QR3.1.1 Light is a Mystery

In science, the question of what light is reduces to what it does, but what it does isn’t physically possible. Even after centuries of study, physics still can’t explain why light:

1. Doesn’t fade. All physical waves fade over time, by the second law of thermodynamics, but light doesn’t. A photon that took a million years to hit a screen gives the same result as one just made.

2. Has a constant speed. The speed of a wave depends on the medium it travels through, but light travels at a constant speed in the nothing of space, for no physical reason.

3. Is a wave and a particle. Waves aren’t particles, nor are particles waves, but light travels like a wave then arrives like a particle.

4. Always finds the fastest path. A particle can’t know, in advance, the fastest path to any destination, but light always finds that path.

5. Chooses its path after it arrives. A particle can’t choose the path it takes to a destination after it arrives, but light can do just that.

6. Can reveal an object it didn’t physically touch. In a purely physical world, it is impossible to detect an object without touching it, but light can do exactly that.

7. Can vibrate outside space. Light vibrates, but does so in a dimension outside our space.

Most scientists assume that light is physical, but physical causes can’t explain it. For example, wave-particle duality lets light be both a wave and a particle, but nothing physical can do that. A water wave can’t arrive at a point like a particle, but light does. A particle can’t take many paths at once like a wave, but light does. Physical waves don’t act like particles, and particles don’t act like waves, so how can light be both? Surely science can decide if light is a particle or a wave?

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