A common (good) question* I get from students is "Why can't anything go faster than the speed of light?" A great question but the reason the question occurs is because the name is misleading.
When we first encounter the transcendental number represented by the Greek letter pi (π), it is to find the circumference of a circle (2πr). Later in our studies we are surprised to find it in so many places: trig function, exponential functions, integrals, and one of the most famous quantum equations, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle:
But really, it's because pi is always there in nature when we have symmetry (either geometric like we first encounter it or in symmetrical motion like oscillations). When you reframe the role of pi away from the circumference of a circle into this larger role of symmetry, it is less mysterious when it pops up.Likewise, the universe has a limit on the speed at which information can spread. In order to preserve causality, there must be a constraint on this speed (if everything everywhere could happen at once then there would be no cause and, then, effect!). Light is one example of massless information transfer. So, once this mental reframing has happened, the original question really isn't the right one is it?
The other day, I was walking to school under the most perfect of spring mornings: The blue sky was smiling down on me, the green leaves of the trees and the grass was glowing out at me, the birds were chirping, and my steps were light and confident. I was taking a slightly longer way to work to appreciate nature in all its glory when a bird pooped right onto the back of my hand.
Bemused, I thought to myself (as a wiped it off when one of those bright green leaves I was admiring so) "well now this could really mar the enjoyment of someone's day but I'm going to be thankful it didn't land on my head and that it was apparently from a small bird" followed a little later by "I can even make myself see this as increasing my appreciation for this fine day by being reminded that birds pooping on people is part of it all". Happy with my reframing, I walked on with long strides.
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* The most common 'bad' question I get is "Will this be on the test?"