We don’t have time to think about relativity right now

The thing about telling my nametag story to new people is, there’s a certain amount of processing time that has to occur.

In fact, relativity comes into play. Stick with me here, this is about to get weird.

Okay, so, in the field of physics, relativity is the dependence of various phenomena on relative motion of the observer and the observed objects, especially regarding the nature and behavior of time.

For example, say my group of friends is having dinner. Two of whom have known me for several years and heard my nametag story hundreds of times, and two of whom have only known me for a few minutes and are now hearing my nametag story for the very first time.

Within thirty seconds of answering the question as to why there is a sticker on my shirt, these two new people are forced to think about an entire universe of ideas that they’ve never had to think about before.

Like how a person logistically wears a nametag every single day. What implications that experiment might have on social interactions on public transportation, Where a nametag might be inappropriate or dangerous. What happens when you wash a nametag in the laundry? And so on.

Watching people’s brains cycle through all these new thoughts is fascinating. Their minds turn like hamster wheels. It’s like they’re playing catch up on my identity.

But that’s where relativity comes in. Because for the other two people at the dinner table, the old friends who barely even notice my nametag anymore, they’re also watching these two new people play catch up.

And so, for them, time temporarily slows down. It’s relative motion. Time shrinks and expands according to our labels.

Ain’t that wild? Isn’t life interesting?

As usual, there’s no real point here. This is just science banging on our door once again.

Einstein probably would have loved nametags.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How does time shrink or expand according to your social interactions?