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Time Dilation in SW

Discussion in 'General Movie Discussion' started by Lock_S_Foils, Apr 7, 2017.

  1. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    I have always wondered about that pesky Newtonian time dilation and if it is mentioned anywhere in the SW EU? I am an avid reader of SF and one of my favorite authors is Joe Haldeman, and his classic book "The Forever War" (if you like SF and haven't read it HIGHLY recommend it).

    In this book, Haldeman uses time dilation as a core element of the story.....basically Earth is at war with an alien race called the "Taurans". The ships in the book can travel quite fast at sublight velocities like .25C between "collapsars" or discontinuities in space/time that allow near instantaneous travel thousands of light years between them. However, the time dilation creates interesting situations like fighting an enemy from your future (with more advanced weapons) for example. Also, although the main character WIlliam Mandella only fights like 12 yrs of battle (according to his frame of reference), when he returns to Earth , 341 years have passed!

    Wondering if time dilation is covered anywhere in the books or comics, related to the SW universe. I understand the SW galaxy covers a distance of 120,000 light years across.....
     
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  2. Grand Master Galen Marek

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    I haven't seen or ready anything about it...yet, but I'll get this one a good one after Celebration.
     
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  3. cawatrooper

    cawatrooper Dungeon Master

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    Sounds like a neat book!

    Yeah, as far as I know, it's never been a factor in Star Wars- but that's not too surprising. Star Wars often ignores the more Sci-Fi elements in favor of a more fantasy-like story. That's why we have big loud and flashy space battles, unlikely geographies, and ... well, space wizards. In Star Wars, FTL travel/hyperspace is basically treated simply as "going really fast".

    There's been theories that Luke and Leia, though twins, aren't the same age, given the varying amounts of FTL travel that they experience, and while I think that's a really fascinating thing to ponder, the series itself doesn't really bother with it- and honestly, it's kind of hard to blame them. "The Forever War" sounds like it uses this concept to full effect, but Star Wars would be heavily limited by something like that. I mean, if Palpatine was on Coruscant, the entire Rebel Alliance could just fly around in hyperspace for a month or so in their time, and a millennium can pass on Coruscant in which Palps would be long dead.
     
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  4. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    Yes if you are a fan of Sci Fi, highly recommend anything by Joe Haldeman. My favorites of his are "The Forever War" and "Old Twentieth". By the way, if by FTL you mean "faster than light" travel - it is not FTL that creates the problems with time dilation. It is actually sublight velocities approaching the speed of light (c). In "The Forever War" it wasn't the instantaneous travel between collapsars that created the time problems, it was when they were blasting away at like .25c-.5c for extended periods.

    I see your point about SW not messing too much with science, etc. That's part of the reason I guess that "Trekkies" turn up their noses at us SW fans. I guess we could dedicate a thread or two to the "Star Trek vs Star Wars" discussion.:rolleyes:
     
  5. Daft Ada

    Daft Ada Rebelscum

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    Star Wars isn't sci-fi, so...
     
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  6. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    Yes and let's keep it that way! No United Federation of Planets with starships that all look like frisbees with sausages for engines....
     
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  7. Daft Ada

    Daft Ada Rebelscum

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    Amen to that. I remember a good few years ago there was an incident of a Trek fan appearing on a tv show, dressed as a Federation admiral or somesuch. Anyway, apparently there was something wrong with the costume he was wearing - some incidental detail that only a devoted fan would notice, the kind of fan who doesn't get out much - and as a result a death threat was issued to the fan on the tv show (I'm not even making this up) by the devoted, frothing-at-the-mouth, doesn't-get-out-much fan. At the time I thought, "You'd never get a Star Wars fan carrying on like that". Nowadays, I'm not so sure...

    I've seen some of the idiocy that goes down on the internet where such things are concerned. This forum must be the only place where there seems to be a healthy dose of perspective about the films.
     
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  8. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    Interesting point........kind of amazing how, over the years, that SW fans have learned more and know more about the subject matter than the directors, producers, actors, etc. You see it all the time know during those "actor panels" at SW celebrations where the actors from a SW movie take questions from the crowd. Most of the time the crowd knows more about the subject matter, i.e. the SW Universe, than the people on the stage. Did you see when the dude asked JJ Abrams about Darth Plagueis? Abrams had no idea who Plagueis was.....and Daisy Ridley then blurted out "Oh, isn't that S----" (sounded like she was going to say Snoke) whereby Abrams cut her off.

    In the beginning Lucas knew it all.....then over the generations the knowledge of SW has passed to us. One of the things about Harrison Ford that always bothered me was his laid-back attitude about SW.....good to see interviews of Ridley and Boyega and how much awed they are of the whole SW experience and seem to take it very seriously (they want to get it right) ....
     
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  9. Daft Ada

    Daft Ada Rebelscum

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    Well, for Star Wars fans, Star Wars is their life while for the people involved in making the films it's just another job (unless you're Anthony Daniels or Peter Mayhew in which case Star Wars is their life as much as any fanboy's). Obviously for George Lucas it's something more than that but even he couldn't get the music cues right when Seth McFarlane quizzed him on them during an interview a few years back!

    JJ Abrams being unaware of Plagueis is pretty shameful to me because I'm a fan (and also because I'm pretty protective over the prequels and have my suspicions about their being a not-so hidden agenda that there are certain folk who would like those films air-brushed from history. Paranoid? Me?! Well, maybe slightly but I have been told that perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.).

    I don't think even George Lucas himself knew everything about his creation. Then again, Sir Christopher Lee said that he was amazed when George gave him Dooku's backstory and that it was four pages long, detailing the planet he came from and all sorts of interesting stuff. And who am I to question a Knight of the Realm?

    Personally I love Harrison Ford's attitude to the films. He was asked recently about the whole Greedo-shoots-first controversy and his answer was priceless: "I don't care. What amazes me is that people do care." You should have seen the face on the bloke who asked him the question. I thought he was going to burst into tears. That said, after years of distancing himself from the films and Han Solo, he said he finally understands and appreciates how much these films mean to people and, in the same interview, he nailed what was so important about The Force Awakens: family. Of course, the interviewer clearly held TIE fighters in higher regard and Harrison Ford said something to the effect that if that's all the audience remembered from the film, then Abrams and co had failed in their job.

    As someone who couldn't give a hoot if they never saw a TIE fighter or an AT-AT ever again, I have to say I'm firmly in Harrison Ford's camp on this one.
     
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  10. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    Daft Ada I have been on here for nearly two months and have seen quite a few of your posts....really enjoy your insight and perspective! I also know how passionate you are about the prequels! And you are right about Ford....I know he kind of "came around" concerning his views of the importance of SW to us fans before and after the filming of TFA. This is an interesting discussion as I just replied to another thread on here about The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) - my other passion besides SW (well hold on, besides my wife and kids of course!)....anyway....it really shows how incredible that JRR Tolkien was, as he knew EVERYTHING about LOTR from the beginning. If you have ever read the book "The letters of JRR Tolkien" it really shows his brilliance and how he built the entire LOTR "universe" in his head from the beginning - while it seemed Lucas kind of made things up on the fly.....and also had his "universe" fleshed out by others.
     
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  11. Daft Ada

    Daft Ada Rebelscum

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    I read that line and feared what was coming next. I am - so I've been told - a divisive character. Better to provoke an extreme response than none at all, though. Thank you for the compliment :)

    I have just posted on the Lord Of The Rings thread, actually. We might not find total agreement on that issue! But I agree that Tolkien's attention to world-building is staggering and truly inspiring to anyone who has similar aspirations. I think George Lucas's approach was altogether looser and "funkier". Some things he made up, some things were deeply researched, some things he went with based on a whimsy while others he agonised over and sought out advice from his peers and mentors.
     
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