1
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why can't i understand the andromeda paradox?
« on: Yesterday at 16:02:05 »Halc, I would argue that the two participants have contradictory positions: one says the decision has not been made yet and the other says the fleet is in transit already.Yes,l those statements are contradictory, but neither of them says those things. Both statements presume absolute simultaneity by their omission of frame references, and it can easily be shown that neither postulate of special relativity can be true if the premise of absolute simultaneity (an intuitive assumption) is taken.
Part of the confusion is the statement of something not measured: 'The Andromedons are considering whether to attack' for instance is not something that anybody has measured. It is simply an abstract statement, a description of the scenario in question by the narrator so to speak. No observer can measure this, certainly not A and B. Likewise, if Andromedons are somehow considering an attack on Earth, it isn't against humans since there's no way they could have yet measured a species yet to have evolved. We are no more fact to an Andromedon obesrver than they are fact to us.
The following users thanked this post: paul cotter