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Can there be a medium in which light can travel faster than its speed in vacuum?

When light passes through a medium, such as air, water, or glass, its speed decreases due to interactions with the atoms and molecules in that medium. Can there be such a particle or phenomena that exerts force over photons that allow superluminal?

It’s essential to be cautious when exploring ideas that suggest faster-than-light travel or communication, as they can lead to paradoxes and violations of causality. As such, what is causality?

In scientific investigations, causality is often established through empirical evidence and rigorous testing. For example, in a controlled experiment, scientists manipulate certain variables (causes) and then observe the resulting changes (effects) to determine if there is a causal relationship between the variables. In quantum mechanics, the concept of causality is still valid, but the behavior of subatomic particles can sometimes exhibit non-local and probabilistic features. In general relativity, the curvature of spacetime can also complicate the straightforward notion of cause and effect, especially in extreme conditions like near black holes.

In philosophy, it is the principle that states that every event has a cause, and every cause produces an effect. In other words, causality asserts that there is a logical connection between events, actions, or phenomena, where one event leads to or influences another event.

From a cognitive psychology perspective, humans are wired to detect and understand causal relationships between events. The concept of causality is deeply ingrained in our understanding of how the world works. When we observe a particular outcome, we naturally seek to understand the reasons or causes that led to that outcome. The causal thinking is a fundamental and a crucial component of human cognition. As conscious beings, humans have a natural tendency to seek patterns, make connections, and infer cause-and-effect relationships in the world around them. This concludes that the human mind is causalistic by nature.

While we currently know of only one type of mind (the human mind), there are various hypothetical types of minds that have been conceptualized or imagined:
1. Alien Minds
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Minds
3. Non-biological Minds
4. Collective Minds: Some organisms, like social insects (e.g., ants, bees) and certain species of birds and mammals, exhibit collective behavior where the group acts as a coordinated entity.
5. Post-biological Minds: In speculative discussions about the future of humanity, some have explored the idea of “post-human” or “transhuman” minds that could arise from merging human consciousness with advanced technology.
6. Minds in Virtual Environments: In virtual reality or simulated environments, beings with minds might emerge, operating under different rules and physical laws than those in our reality.
7. Minds in Alternate Universes: If multiverse theories are valid, there could be other universes with different physical laws, leading to minds with unique characteristics and cognitive abilities.

While causality implies 2 fundamentals (cause and effect), for the causalistic mind, a third fundamental would be treated as another variable which influences the relationship between the 2 fundamentals. This is known as a “confounding variable” or a “third variable problem”. In such cases, a third factor affects both the cause and the effect, creating a spurious or misleading correlation between the two. Can there be a 4th? Of course. It is now called a “forth variable problem”. A 5th? Yes. 6th? Yes; and so on. This is a tentative of the causalistic mind to transpose itself in a non-causalistic mind. Despite the number of variables, the causalistic mind will always interpret them in a causalistic manner. To the causalistic mind, the “order” of a non-causalistic mind is chaotic, unpredictable and madding.

In an abstract sense, non-causalistic mind might refer to:
1. Acausal Mind: A mind that does not perceive or process events in terms of cause and effect. Such a mind might not infer connections between events or understand the consequences of actions in a causal manner. Instead, it may experience reality without a sense of temporal order or logical connections between occurrences.
2. Non-linear or Holistic Mind: A mind that perceives reality in a non-linear or holistic manner, where events are not necessarily bound by a strict cause-and-effect sequence. In such a mind, patterns and connections might be perceived in more complex ways, and events could be interconnected through nonlinear relationships.
3. Non-deterministic Mind: A mind that operates without adhering to strict determinism, where future outcomes are not solely determined by prior causes. Such a mind might embrace a notion of free will or randomness in its decision-making process.
4. Emergent Mind: A mind that arises from complex interactions between its constituent elements rather than being entirely reducible to individual causal relationships. In this sense, the mind might exhibit emergent properties that cannot be explained solely by understanding its individual components and their causal interactions.

Given that I also own a causalistic (and implicitly dualistic) mind and I lack the necessary skill, knowledge and instrument, I can only conclude this piece of toilet paper through a philosophical quote: “Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of this mountain full of night, alone forms a world. The struggle itself to the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”.

So, can there be a medium in which light can travel faster than its speed in vacuum? 🤷‍♀️ One must imagine that superluminal is real and have faith that it is propitious to the causalistic mind.