McKellar’s Special Theory of Relative Time

Albert Einstein told us that the speed of light is the same for all observers, no matter what their speed relative to other objects. In other words, one’s perspective made no difference - the speed of light was a constant. 

I propose a new theory - a theory of relative time. 

Einstein believed that space and time could be bent or warped by forces in the universe such as gravity. For those of us trapped on Earth, and unable to approach the speed of light, or even the speed limit on route 495 at rush hour, Einstein’s theories are pretty esoteric - they don’t seem to factor into our daily lives. 

My Special Theory of Relative Time refutes Einstein’s findings and it’s all about our daily lives. 

On Earth, at the speed of a leisurely stroll or speeding car, time is relative. Time passes at different rates at different times. 

I can prove it. 

Think about how long a school year seems during those first few days. In September, June seems so far away that we'll never get there. It stretches out seemingly forever. Now, since we’re nearly at the end of the year, think about how fast it seemed to go.

See what I mean?

Time goes slower facing forward and faster looking backward.

My theory is valid for short periods of time and for long periods of time. Two examples:

• If you’re waiting at the dentist's office for an hour and you’re bored, time passes infinitely slowly. That hour seems like two weeks, but once it’s over, it doesn’t seem so long.

• When I was in middle school, the idea of being older than my father was inconceivable to me. He was in his 40‘s. My life stretched out beyond the horizon. It was forever as far as I could tell. Now, at nearly 55 years old, I am older than my father was at that time by a good measure. I am more than half-way, and probably more like two-thirds through my life. It’s gone by so fast, looking back.

Where does the time go? 

So slow looking forward. 

So fast looking backward.

Time is relative. It’s easy to be seduced by the view looking forward into believing you have all the time in the world. In reality, time goes by so fast - too fast. Too fast to justify wasting it.