light is not a limit, only a barrier? You could spend all time crossing it -- probability's revenge." We know about particles going at the speed of light, we know the 3rd person data. However, what's it like to be at the speed of light?
"We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about 'and'." - Arthur Eddington

Paul
Tenured Poster

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Mar 10, 2002
Location: Sacramentoish
Total Topics: 451
Total Posts: 11832

Posted 04/10/02 - 12:45 AM:	#2
There's also an excellent audio drama version at http://www.scifi.com/set/playhouse/propagation . Creatively done by the sci-fi channel. Their description: Seeing Ear Theatre takes you to an strange and illogical place, where our laws of nature have been repealed. In this "unreality," near is very far away, time ticks at random -- from yesterday to tomorrow to today -- and imagination is the key to survival. When our hero awakes after his starship breaks reality's speed limit, his fellow crew members have mysteriously vanished. All alone on a ship he barely understands, he stares into the depths of madness but manages to look away -- with the help of his imaginary wife. Together they are haunted by the secret of the runaway starship.
"We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about 'and'." - Arthur Eddington

You don't have permission to post.

Please login or register.