RE: The Speed of Light, Time, and the Bible
August 10, 2010 at 4:37 pm
(This post was last modified: August 10, 2010 at 4:38 pm by ABierman1986.)
(August 9, 2010 at 7:07 pm)rjh4 Wrote: Recently, I ran across and article that provides two relatively simple possible explanations. See Distant starlight and Genesis: conventions of time measurement. In the article, Robert Newton, aka Jason Lisle of AiG, proposes two relatively simple solutions. Both are based on the concept of “observed time” with one of them also being based on an anisotropic speed of light (the speed depending on the direction relative to the observer).
So anyway my question is this. In your opinion, does this article provide a reasonable answer to the possibility of seeing starlight even given a young age to the universe? If not, why? (I am certainly no expert in relativity so I may very well be missing something important.)
Ok, I have a real problem with this article. The author discusses that the assumption of light's velocity being isotropic is one that need not be taken seriously. The way that light is determined to travel in this fashion is not determined by time measurements. The speed of light as symmetrical can be directly drawn from the laws of electromagnetism, this article is not confirmed by an educational institution but is accurate in it's handling of the question of light's speed and explaining why it must be constant:
http://www.vttoth.com/LIGHT/light.htm
Newton says that one could design an experiment to prove either theory for the way light propagates....sure, if you only want to use one set of parameters that does not cover all your bases. Questions like this are deeply rooted in fundamental models of universal descriptions. It is possible that it's wrong, but using this argument of velocity measurements ignores the other empirical evidence that has been gathered to substantiate these models.
The one way speed of light is not 'chosen' by synchronization, it's been deduced to be fundamental to electromagnetism and its models have been used to successfully predict numerous scientific experiments and observations have confirmed these models' accuracy on countless occasions.
My religion is the understanding of my world. My god is the energy that underlies it all. My worship is my constant endeavor to unravel the mysteries of my religion. 
