The discussion revolves around the father-son paradox related to time dilation as an extension of the twin paradox in special relativity. Participants explore the implications of time dilation when one travels at relativistic speeds and the challenges of explaining such phenomena to someone unaware of the context.
Participants express differing views on the feasibility of the scenario and the implications of time dilation, with no consensus reached on the practicality of the father's experience or the ability to explain it without context.
Limitations include the dependence on hypothetical scenarios and the unresolved nature of practical challenges related to traveling at relativistic speeds.
It's possible in principle but it's never going to actually happen because of the technical challenges to overcome, not to mention the extraordinary cost.kannank@live said:This is an extension of twin paradox of STR. Suppose when the father was 30yrs old, he got into this flight which moves close to c. After a while in that he comes back to see his Son older to him! I'm sure this is a possibility from time dilation. Is this really possible? If so, how is the father going to explain all this to someone else who doesn't know about his space trip! :-)
ghwellsjr said:It's possible in principle but it's never going to actually happen because of the technical challenges to overcome, not to mention the extraordinary cost.
But explaining how something happened without letting them know what happened is impossible, don't you think?
That may be true but you have just changed the scenario that the OP described so it isn't relevant. The OP said, "he comes back to see his Son older to him".backward said:There is hardly anything surprising about it. If the father travels long enough with a velocity close to the speed of loght, he may come back only to find that millions of years have passed on the Earth and the explaining can't be done because there is no one left to explain to!
Really? This is your concern? How to explain physical results without disclosing the relevant physical facts?kannank@live said:If so, how is the father going to explain all this to someone else who doesn't know about his space trip! :-)