kbertsche writes:
But it is equally foolish to think that our experimentally-verified understanding of relativity is completely wrong. And if our understanding of relativity is basically correct, physical travel (i.e. transportation of matter) with large accelerations requires a large amounts of energy. Like it or not, new technologies, new energy sources, or new physics cannot change this. The only way to change this is to disprove our experimentally-verified theories of relativistic dynamics.
Theories are an approximation of "reality" that become more aligned with "reality" as more observations are made. The are significant gaps in our knowledge of both quantum mechanics and relativity, and it is currently thought that both are incomplete pieces of a larger picture. It would truly be foolish to emphatically rule out any means of interstellar travel without further investigation.
Furthermore, the current theories we have need not be proven completely incorrect to accommodate new possibilities. For example, just as Einstein modified Newtonian mechanics, so shall someone in the future modify Relativity.
Edited by RickJB, : No reason given.
Edited by RickJB, : No reason given.