A Rational Cosmology: Measuring Light's Transmission

Essay XLIX

This is Essay XLIX of Mr. Stolyarov's series, "A Rational Cosmology," which seeks to present objective, absolute, rationally grounded views of terms such as universe, matter, volume, space, time, motion, sound, light, forces, fields, and even the higher-order concepts of life, consciousness, and volition. See the index of all the essays in "A Rational Cosmology" here.

We have previously determined that what is commonly referred to as the "speed of light" is in fact a distance-dependent rate of relationship (DDRR) that depends on the medium between the light source and the target entity under consideration. Since the DDRR is not a speed, it is not proper to measure it in units of speed, such as meters per second.

Then how ought the DDRR of light be measured? It is true that light begins to affect an entity 3*10⁸ meters away from the source one second after emission, and that this proportionality holds no matter what the distance between the source and target.

However, to measure the DDRR in meters per second implies the fallacy that light actually travels through the medium separating source and target. Light does no such thing; it is manifested in entities and entities alone. Where there is an absence of entities, there is an absence of light. If there is no entity 1.5*10⁸ meters away from a source, there will be no light there, even if a half-second had passed from the moment of emission of light.

As earlier explained, the very occurrence of "beams" of light in particulate media is accounted for by the effects of the source on the many closely grouped molecules comprising the media. On the macroscopic scale of human vision, the result is perceived as a continuous "beam," when, upon examination in a narrower scope, it will be seen as an aggregate of discrete effects of light on each individual particle of the medium.

The best way to measure the DDRR is not, therefore, in units of velocity, but rather in an otherwise combined unit of distance andtime. To state, for example, that a target is one light-second away from the source means that it is at such a distance away that it will exhibit light one second after light is emitted.