- #1
Max™
- 265
- 1
I had a big epic discussion on another board after someone stated that "if I were to travel to Betelgeuse at a sufficient velocity I would reduce the distance between myself and Betelgeuse until it is say, 2 light years, which means I would only experience 2 years or so during my journey", this jumped off the page at me as a huge error.
He and others insisted that I must not know what I'm talking about if I don't agree with him on this, and completely ignored when I explained that this would violate the invariance of the spacetime interval.
I pointed out that yes, the distance would appear shorter from your frame, but you wouldn't claim the distance actually contracted and time dilation is a result of you having to cross 2 light years rather than 640~ light years to Betelgeuse.
I've never seen someone actually claim that it is a real physical effect, or that length contraction means the rest of the universe shrinks due to your motion, have I been terribly mistaken all this time about relativity?
He and others insisted that I must not know what I'm talking about if I don't agree with him on this, and completely ignored when I explained that this would violate the invariance of the spacetime interval.
I pointed out that yes, the distance would appear shorter from your frame, but you wouldn't claim the distance actually contracted and time dilation is a result of you having to cross 2 light years rather than 640~ light years to Betelgeuse.
I've never seen someone actually claim that it is a real physical effect, or that length contraction means the rest of the universe shrinks due to your motion, have I been terribly mistaken all this time about relativity?