RE: Speed of light not constant = young universe
June 21, 2014 at 8:31 pm
(This post was last modified: June 21, 2014 at 8:38 pm by Heywood.)
(June 21, 2014 at 7:54 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(June 21, 2014 at 7:37 pm)Heywood Wrote: There is nothing wrong with taking the position that, "as far as we can tell" the speed of light is constant over time. This is the position I would take until proven otherwise.
Is that contradictory to what I said? It appears to be constant through a homogenous medium. Those that make positive claims otherwise need to show their work - and they'll need to propose a falsifiable mechanism by which it could be so.
To show their work requires a vast amount of time. We simply haven't had enough time in which we knew how to measure the speed of light to make such a determination. 100,000 years from now we will be in a much better position to claim the speed of light is constant over time(if it turns out that it is).
(June 21, 2014 at 8:15 pm)Chuck Wrote:(June 21, 2014 at 7:21 pm)Heywood Wrote: The speed of light is determined by the permittivity and permeability of space. Why should one or both of those factors be constant over time other than the fact that it makes it easier for us to make sense of the world? I hate to break it to you, but without God, there is no reason to think the world was created in such a way as to ease the difficulty in making sense of it.
If someone claims the speed of light changes over time, you really can't just dismiss it as poppycock. It probably is constant over time....but we don't know for sure that it is.
Hate to break it to you, but any claim unaccompanied by evidence must be dismissed as poppycock.
You can really shut up now. Our opinion of you is already as low as it can get, opening your mouth some more would no longer have any practical effect.
Do you have any evidence the permittivity and permeability of space is constant over time? Your claim the speed of light is constant over time implies that you do. Its time to put up or shut up Chuckie.
I am not claiming the speed of light has varied over time. I am only suggesting that we really do not know. Its an assumption that we use because it makes it easier for us to model the world.....but the truth is...it doesn't have to be that way. Unless you believe in God, there is no reason to believe the world just happens to be set up in a way that is convenient for us to come to an understanding of it.
