Gatsby

I didn't say time dilation was an illusion. If you are in a spaceship traveling at 99.99% of the speed of light will you age slower or faster then a person on the ground? You have your clock on the spaceshipe and he has his on the ground. According to you your clock will be normal. According to him your clock will be slower then his. If your clock is indeed slower then his will time be equal to both of you?

I have noticed that there are some individuals who are having a difficult time understanding time dilation. Here is my attempt to try and clarify this. Imagine you are sitting on a race horse, backwards (facing the horse's tail), in the starting gate and you are looking at a clock. Now, imagine that race horse suddenly turns into a beam of light (Einstein imagining what it would be like to ride a beam of light). The time reads 11:59:57, 3 seconds away from 12:00:00 noon. The instant the clock ticks 12:00:00 noon, and not a nanosecond later, the gate opens and that beam of light takes off. Now remember, you were looking at that clock at the instant it turned 12:00:00 noon. All you will see is that clock at 12:00:00 noon. Now, one second later the clock reads 12:00:01. Will you see that clock reading 12:00:01? No. Why? Because the image of that clock now reading 12:00:01 will "never" catch up to you. You are riding a beam of light traveling at the speed of light. Nothing will be able to catch up to you, not even the image of the clock when it is reading 12:00:01 because that image is basically chasing after you at the speed of light, the "exact" same speed you are going while riding that beam of light. In order for the image of the clock at 12:00:01 to catch up to you it would have to travel "faster" then the speed of light (the speed you are traveling while riding that beam of light) and we know nothing can go faster then the speed of light. So if the image of 12:00:01 can "never" catch up to you riding that beam of light how can time pass you by? It can't. Hence, for you, time has stood still. It can "never" pass you by while you are riding that beam of light (traveling at the speed of light). In order for the image of the clock at 12:00:01 to catch up to you so you can see it you would have to be traveling slower then the speed of light. This brings me to the next step that people seem to have a problem with. Aging. If the beam of light you are riding slowed down to 99.99% of the speed of light eventually the image of the clock reading 12:00:01 will catch up to you because it is traveling "at" the speed of light. Faster then you are traveling. But, it will take quite awhile for that image to catch up to you. As the image is trying to catch up to you time is passing by a person who is "not" traveling at the speed of light in the way we would expect time to pass us by. Nothing unusual there. So, the seconds are ticking by (time passing by) for the person who is "not" traveling at the speed of light in the way we are all familiar with. However, this is "not" true for you when riding that beam of light at 99.99% of the speed of light. The image of the clock at 12:00:01 will eventually catch up to you riding the beam of light at 99.99% because the 12:00:01 image is traveling faster then you riding the beam of light. The question is "when" will the 12:00:01 image (time) catch up to you riding the beam of light? It will naturally take awhile for the 12:00:01 image (time) to catch up to you riding the beam of light. Now, let's go back to the person who is "not" traveling at the speed of light, where time is normal as we are familiar with. As the seconds tick by for him (time passing him by) the 12:00:01 image (time) has "not caught up to you riding the beam of light. Days go by, weeks go by, years go by for the person "not" traveling at the speed of light and "still" the 12:00:01 image (time) has not caught up to you riding the beam of light because there is a very, very slight difference in the speed between you riding the beam of light and the 12:00:01 image (time). Finally, the person "not" traveling at the speed of light is told that the 12:00:01 image (time) has finally caught up to you riding the beam of light, 60 years "after" the gate opened. It took 60 years for the person "not" traveling at the speed of light to be informed that the 12:00:01 image (time) has finally caught up you riding the beam of light. The person "not" traveling at the speed of light is 60 years older. Remember, you started riding the beam of light at exactly 12:00:00 and, "relative" to the person "not traveling near the speed of light, it took the 12:00:01 image (time) 60 years to catch up to you riding the beam of light because the difference in speed between you riding the beam of light and the 12:00:01 image (time) was extremely small. Since one second is "time" that means that when the 12:00:01 image (time) caught up to you (passes you by) you are only one second older, "not" 60 years older. Hope this clears up any questions anyone has about these topics.