Is PF tolerating crackpot theories ?

[Mentz114]

I refer to two threads in the Relativity section -

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=221494

which is titled 'Revisiting the lesson of the "Relativity of Simultaneity"' and this

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=213911

entitled "Simultaneity".

My understanding of special relativity is that simultaneity of two distant events is observer dependent, and therefore has no physical significance. Despite excellent and detailed answers from PF members ( JesseM mostly) neither poster will accept this, and other posters have now joined in, with statements denying conclusions from SR.

If someone does not accept the validity of all of SR, and presents arguments purporting to support this view, are these not 'private theories' as defined in the forum rules ?

What about sticking to the topic ? The second thread I cite has gone from a question about simultaneity ( answered in the second post) to a discussion of a private theory in which the arrow of time is attributed to cosmic expansion.

The reputation and quality of the PF depends on application of the rules, and I think it is slipping.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

In the case of the first thread I think joey_m is sincerely trying to understand relativity of simultaneity. I mean, he is working off of Einstein's writings directly, it's not like he's articulating an alternative. You can't call something a "crackpot theory" if it is not theorizing anything. I've been reading through that thread because I've had some of the same questions myself.

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[cristo]

The second thread I cite has gone from a question about simultaneity ( answered in the second post) to a discussion of a private theory in which the arrow of time is attributed to cosmic expansion.

To be honest, I've not read through the thread, but I don't think that attributing the arrow of time to the cosmological expansion is a private theory; after all, the cosmological arrow of time is defined to be the direction in time in which the universe is expanding.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Please report any thread in question and the staff will review. Thanks.