How does relativistic time work. I just read Project Hail Mary and the space science went over my head. Why would a person experience less time the faster they go? They kept saying once you get to a certain speed you experience time differently, but what does that mean?
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This may be a horrible way to explain it but light has no speed. As far as light is concerned, its trip is instantaneous yet we perceive said trip to have time.
So now imagine you can travel at or near the speed of light from Proxima Centauri. It’s 4.5 light years away. From light’s perspective, its trip is instant and it didn’t age at all. We perceive the time in light hence taking it 4.5 years to get here.
So, a simple thought experiment is: if you were to travel at it near the speed of light, you’d get here real quick per your perception but everyone would be 5 years older when you got here
Edited. I’m being downvoted but this video explains it: https://youtu.be/ACUuFg9Y9dY
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