03Interp

Adapted for the Internet from:

Why God Doesn't Exist

None of the three length contraction
versions of relativity is rational

One serious shortcoming of the length-contraction theory is that relativists draw three different

conclusions

from

the equation.

Some believe that the traveler notices no changes in his vicinity

while others predict that

he will.

Others believe that a stationary

observer will notice

changes of

far away objects. Yet others believe

that the

contraction is not just an issue of measurement and

perceptions, but that it is a real phenomenon

(

Fig. 1

)

. The traveler has trouble measuring lengths and distances

in his direction of motion

“ an observer travelling at the speed of light …would measure all distances

in the direction

of motion as

0.”

[

]

“ An observer in motion relative to an object measures the length of that object

along the

direction of motion

to be contracted when compared to the length

measured by an observer

at rest relative to the object.”

[

]

“

An observer moving with respect to an object will observe it to be contracted

along the direction of motion

.”

[

]

Although lengths and distances shrink in the direction of motion, for odd reasons, the distance

from the

traveler’s

face to the end

of his nose (i.e.,

the

length

of his nose

) seems to suffer no

change:

“ An observer moving with the velocity, v, of the stick will discover, however, that in his

frame

of reference,

the stick, at rest, still has the length Lo.”

[

]

. A stationary observer sees and measures that the traveler and his ruler are flatter

when

they move

orthogonally

with respect

to his line of sight:

“ the source of light and the mirror draw closer together when the system is moving

lengthwise.”

[

]

“ Let us consider a stick, which, at rest, has the length Lo, moving with respect to a

stationary observer with

the velocity v parallel to its length. The stationary observer will

discover that, in his frame of reference, the

stick has suffered a contraction.”

[

]

“ When an object (with mass) is in motion, its measured length shrinks in the direction of its

motion. If the

object reaches the speed of light, its measured length shrinks to nothing.

Only a

person that is in a different

frame of reference from the object would be able to

detect the

shrinking - as far as the object is concerned, in

its frame of reference, its size

remains the

same.”

[

]

. The traveler and everything around him

actually

(physically) shrink:

“ This transformation represents an actual change in the dimensions of length and of time,

not

just a

shortening of rulers or a slowing of clocks, and not just a visual effect.”

[

]

“ These effects are not merely appearances”

[

]

[

So Bill? Why do you say that the mathematicians of the world are a bunch of stupid

morons?

]

Fig. 1

The three physical interpretations relativists give to the Lorentz Fitzgerald equation

I didn't see
any contraction

< The traveler measures shorter
lengths and/or distances, allegedly in
his direction of travel. It is important to
note that we can only measure lengths
sideways. Therefore, the question is,
how does the traveler certify that
length contracted ‘in his direction of
travel’?

< A stationary observer measures
shorter lengths and/or distances of
speeding objects. The observer is
measuring lengths and distances per-
pendicularly to the traveler’s direction
of travel. An observer may at best
enjoy a side view.

Objects and/or distances actually flatten
in the direc-tion of travel irrespective of
measurements or observers.