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Time is a dimension, but not like space

(bigthink.com)
171 points belter | 1 comments | 17 Oct 24 15:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
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nyc111 ◴[20 Oct 24 04:27 UTC] No.41892855[source]▶
"This is the underlying reason why, when you move at speeds that approach the speed of light, you start to experience phenomena such as time dilation and length contraction:"

This is not even possible in pulp science fiction. In order to be able to move with the speed of light you need to transform yourself into a photon. Only a photon can move with the speed of light. Saying "close to the speed of light" changes nothing. You need to be light to move with the speed close to the speed of light. Macroscopic objects cannot move with speeds approaching light speed.

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nyc111 ◴[20 Oct 24 08:09 UTC] No.41893781[source]▶
I guess you guys found a way to accelerate human body to the speed of light without disintegrating. Why don't you prove your technique first with G-forces?
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1. mftrhu ◴[20 Oct 24 08:33 UTC] No.41893901[source]▶
> accelerate human body to the speed of light

Nothing with mass can have the same speed as light, but you can trivially accelerate a human body - or something similar - to a speed which is arbitrarily close to it, without risking anything from the G-forces involved.

You just need to do it very slowly.

That is, in any case, neither here nor there, since this is a thought experiment used in a discussion about the effects of moving at a speed close to c - people in thought experiments are stronk.