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What would happen to time perception is we were exactly still?



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 3rd 16, 02:52 PM posted to sci.astro
Muerte
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Default What would happen to time perception is we were exactly still?

Sorry if I'm asking in the wrong place.

I was having a conversation with my son (13) last night about time being perceived as slowing as the speed you travelled increased. He then asked if we were totally still (as in not on the Earth travelling around the sun travelling around the Milky Way travelling through the universe) what would happen in regards to our perception of time.

If we were able to travel at such a speed (hypothetically, obviously, so no arguments that we can't please, even though I appreciate that it's true) that allowed us to perceive that we've travelled for 1 year in a round trip, but when we returned 2 million years had passed, if we were totally still would time begin and end for us simultaneously or would it become infinite and would we experience a sort of immortality?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
  #2  
Old June 4th 16, 04:56 AM posted to sci.astro
isw
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Default What would happen to time perception is we were exactly still?

In article ,
Muerte wrote:

Sorry if I'm asking in the wrong place.

I was having a conversation with my son (13) last night about time being
perceived as slowing as the speed you travelled increased. He then asked if
we were totally still (as in not on the Earth travelling around the sun
travelling around the Milky Way travelling through the universe) what would
happen in regards to our perception of time.

If we were able to travel at such a speed (hypothetically, obviously, so no
arguments that we can't please, even though I appreciate that it's true) that
allowed us to perceive that we've travelled for 1 year in a round trip, but
when we returned 2 million years had passed, if we were totally still would
time begin and end for us simultaneously or would it become infinite and
would we experience a sort of immortality?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.


If you are talking about relativistic time dilation, no matter what
speed others think you are traveling, you won't (can't) notice anything
odd at all about your own situation. You will notice odd things about
the folks you are going past, though.

"Space and Time in Special Relativity" by N. David Mermin, is a very
accessible entry into the subject. A bright 13-year-old shouldn't have
too much trouble with most of it.

Isaac
  #3  
Old June 6th 16, 08:58 AM posted to sci.astro
Yousuf Khan[_2_]
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Posts: 1,692
Default What would happen to time perception is we were exactly still?

On 03/06/2016 9:52 AM, Muerte wrote:
Sorry if I'm asking in the wrong place.

I was having a conversation with my son (13) last night about time
being perceived as slowing as the speed you travelled increased. He
then asked if we were totally still (as in not on the Earth
travelling around the sun travelling around the Milky Way travelling
through the universe) what would happen in regards to our perception
of time.


Well, you're asking what would happen to time if there were an absolute
frame of reference. Absolute frames of reference don't exist. Everything
is moving relative to everything else. Even the molecules in your body
are moving relative to each other, even if you are attempting to be
perfectly still.

If you were travelling at close to the speed of light, you would notice
time is traversing at perfectly normal rates for you. But it's
traversing at very slow rate for something that's not at your frame of
reference. Every frame of reference is perfectly still, but every other
frame of reference is moving from ours.

If we were able to travel at such a speed (hypothetically, obviously,
so no arguments that we can't please, even though I appreciate that
it's true) that allowed us to perceive that we've travelled for 1
year in a round trip, but when we returned 2 million years had
passed, if we were totally still would time begin and end for us
simultaneously or would it become infinite and would we experience a
sort of immortality?


Something moving slower than us would perceive time as moving faster
than ours. Something moving faster than us would perceive time as moving
slower than ours. So being perfectly still would actually reduce our
life expectancy. Going really fast will increase our life expectancy.

Yousuf Khan
  #4  
Old June 6th 16, 01:28 PM posted to sci.astro
Nicolaas Vroom
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Posts: 216
Default What would happen to time perception is we were exactly still?

Op vrijdag 3 juni 2016 15:52:03 UTC+2 schreef Muerte:

I was having a conversation with my son (13) last night about time
being perceived as slowing as the speed you travelled increased.
He then asked if we were totally still (as in not on the Earth travelling
around the sun travelling around the Milky Way travelling through the
universe) what would happen in regards to our perception of time.


When you have a conversation like this with your son (13) you are
an extremely lucky person.
What you should ask your son is:
"what is your perception of time at of this moment."
Maybe he answers I do not know or I cannot describe it.
That is okay.
The issue is when he travels through the universe to Mars that
perception (feeling) will be exactly the same.

If we were able to travel at such a speed (hypothetically, obviously,
so no arguments that we can't please, even though I appreciate that it's
true) that allowed us to perceive that we've travelled for 1 year in a
round trip, but when we returned 2 million years had passed,
if we were totally still would time begin and end for us simultaneously
or would it become infinite and would we experience a sort of immortality?


This is a much more tricky question. The problem is this looks like a
thought experiment and thought experiments are always tricky.
What we should discuss is experiments which are physical possible.
For example when you want to fly through space g forces are involved.
The next link gives an indication what is physical possible:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-force#Human_tolerance
The same issue exists in general in relation to speed.
When you move a clock which functioning involves lightsignals, then, when
you move such a clock with speed c, it stops ticking.
However this does not say anything about the concept of time. Even when the
clock stops ticking, time will be exactly the same.

A whole different issue how fast can we, humans, can travel.
This also is a physical process and in a sense has nothing to do with the
behaviour of clocks.
The point is that a moving clock in a spaceship ticks slower than a clock at
"rest" (whatever it means). However that does not mean that a person in the
spaceship ages less than a person staying at rest. Remember that aging is a
physical process which can be drastically influenced when you move at a high
speed through space. This can influence your health even when you are
weightless. I do not know the answer.

The point is that independent of your speed when you come back the universe
will have evolved/aged (time wise) in the same way as if you did not travel and
that is an indication what time indicates. Anyway time does not start or
stop, like a clock. It is an integral part of our existance, of the universe.

Hopes this helps.

Nicolaas Vroom.

 




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