# Light vs Sound **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734 "2010-09-06T01:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scorpio5169](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@scorpio5169](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scorpio5169)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/1 "2010-09-06T01:20:53Z")
Does light being faster than sound have any bearing on people appearing bright until they speak? ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/2 "2010-09-06T01:34:50Z")
Don’t know. None of us know what you look like. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/3 "2010-09-06T01:39:26Z")
Fortunately, the internet travels faster than both, and we can tell when new posters aren’t that bright even before they type. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/4 "2010-09-06T01:40:41Z")
> [@scorpio5169](#): > > Does light being faster than sound have any bearing on people appearing bright until they speak? You’ve blinded me with science. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/5 "2010-09-06T01:42:05Z")
> [@scorpio5169](#): > > Does light being faster than sound have any bearing on people appearing bright until they speak? > [@](#): > > Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. -Abraham Lincoln Bad first post. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/6 "2010-09-06T01:47:18Z")
This being GQ, I feel compelled to offer a serious answer: Sound can travel over typical conversational distances in a time far shorter than human reaction time, so over such scales, light and sound can both be regarded as practically instantaneous. Further, while there are certainly some folks who appear bright until they begin speaking, there are also folks for whom the reverse is true, a fact which cannot be accounted for by differences in propagation speed at any distance. ---
**Author:** ![scorpio5169](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@scorpio5169](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scorpio5169)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/7 "2010-09-06T01:50:24Z")
Had to start with something, didn’t I? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/8 "2010-09-06T01:51:22Z")
> [@scorpio5169](#): > > Does light being faster than sound have any bearing on people appearing bright until they speak? Since the OP isn’t really asking a General Question, I’m required to move this. Hmmmm? Where? Seems like the Pit will accommodate all comers. **samclem** General Questions Moderator. ---
**Author:** ![scorpio5169](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@scorpio5169](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scorpio5169)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/9 "2010-09-06T01:55:23Z")
Now that’s just genius ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/10 "2010-09-06T01:59:58Z")
> [@scorpio5169](#): > > Now that’s just genius You’d know. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/11 "2010-09-06T02:00:35Z")
A-huh-huh-huh-huh-no. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/12 "2010-09-06T02:00:43Z")
> [@scorpio5169](#): > > Now that’s just genius Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/13 "2010-09-06T02:10:36Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” Wait … I thought you were Spartacus. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/14 "2010-09-06T02:12:20Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > > [@scorpio5169](#): > > > > Now that’s just genius > > Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” > [@Turek](#): > > > [@samclem](#): > > > > Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” > > Wait … I thought you were Spartacus. 😕 Why can’t I be both? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/15 "2010-09-06T03:22:33Z")
I thought the OP’s question was mildly clever. It’s as least as good as “why do our noses run and our feet smell?” though I admit that’s not a major hurdle. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/16 "2010-09-06T04:01:36Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > > [@samclem](#): > > > > Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” > > > [@Turek](#): > > > > Wait … I thought you were Spartacus. 😕 > > Why can’t I be both? Like the late Earl Warren? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/17 "2010-09-06T05:46:32Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > > [@samclem](#): > > > > Actually, I should have said “I’m prescient.” > > > [@Turek](#): > > > > Wait … I thought you were Spartacus. 😕 > > Why can’t I be both? I dunno, wouldn’t a prescient Spartacus have come to a better end? ---
**Author:** ![NOLA\_Cajun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@NOLA\_Cajun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NOLA_Cajun)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/18 "2010-09-06T09:54:12Z")
I wonder if this is the year when Jerry’s kids will finally be cured? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/19 "2010-09-06T12:48:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. -Abraham Lincoln _Hmmm, I wonder what that means. Uh oh, I’d better say something…_ Takes one to know one! _Zing!_ /Homer Simpson ---
**Author:** ![splankt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@splankt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splankt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734/20 "2010-09-06T20:41:30Z")
This thread is pure comedy gold, you guys! Reciting all those movie and TV references – it’s almost as funny as the clever and provocative question that started the thread off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-vs-sound/552734.md?page=2)