Get Younger Using Time Dilation
How can time dilation make me younger? Many other questions are currently popular among people interested in time, time travel, or science fiction. Is there any way to get younger?
A Typical Answer to the Twin Paradox
Can time dilation make me younger? A typical answer to this question uses a spaceship travelling at almost the speed of light.
I will give you my answer, but first, I want to share an explanation that the famous Viktor Toth wrote on Quora this week concerning the “Twin Paradox.” (my quotes are in brackets)
He said, “Time is not running slower for a spaceship travelling near the vacuum speed of light.” (Does that sound strange? Didn’t Einstein say that time does move slower?)
“Time appears to be running slower on a spaceship that is travelling near the vacuum speed of light relative to an observer.” (this is the relativity part. Time only appears slower.)
“Conversely, for someone on the spaceship, time seems perfectly fine, but when they look at the distant observer, it’s that observer’s time that will appear to be running slower than those on board the spaceship.”
(It amazes me that someone could see another person’s clock from millions of miles away).
“Of course, if you are on that spaceship, relative to you, the spaceship is standing still; it is the distant observer that is moving backwards near the vacuum speed of light.”
(Wait, what does that even mean? Moving backwards in space or in time?)
“The apparent paradox that arises from this description is well known as the infamous “twin paradox,” and it is easily resolved once we realize that there is no unique, unambiguous way to synchronize clocks between observers unless they actually meet.”
(Oh, yes, that makes some sense.)
“So to compare clocks after some time, those observers have to meet for a second time.”
(Now they have to meet to compare clocks instead of observing the clocks from millions of miles away.)
“This would mean that the spaceship would have to turn around, change speed and direction, so it is no longer in the same reference frame in which it began.”
(Changing a reference frame sounds serious.)
“This change of reference frames means that the symmetry between the two observers is lost.” (I don’t understand what symmetry he means is being questioned?)
“This symmetry can be restored by having both observers travel, e.g., in opposite directions, but when we do that, we find that the prediction is that ultimately their clocks will be in sync.”
(Now we seem to have two spaceships going in different directions to answer the Twin Paradox? How do they compare clocks by going in opposite directions?)
“Anyhow, to repeat the most important point: Relativity theory is not about what happens to time onboard a spaceship; it’s about how observers who are in motion relative to each other see each other’s time.”
( Relativity is not about time? It’s about relative to each other’s time. Oh, now they have to observe each other’s time again?)
“Time never slows down; time in one reference frame appears to slow down when viewed from another reference frame that is in motion relative to the first.”
(This was his concluding sentence. Time never slows down, but wasn’t the twin supposed to be much younger than the other twin who stayed on Earth? His convoluted answer got 471 upvotes.)
Viktor Toth made many mistakes in his answer. Perhaps he wasn’t thinking his best that day and was thinking that time only appears different depending on frames of reference? I don’t understand his answer, and many other explanations that are online don’t make sense.
Typical False Assumptions
Einstein said time moves slower and almost stops when you travel at near ‘c.’ Most people want to use this fact as a way to become younger than their friends. They call it time travel to the future. More about this later.
Time near a Black hole is another way that confuses everyone. They use the scenario of observing a spaceship falling into a Black Hole, and their time slows down so that they seem never to reach the black hole event horizon.
I must point out that the most powerful telescope can’t see a spaceship about 1000 kilometres away (my estimate), while black holes are millions of light-years away from Earth, so it would take millions of years to see the spaceship.
Do people think the spaceship crew gets younger as in the movie Interstellar compared to the people on Earth?
In the movie, the astronaut on Interstellar gets back, and his daughter is dying of old age. Did he get younger, or did his daughter get older?
Yes and no. It’s time to explain the false thinking about time dilation and ageing.
Getting Younger is a Dream
The fountain of youth has been a dream of many a poor boy or girl.
Now, thousands of science fiction fans want to use real science to time travel and get younger by using Einstein’s time dilation means.
Einstein’s gravitational time dilation has been proved numerous times in experiments, and the GPS satellites must account for time dilation every day to keep track of Earth time.
Time dilation is real, but it doesn’t make you younger!
The Motion of Time
Time has two separate parts that we have combined into one idea. One is the time on a clock, and the other is the movement or duration of motion.
We can watch a pendulum clock swinging left and right, and we think that time is moving. We can watch the second hand on a clock moving, and we believe that time is moving.
When we see motion and movement, we translate that to mean time is ticking away, and it is, but here’s the thing, time doesn’t move. It’s the motion that moves.
The pendulum moves, and the second-hand moves, and we equate that to time is moving. But time is a number on the clock and not the motion that moves the clock.
Time is the measurement of the motion based on 86,400 seconds that is the duration of a day on Earth.
The measuring clock can stop or slow down, but the movement of the universe keeps moving. However, if all motion stops, the universe ends.
Gravity Controls Time
Back to time dilation and my answer to the Twin Paradox.
The measure of a clock’s ticking depends on the force of gravity in the environment.
Gravity and acceleration are the two forces that will change a clock’s movement.
We have a perfect example of time dilation with the GPS satellites.
The lack of gravity in space allows the satellite’s clock to tick 45 microseconds faster per day than the reference clock on Earth.
The satellite has a force of acceleration that makes the clock tick 7 microseconds slower per day, so the total time dilation is 38 microseconds per day faster than Earth time.
The satellite time is faster because Earth time has time dilation built into our time due to Earth’s gravity.
In the Twin Paradox, the twin in the spaceship has a clock that shows one year has passed and when he returns to Earth, the time on his twin’s clock says ten years have passed.
Most people think one twin is younger, but they seem to be the same age. Why?
The spaceship clock slowed down because of time dilation. The clock had an error in its measurement of motion. The actual duration of time in the spaceship didn’t change.
The Ageing Experience
Can we get younger using the science of time dilation?
We use time to keep track of the day’s events and to plan future events. But time is a measurement of motion, and it’s not the motion. Time is only a number on a clock.
The Twin Paradox spaceship’s time slowed down because of the force of gravity, but the duration of the trip was the same as passed on Earth.
Using the speed of light to travel doesn’t make you younger. In reality, it’s the opposite. Speed can kill you!
Speed comes with a force of acceleration that’s like gravity, and it can kill you.
The force of gravity changes not only a clock's time, but it changes the frequency of all matter in the spaceship and your body.
Accelerating to the speed of light puts gravitational stress on your heart and other body functions, slowing down your lifetime. You die from the force of gravity.
We measure our lifetime by the number of years we live, but the measurement isn’t our life. It’s just a number.
If you measure your heartbeat and it’s 72 ticks per minute. That’s 72 ticks, and it’s not the motion of your heart or the force that keeps your heart beating.
What determines how long we live?
Time doesn’t make us get older. Time is only a measurement of age.
We get older because of the physical and emotional stress we experience. We add to the measurement of our stress each time we have an injury or illness.
The fountain of youth depends on how much stress we experience. Time dilation can’t make us live longer, but we can add life to our years by avoiding stress.
Final Words of Wisdom
I’m sorry that we don’t have a way to get younger except by wearing make-up.
Thanks for your time with me. Visit me at https://lovinthings.com/
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