Who really understands time dilation and relativity?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the understanding of time dilation and relativity, prompted by a thought experiment involving two observers of different sizes in space. Participants explore the implications of perspective on the experience of time and the nature of relativity.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents a thought experiment involving a giant and a normal-sized human to illustrate their understanding of time dilation and relativity, suggesting that time and space change based on perspective.
  • Another participant challenges the relevance of the thought experiment to relativity, arguing that it focuses on the physiology of imaginary giants rather than the principles of relativity.
  • A different participant asserts that the thought experiment does relate to relativity, emphasizing that time and space are relative to one's perspective, and questions the understanding of relativity by others in the discussion.
  • Another participant points out that Einstein himself concluded it is impossible to ride on light, implying that the thought experiment's premise is flawed.
  • One participant expresses frustration over perceived misunderstandings and questions the maturity of other forum members, suggesting that the discussion lacks serious engagement.
  • Another participant asserts that relativity pertains to observers in different states of motion rather than different sizes, indicating a fundamental misunderstanding in the original thought experiment.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement regarding the relevance and accuracy of the thought experiment in relation to the principles of relativity. There is no consensus on the understanding of time dilation as it relates to the proposed scenario.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the importance of symmetry in inertial observers, suggesting that the thought experiment overlooks key aspects of relativity. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the validity of the original claims about time dilation.

dutchiexx
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
hi,so i posted a thought experiment on other fourms and it seems everyone is misunderstanding the big picture of the experiment.i would like to verify that i really understand relativity and time dilation.i will explain a thought experiment in order to exsplain my understanding of relativity in a simple way.

now, imagine there two people floating in space,one person is next to the sun and he is so huge that the sun and Earth are the size of marbles compared to him,the second person is floating above earth, and he is the size of a normal human.now imagine that the huge person put his hand above the sun and swung it towards the earth, now, from the large persons perspective, how long would his hand seem to take to reach earth?about the same amount of time it takes to slap someone in the face right?
now imagine this happening from the normal sized humans perspective, how long would it seem for the huge hand to reach the earth?

i believe that, from the normal sized human perspective, the large hand would be moving slowly and take hours to reach Earth since nothing can travel faster then light (the light from the sun takes about 8 mins to reach the earth)

and i belive, (from the large persons perspective) that his hand only took a split second to reach earth,

so this means that the normal sized human experinced hours of time passing before the hand reached earth,
and that the large person only experinced a single second or less before his hand reached earth.

its as if time and space litterally changes itself based on ones perspective in order to keep the speed of light a constant speed.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
This seems not to be about relativity, but rather the physiology of imaginary giants.

If this is actually about relativity, perhaps you can recast your question in a way that makes this apparent.
 
lmao,are you joking?

when eistein said he imagined himself riding on light did scientist say "hey wait, you can't ride on light, that's impossibble!)
no they did not.but that is what your doing.

and this exsperiment has everything to do with relativity.
it does not matter if being a giant is possble, it does not matter if you can't just float in space and survive, none of that matters at all and yet that's the only thing you can pick out,you missing the big picture man,here is the definition of time dilation

In the theory of relativity, time dilation is a difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from a gravitational mass or masses.now if you read everything i said and acually imagine this in your head,you would see,

i am basically saying that time and space is relative to ones perspective,how does that not relate to relativity?are you saying that eistein is wrong when he said time and space are relative?do you know what being relative means?
 
dutchiexx said:
when eistein said he imagined himself riding on light did scientist say "hey wait, you can't ride on light, that's impossibble!)
Einstein himself concluded that it's impossible.
 
yes,anyone with a brain will know its impossible to ride on light, that does not mean what he was saying about relativity is false, i don't see how you don't under stand what I am saying.how old are you?
are these forums just filled with kids?thats the only reason i can think of.
 
dutchiexx said:
i would like to verify that i really understand relativity and time dilation.
Sorry dutchiexx, I don't think that you do. Your example has nothing to do with relativity. Relativity is not about observers of different sizes, it is about observers in different states of motion.

One reason that is important is because two inertial observers are symmetrical, either is entitled to say that they are at rest. A big and a small observer are not symmetrical, both will agree who is bigger and who is smaller.

Your example completely misses the point of relativity.
 
dutchiexx said:
how old are you?
are these forums just filled with kids
Please do not solicit personal information here. Your question has been answered.

Thread closed
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
2K
  • · Replies 25 ·
Replies
25
Views
2K
  • · Replies 40 ·
2
Replies
40
Views
7K
  • · Replies 65 ·
3
Replies
65
Views
13K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
8K
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
632
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K