# Anti-Relativity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 15, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600 "2003-10-15T16:41:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/1 "2003-10-15T16:41:07Z")

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As I understand it, the Special Theory of Relativity has three distortions associated with approaching the speed of light (as viewed from a relatively stationary observer):

Time dialates (stretches out) to infinity and effectively stops altogether  
Length in the direction of travel contracts to zero  
Mass increases to infinity

What if we messed with the equasions so the OPPOSITE happens?

Time speeds up, length stretches out, and mass dropps to zero?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/2 "2003-10-15T16:43:59Z")

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Then you would have a model that makes no sense.

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**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/3 "2003-10-15T16:51:28Z")

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You do understand that those three equations aren’t axioms of relativity, right? That they’re consequences of the axiom that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant for all observers?

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**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/4 "2003-10-15T17:22:08Z")

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What do you mean by what happens? What happens is what you describe as you’ve invented you own set of transformations which can’t be used to describe physical situations.

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/5 "2003-10-15T17:56:23Z")

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I figured, from the three transformations, you could backtrack a strange answer.

When you plug in a superluminal velocity, mass goes past infinity and ends up a negative imaginary number.

erhaps AntiRelativity produces something similar, like -©i or some strange negative dimension analogous to spacetime.

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-relativity/207600/6 "2003-10-15T18:13:18Z")

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Well, it’s clearly not what really happens in our universe - this can be verified in the lab. But is it consistent?

I don’t know. I’ll think about it.