Someone please correct me if I misunderstand, but it might be more useful to phrase it as, "the speed through time is a function of the speed through space"
The whole point of relativity is that space and time are part of the same fabric: spacetime. Movement through both is relative, and inseparable. The Lorentz factor is a factor for distance, time, and mass.
Even the word "movement" indicates this connection. You can not move if you have no time. And although it may be hard to imagine, the opposite is also true. Time doesn't really make any sense without space -- nothing can happen and therefore it can't take time. I am not a physicist, but I like to imagine that space actually created time. As soon as something separates from a singularity, you have time. It also makes me feel a lot more comfortable about quantum physics. Once you get smaller than a Lorenz wavelength, you don't really have space any more, just a probability that a particle may be somewhere and it magically teleports around. Well, you have to expect that, really, because if travel no distance, it can not (by definition) take any time. Probably not actually how things work, but it makes my brain happy anyway...
scottie_m|7 years ago
mikekchar|7 years ago