Space and Time

I've postulated the three fundaments of Creation to be Matter, Space, and Time. Tonight I'm considering the latter pair.

I live in Michigan. I have friends in Minnesota who want me to visit; if I were to make this trip I would be crossing from EST to CST on the way there, and from CST to EST on the way back, making for a near-10 hour trip one way and a near-12 hour return trip. Same span of distance, different spans of time. Obviously this makes sense within the context of a sun-based calandar: as I travel West I chase the sun, slowing down the passage of the day; as I travel back East, the sun chases me, speeding up the passage of the day.

If time itself is based on the sun, then travelling West should slow the aging process. "Go West, young man" takes on a new level of meaning. Theoretically, if I can travel East-to-West as fast as the earth rotates West-to-East, it should always be the same time and I will stop aging altogether—or like Superman, I can fly around the world faster than its rotation and actually travel back in time, or at least grow younger myself.

Of course, it is silly to suppose that time is controlled by the earth’s rotation. Time and motion, however, are certainly linked. Einstein’s Relativity suggests that time is elastic—that is to say, it is not constant, but passes fast or slowly relative to…well, relative to what, is the question.