Quote:
|
Originally Posted by lindagarrette
Events occur in natural sequence whether we are there to perceive them or not. What could possibly alter the order?
|
While it’s true that the order of events detected by a particular, unaccelerating observer, is well defined, there are many ways to alter that order, such as
- Change your location relative to the objects (A & B) for which the events are to be detected. If you are now closer to A than before, events that once appears simultaneous at A and B now appear to happen first at A, then at B.
- Change your velocity relative to the objects. For a classic example, see ”the barn & pole paradox”
For observers objects with non-zero relative positions and velocities, simultaneity is alterable.
Because we can account for these order-altering effects, it’s still meaningful to speak of an “absolute” order of event, but we must acknowledge that the choice of a particular order of events to be “absolute” is in a sense arbitrary, and depends on our choice of the inertial frame of observation.
