Dear Fisher,
You raise and address good questions here, the type I am always glad to see being brought forward for discussion. I am confused about what you say with your speed of light calculations. I am no calculator, and the rates fly over my head when they are not stated and are put forth in distance and times. It is tough for me to see where your argument comes from. I mean, the idea of speed of light not being constant valued at c is clear- I could imagine scenarios where it might not be, as in if the energy or frequency affected the velocity, or perhaps to state it another way, if a heavy and no as hefty body do not fall exactly level. Yet, I could use some help connecting the dots that you laid down, once!
I do not know if it is influenced, or jibes with, the meaning of your essay, but I am starting to think that humanity needs to not plan for its future. Big budget plans are sure to fall through, especially if some 200 countries each make their own. In science too, there are so many roads ordering pavement already, before they have even been cleared or walked, so many grants for research that will lead to unification, that I tend to think that any true advancement will happen from taking a step back to survey the entire lay of the land, and that is not something that can be planned. So in both, I think agendas based on thinking one even sorta knows what is going to go down can be better lead by more appropriately addressing small scale issues, the type that are on the level of attitude and not empty planning. That is just a comment that was somehow sparked from reading this wonderful entry!
