mumble mumble
i was just thinking today about how i could write in my thesis about lightspeed as way to travel in time, so to speak, but then a question got to my mind, related to that so-called twins paradox (that isn't a paradox really).
[if a twin stays on earth and the other travels to some point in space that would take a 10 light years journey to reach and another 10 light years to get back to earth, for the twin in space 20 conventional years would have passed (as he counted twenty years even though he was going at the speed of light) - the other twin on earth though would keep moving at what we consider 'normal' speed. as the space traveling twin comes back to earth, he will be 20 years older than when he left while the twin that stayed on earth will be something like 50 years older. [so we could say that the traveller has gone fifty years into the future] ]
but
a) did the space traveling twin *actually* travel in time? did he go fast forward? can we say he did just because he came back older? i mean, it sounds cheesy to me. honestly, i'm starting to dislike the theory of time travel relies in light speed. i don't know. i doesn't sound just right.
b) did earth go slow or did the space traveler go fast?
c) what is the standard measure of time in space? lightspeed? warp speed? couldn't it be that we are measuring time the way we do just according to the fact that earth moves at a set speed, but everything else in the universe goes actually way faster, therefore putting *us* below the average speed and not light at a super speed? => is earth traveling back in time in relations to the rest of the galaxy/universe?
d) could it be that time travel is just a way to say 'we want to go as fast as all the rest of the universe goes'?
e) (not speculation but an actual question) does time on the moon pass at the same speed as on earth? if i were to spend 10 years on the moon and come back on earth, would 10 years have passed or more (or less)?
f) if we keep our measurements of time as a standard to define travel, isn't it impossible to go *back* in time? does anyone have a theory about that? because it's clear how light speed would allow people to travel faster than earth therefore reaching the 'future' without growing as old as he would staying on earth in the meanwhile (but not instantly, some time has to pass for the traveller as well)... but back? where would someone have to go? how fast? or how slow?
seriously though, the last question is the most important of all. i can't grasp the concept on my own. back in time? i mean, logically, if one can go forwards, he should be able to go backwards as well. but practically? should we go round the galaxy in reverse? would we go backwards or would a space traveller grow *older* than his fellow earthlings during the same amount of time? like, you travel for 20 light years and when you go back on earth only 10 years have passed? would it make any difference?
please reply, i want to hear other people's opinions! even if you're not basing them on actual physics or stuff like that. i will lose my sleep over this tonight!
[if a twin stays on earth and the other travels to some point in space that would take a 10 light years journey to reach and another 10 light years to get back to earth, for the twin in space 20 conventional years would have passed (as he counted twenty years even though he was going at the speed of light) - the other twin on earth though would keep moving at what we consider 'normal' speed. as the space traveling twin comes back to earth, he will be 20 years older than when he left while the twin that stayed on earth will be something like 50 years older. [so we could say that the traveller has gone fifty years into the future] ]
but
a) did the space traveling twin *actually* travel in time? did he go fast forward? can we say he did just because he came back older? i mean, it sounds cheesy to me. honestly, i'm starting to dislike the theory of time travel relies in light speed. i don't know. i doesn't sound just right.
b) did earth go slow or did the space traveler go fast?
c) what is the standard measure of time in space? lightspeed? warp speed? couldn't it be that we are measuring time the way we do just according to the fact that earth moves at a set speed, but everything else in the universe goes actually way faster, therefore putting *us* below the average speed and not light at a super speed? => is earth traveling back in time in relations to the rest of the galaxy/universe?
d) could it be that time travel is just a way to say 'we want to go as fast as all the rest of the universe goes'?
e) (not speculation but an actual question) does time on the moon pass at the same speed as on earth? if i were to spend 10 years on the moon and come back on earth, would 10 years have passed or more (or less)?
f) if we keep our measurements of time as a standard to define travel, isn't it impossible to go *back* in time? does anyone have a theory about that? because it's clear how light speed would allow people to travel faster than earth therefore reaching the 'future' without growing as old as he would staying on earth in the meanwhile (but not instantly, some time has to pass for the traveller as well)... but back? where would someone have to go? how fast? or how slow?
seriously though, the last question is the most important of all. i can't grasp the concept on my own. back in time? i mean, logically, if one can go forwards, he should be able to go backwards as well. but practically? should we go round the galaxy in reverse? would we go backwards or would a space traveller grow *older* than his fellow earthlings during the same amount of time? like, you travel for 20 light years and when you go back on earth only 10 years have passed? would it make any difference?
please reply, i want to hear other people's opinions! even if you're not basing them on actual physics or stuff like that. i will lose my sleep over this tonight!