Time Dilation

When one begins to examine the physics described by Einstein, the universe truly becomes a complex and intriguing place, far more complex than I believe Newton or any other early physicists could have imagined it to be. Honestly, I don’t know if Newton could have imagined anything as complicated as Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. To think that something as abstract as time dilation could exist is very difficult to comprehend.
Since class on Wednesday, during which time we discussed relativity, I have spent much time thinking about time dilation as well as length contraction and what it all really means. It is clear that time dilation and length contraction have large consequences for human behavior. If it is real it may have severe consequences for mankind in the future if we ever achieve near light speed travel. By traveling near light speed, will we face a situation in which time passes differently for different people? If people are living on different planets, does this mean that time will pass differently for them as they travel to different planets at these high speeds? Of course, by the time we established this speed of near light travel, we may have established alternative methods of travel that resemble those of science fiction novels and movies. In many of these movies and books faster than light travel is accomplished through means such as wormholes or what some have termed “slipspace”. Through these alternative methods, time dilation problems during travel can be avoided; however, these methods are highly theoretical, perhaps only truly existing in science fiction. Therefore, the question must be asked, how can such a problem be avoided?
It is also entirely possible that I am simply misunderstanding Einstein’s theories. Perhaps Einstein’s theory of relativity would not apply in these instances. Despite this, I cannot help but to think that time dilation may merely be an illusion. Perhaps it is merely a result of the fact that light cannot travel fast enough to make the clock appear that it moves at what would be termed “normal” speed at no relative motion. The image of the clock ticking cannot reach the receiver’s eyes fast enough so that it appears that it is moving. The clock is actually ticking; it just doesn’t appear that it is. Nevertheless, if it were true, I suppose it would result in merely an instance of time appearing to slow down proceeded by the resumption of visible time at the speed people are accustomed to. Despite this, if all visible objects were within the capsule moving at this high speed, one would not notice a change. Because everything is speeding up at the same speed, there would be no relative difference of velocity between the person and everything within the capsule. If one were to look outside the capsule, however, the changes would be present. Thus, when the capsule returns to relative rest, time would speed up momentarily to adjust to what it appears it to be for the relative still person. Time dilatation is therefore nothing more than an illusion merely resulting from our senses. However, I do believe that there are probably certain mathematical aspects that I am missing that would probably nullify the made statement.
The same principle would apply to length contraction. Length contraction could merely be an illusion brought about by a fault in our visual sense. Time dilation and length contraction may be able to be viewed in a similar way as the Doppler effect. While it has been much time since I last took a physics course, I do recognize that the Doppler effect deals with motion and sound, therefore, perhaps it is somewhat of an equivalent to time dilation or length contraction.
Relativity is clearly a quite complex topic that takes much time and study to completely understand. It is at a point such as this that we come very close to crossing the line between philosophy and science. Philosophy, which covers topics science cannot now answer or may not be able to answer, often comes very close to explaining the universe in similar terms to Einstein, simply without the math. It is in the future that answers to the questions man has asked for as long as he could think rationally will hopefully be answered.