Peter Pan Stopped Time

Posted by Gramarye on May 3, 2011, 11:51 a.m.

If time was stopped, then you wouldn't cast a shadow. Normally, a shadow appears when you block the path of light so it can't reach a spot. But if time was stopped, light wouldn't move, and therefore it wouldn't matter if you blocked its path. Your shadow would actually stay in the spot where you first stopped time, because the light wouldn't be moving in to fill the spot you blocked. You would 'lose' your shadow until you started time again.

Actually, as I'm writing this, I thought of something else that basically invalidates it. How would you even be able to see? Your eyes depend on light bouncing off of surfaces and then into their receptors. No time, no movement; no movement, receptors get nothing. What if you were walking? You would actually be moving your eyes and their receptors into the light particles. What would that be like?

C'mon, somebody, lend me your time-stopping device, I've got to do some experimentation.

Comments

Zarniwooop 13 years, 6 months ago

Yup, everything would become black. Interesting concept about walking into lightparticles though.

PY 13 years, 6 months ago

You're missing the bigger point.

If time stopped, you couldn't move at all. Primarily because time has stopped. Secondarily because air is a thing, and if it can't get out of the way, you ain't going nowhere. Thirdly because of #2, you can't breath.

There are times when the MST3K Mantra should be employed. Stopping time is one of them.

sirxemic 13 years, 6 months ago

That's why you shouldn't stop time, but just make it like 10000x slower.

Moikle 13 years, 6 months ago

you wouldn't be able to breathe or move either because the air would be stopped too.

also, when you unfreeze time, all the energy which you transferred to your surroundings would suddenly work all at once. so in theory, if you stopped time, you would produce a certain amount of energy in absolutely no time at all, and therefor create infinite acceleration on everything in the universe.

… i think

Gramarye 13 years, 6 months ago

PY, you have a really good point. I would hope the time-stop device would include safety features counteracting those, though. :)

PY 13 years, 6 months ago

There is no way around it, you can't stop, slow, or reverse time without coming up against some serious issues. Accept it for what it is - entertaining nonsense.

It's just a show, you really should relax.

Cesar 13 years, 6 months ago

And that's assuming that slowing, stopping, or reversing time is even possible.

You could get around it by saying that your brain's operating rate spontaneously doubles or triples in speed in order to slow the passage time relative to what it normally is (which does happen in fight or flight situations).

But time travel is physically impossible without approaching the speed of light (which is in itself impossible), and that only makes time pass slower.

firestormx 13 years, 6 months ago

But remember that time is relative, and that gravity effects time, and mass effects gravity. (basically what rawrspoon said)

Like Xemic said; you shouldn't try and stop time, just make everything else around move slower, or else you move faster.

Start working out, so that you lose weight - ideally you should become massless, and get an army of skinny friends around you so that you are surrounded by less mass. Time for you should go by faster than the "hot" girls who surround themselves with fat friends to make themselves look hotter.

Ta-dah!

Also, approaching the speed of light is not impossible. As long as there is mass in this universe, you can convert it to energy, and thus approach the speed of light.

…But what if there was no mass in the universe, would you be able to match the speed of light? =O

Cesar 13 years, 6 months ago

No, it's pretty much impossible to get a considerable amount of time dilation. The energy required rapidly approaches infinity.

firestormx 13 years, 6 months ago

Yes, but it does not reach infinity, until you attempt to surpass the speed of light.

Therefore, you can theoretically approach the speed of light.