cybereality Like why does light have an exact particular speed (why that speed?) and what is stopping it?
Well, that's a direct outcome of special relativity. And the only one that makes sense. And SR and GR have been proven quite accurate so far and so many times that it will be very hard to replace the theory.
cybereality Why are there all the constants needed in the equations, they seem like hacks, and why do they have to be those exact numbers?
So lets leave them away and see what happens. Start with that number whose square is -1, then Pi, then Euler's. I can imagine how the whole universe just crumbles in mathemagical agony :-)
Well, that maybe goes into metaphysics and eschatology. Let's say because physics are an outcome of observation and modelling. No explanation is perfect though, and all need constant proof and disproof, but most are well enough, for now.
cybereality Then you have dark matter and dark energy, which we have no explanation for and can't even observe
Observation actually lead to the assumption of both. It is actually simple: Make an observation, find a hypothesis that explains the observation, test the hypothesis. If it withstands enough testing, it becomes a theory. If it doesn't or is even disproved, it is dismissed. Physics is at an early point with explaining the observations that lead to these hypotheses (*). Several partly contradictory proposals are available. The experiments needed are too huge and expensive to perform with our available means, so we must simply rely on observation. There is no magic involved.
(*) They are not that old, just a decade or so. Otoh, the basis for the math we gamers work with was laid out more than 2000 years ago. It is founded in practical application, nevertheless I bet some people back asked themselves what it is good for, if they ever heard of it. Even the calculus we need for some physics and simulation stuff goes back to Renaissance times ..
Have a nice weekend everybody :-)
