its really just a vast generalization
try using it to argue that one day we will find out that 2+2 doesnt equal 4 ....

Thats not what people are arguing. It's the complex stuff that people say is impossible, that can't possibly be true. That's whats being refered to. Science is every changing and as we advance we'll come to realize many things we deemed impossible are possible.

It's stupid to think that everything is possible. Not everything that can be imagined can be accomplished. I fully expect people to try, but if there is a physical limit to the speed at which a massive object can travel, then that's just the way it is. Why do you think it can't possibly be true that there is a physical speed limit for massive objects in the universe?

It's stupid to think somethings not possible. Humanity has just started, what advances we saw during the 20th century, when man was 1000x times as advanced as we were at the start of the century. That isn't slowing down, it's getting faster. There are no limits to what we can do.

They would have said the same thing about going to the moon at the turn of the 20th century. They would have the same thing about man flying at turn of the 19th century.

There are no limits, nobody can say they are with what humanity has done.

also i think the mass increases so more energy is required to travel at the speed of light so tis not possible

strapping a spaceship to a giant sized rocket and destroying the way we physically perceive the universe are very different things. our current understanding may have some flaws or left things out but it will be an adaptive process and won't be broken but mended.

Of course there are limits. Let's put it in terms you can understand. Suppose you're playing a video game, e.g. Diablo 2. You create a character, and decide that you want to get to level 100 even though the game's limit is level 99. Your character will never be able to level to 100 no matter what you do. You (as in yourself) might be able to reprogram the game to allow a level 100 character, but you exist outside of the rules of the game. You have to exist outside of the rules of the box you're working in if you want to break or change the rules. If the universe has a physical speed limit, there's nothing we can do about it. There's no getting by it.

at no point did i say that was what people were arguing ( the part where i say " try and use it to argue " should be enough to understand that )
rather , what i am saying is , that you can make generalizations until you are blue in the face , but translating that to a specific argument is an entirely different thing
nowhere do you actually specifically critique anything at all , merely a broad generalization , that may or may not have any relevance

bentherdonethat gave 2 specifics ( satellites and gps ) , as to why our understanding on this matter is good , both of which rely on the equations of relativity

its not that i dont agree with you to a certain extent ( i can name many famous cases ) , or that i dont expect many notions we currantly have will one day be replaced with new ideas
but to extend a generalization , carte blanche , to every situation , is essentially sloppy thinking

but none of those were impossible to begin with, what's your point?

the point is that if believe something is impossible because you think it cannot be done you are a fool, where it has been proven thousands of times what people thought was impossible is actually possible



code in a game is different to the speed of light

This post was edited by Reset on Oct 17 2011 01:32am