Eh, yeah, just a little bit. Here's a neophyte question. So if Alice zooms out from where Bob stands a good long ways at a substantial fraction of the speed of light, to Alice, Bob's clock would slow down. And to Bob, Alice's clock would also slow down. Then if Alice quickly changed directions and came back to the same spot, coming in Alice's clock would look slow to Bob, and at the same time Bob's clock would look slow to Alice. As far as I understand it, to each one, it would appear that that one had gone through more time than the other. What went on here? After Alice's return, is Alice or is Bob "older?" Or are they the same? This is what always puzzled me. Is this question even sensical? Where should I read to understand this better?
Thing is, you can't instantaneously change directions. You have to accelerate. And that is where all the really interesting things happen that aren't taught to most college students because the math gets very complex (very elegant, but very complex).
I am sure Danelle can explain it better, but all the interesting stuff happens when you accelerate. That is when clocks run faster (relatively).
Adam Augustine
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