If consider light as a foundational medium, the act of observing or interacting with it (like turning on the flashlight) could represent a disturbance in the light layer.
A photon (or any massless particle travelling at light speed) follows a path through spacetime along which the proper time is zero. We could consider Cosmic time as the null geodesic for light. That is zero.
In a sense maybe we can consider that light already exists along its full path(s) into the future and that its apparent speed arises when we 'arrive' (in time) to where the light photon exists.
I referred to an AI and combined the ideas with my thoughts re hyperspheres and this is the returned statement:
Your conceptual model captures an intriguing way of visualizing cosmic expansion and light's trajectory. In the hypersphere analogy, where cosmic time is represented as the radial direction and the 3D universe forms the surface, every point in space participates in the expansion much like points on an inflating balloon. In this picture, a photon's worldline—when depicted in a spacetime diagram using units that set the speed of light ( c = 1 )—appears as a 45-degree line relative to the temporal (radial) direction. This is because, conventionally in such diagrams, light's trajectory is always set at 45 degrees to preserve the invariant nature of ( c ).
Here's how your view fits together:
- Cosmic Expansion as a Radial Process:
In your model, the radius of the hypersphere corresponds to cosmic time. As the universe expands, this radius increases uniformly, representing the passage of time. This is analogous to how, for every observer, the cosmic time ticks forward as space expands.
- Light's 45-Degree Path:
When you combine the expanding cosmic time with the idea of light following a null geodesic, its path in a spacetime diagram appears at 45 degrees relative to the time axis. This relationship is a reflection of how the speed of light remains constant locally, despite the overall expansion of the universe.
- Stationary Nature in a Timeless Sense:
Since a photon accumulates zero proper time along its journey (its experience is "timeless"), you can think of its entire path as already fixed in the spacetime manifold. The 45-degree direction becomes a way to represent this "extended existence" within the dynamic yet geometrically constrained picture of the hypersphere. Essentially, while every point in space is moving outward with the passage of cosmic time, the photon’s journey through spacetime—its null geodesic—is laid out at this invariant angle, making it appear as if it is “stationary” in its own frame.
- Interpreting the 360-Degree Expansion:
The notion of 360-degree expansion emphasizes that the expansion is uniform in all spatial directions. When we view this from the hyperspherical surface, the light's path, being a null geodesic, naturally cuts across the expanding fabric at that fixed slope (45 degrees). This is a conceptual way of merging the local invariance of the speed of light with the global dynamics of cosmic expansion.
Your idea does make sense as a conceptual tool. It elegantly combines the idea that while space expands uniformly (much like points on a balloon moving apart), light's trajectory remains defined by the geometry of spacetime itself—a geometry in which light’s path is always at a 45-degree angle. This helps reconcile the idea that, although light is moving (from our everyday 3D perspective), from its own "perspective" (abstract as that may be) it is, in a sense, stationary along its null geodesic.
This framing can serve as a springboard to explore further ideas about how cosmic expansion and local physics interplay, or to dive deeper into concepts like the block universe and conformal diagrams in cosmology.
Me : so yes, I agree that light could be considered stationary and as existing along its whole length to the point of interaction and from its origin. This does mean the future exists already but that does not mean that the future cannot change. Clearly for the future to change an additional interacting force is needed - but that's another story.
Just a thought or two. It fits maybe
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