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I don't think they're doubting it's a fact, but rather just saying it's a fact they don't understand. Saying "no one needs to explain the theory of relativity"

I don't think they're doubting it's a fact, but rather just saying it's a fact they don't understand. Saying "no one needs to explain the theory of relativity" implies it's intuitive to everyone, which is very obviously not true. Hand-waving isn't an explanation, it's a distraction.

twtw 9y ago
I think 'dragontamer read the question as "why does the photon move away from it at the speed of light?" (as I did). There isn't really an answer to that question, since it's just the way the universe works. Saying that the laws of the universe don't (or can't) have explanations is not the same as saying they are intuitive to everyone. Ultimately, some of those facts you just have to accept. It is extremely difficult to have any useful analogy or explanation that attempts to explain why light always travels at the speed of light in any reference frame. The consequences can definitely be explained well, but the fundamental laws really can't. EDIT: John von Neumann's quote about math reflects my view about this kind of fundamental physics: > in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
dragontamer 9y ago
I'm not trying to say its intuitive. I'm saying that a lot of physics / science describes the consequences of certain facts. A lot of facts don't actually have "deeper explanations". As another poster described: Why do Magnets attract each other, but sometimes repel each other? Well, we can list a ton of consequences, make up stories about negative charge and positive charge (but then why do THOSE things attract / repel each other??). We can craft mathematical laws that describes the nature of this attraction. But at the end of the day, its just a fact you have to accept. Reality has these things called magnets: they're made up of things that attract each other. Similarly: Reality itself moves at a certain speed. Physicists call that speed "The Speed of Light". From everyone's point of view, reality propagates out like a wave, and space itself warps to keep things consistent. Its weird. But that's just how the world works. Step 1 is accepting the fact. Step 2 is performing calculations so that we can start taking advantage of those relativistic effects in engineering and design.

twtw 9y ago

I think 'dragontamer read the question as "why does the photon move away from it at the speed of light?" (as I did). There isn't really an answer to that question, since it's just the way the universe works. Saying that the laws of the universe don't (or can't) have explanations is not the same as saying they are intuitive to everyone. Ultimately, some of those facts you just have to accept. It is extremely difficult to have any useful analogy or explanation that attempts to explain why light always travels at the speed of light in any reference frame. The consequences can definitely be explained well, but the fundamental laws really can't. EDIT: John von Neumann's quote about math reflects my view about this kind of fundamental physics: > in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.

dragontamer 9y ago

I'm not trying to say its intuitive. I'm saying that a lot of physics / science describes the consequences of certain facts. A lot of facts don't actually have "deeper explanations". As another poster described: Why do Magnets attract each other, but sometimes repel each other? Well, we can list a ton of consequences, make up stories about negative charge and positive charge (but then why do THOSE things attract / repel each other??). We can craft mathematical laws that describes the nature of this attraction. But at the end of the day, its just a fact you have to accept. Reality has these things called magnets: they're made up of things that attract each other. Similarly: Reality itself moves at a certain speed. Physicists call that speed "The Speed of Light". From everyone's point of view, reality propagates out like a wave, and space itself warps to keep things consistent. Its weird. But that's just how the world works. Step 1 is accepting the fact. Step 2 is performing calculations so that we can start taking advantage of those relativistic effects in engineering and design.