The rejection, contrary to the logic of the theory of relativity, of superluminal velocities (and thereby of negative time) led to the notion that, after making a loop through outer space and returning to Earth, the traveler twin would turn out to be younger than his stay-at-home brother.
A paradox that is still considered unresolved to this day.
Yet recognizing the reality of negative time solves this paradox very simply. What, then, is time that flows backward, from the future into the past?
A person registers photons only at the moment they strike the retina. Any emission of photons always occurs before it is seen, because photons need a certain amount of time to reach the observer.
Therefore, the motion of photons, and of all objects in general that approach the observer, takes place “from earlier to later,” from the past into the future, in ordinary positive time, with its absolute values increasing.
Accordingly, movement away from the observer means motion backward, from the future into the past, going ever deeper as the distance from the recipient increases.
That is, by changing direction in space, the traveler also changes the direction of motion in time.
Therefore, during a “there-and-back” journey, the difference between the readings of the traveler’s clock and the homebody’s clock, arising and increasing on the way “out,” decreases on the way back and disappears completely at the moment the twins meet.
The logical error that led to the paradox, as we can see, consisted in ignoring the vector of motion and taking into account only the magnitude of velocity.
Unfortunately, negative time flowing backward (from the future into the past) is still far from being recognized by all researchers.
This happens because, at ordinary subluminal velocities, the time of a moving object is “compressed,” but always remains the familiar, positive time.
At the speed of light, an object sets out and reaches its goal synchronously. Its time is “zeroed out.” The traveler is as though “multiplied,” being in several places at once, that is, acquiring the properties of a wave. Superluminal objects, however, are constantly in negative time, since they always outrun the light wave with which they initially stood “on the same starting line.” In principle, they cannot be visually monitored and make themselves known only through indirect signs.
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