Lately, I’ve been curious about relativity, the idea that time is not an absolute but instead is inextricably linked to our frame of reference (see website on Einstein’s Special Relativity). Psychologically speaking, if feels right. After all isn’t much of our experience of reality fundamentally based on our unique perspective? For this to be mirrored in the physical world makes some kind of sense perhaps.
Although relativity is often associated with Einstein, it seems that it was Galileo who discussed the principle of relative motion. In his paradigm, a stationary observer will see things differently from an individual in motion. Galileo suggested that motion is a ‘subjective’ element in the laws of nature (Sachs, 2005). The frame of reference is the key.
Einstein’s theory of special relativity built on Galileo’s principle of relativity but presents a new understanding of time (Sachs, 2005). Previously, scientists had thought time to be absolute but Michelson’s experiments for instance showed that the speed of light did not change but remained constant. Einstein’s theory differed from Galileo’s principle of relativity in that he considered time to be relative to the frame of reference as opposed to an absolute.
To illustrate the point; if someone went off travelling round the moon in a rocket close to the speed of light, their individual experience of time would remain consistent. However, Einstein’s theory predicts that when their frame of reference is changed, that is, when they arrive back home, less time would have appeared to have passed for them compared to those who stayed on Earth. (see wikipedia entry for more on this).
Ultimately, it’s quite radical to think about time as a flexible idea rather than an unchanging constant. Perhaps the laws of physics show us a deeper truth about our existence; that our frame of reference literally shapes our reality. From a psychological perspective, I wonder if our experience of time is, in a sense, a subjective idea depending on our mood or what we are doing. Perhaps we carry our own version of time with us wherever we go.
References:
Sachs, M. (2005) Motion in Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Comparisons with Classical Views.
Journal of Multibody Dynamics 219, 125
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment
Bibliography:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/questions_and_ideas/special_relativity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity
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