Thinking Space

In his theory of special relativity, Einstein explained to us that two events can happen simultaneously from the perspective of one observer, yet happen at different times from the perspective of the other. And both observers would be right.

Imagine that you as an observer standing on a railway platform as a train goes by. While the train’s midpoint is passing; each end of the train is struck by a bolt of lightning. Because both the lightning strikes are the same distance from you the observer, their light reaches your eyes at the same time and you experience that both events have happened simultaneously.

Meanwhile, another observer on the train, sitting at its exact midpoint also sees the lightning but experiences that both lightning strikes didn’t happen simultaneously rather the front of the train lightning happened first. He is also right from his perspective. Why?. Because he is moving along the train, the light coming from the lightning from the rear has to travel farther to catch up, so it reaches him a few instants later than the light coming from the front.

Both are correct interpretations of the events from each person’s perspective. Yet in life we often think someone is wrong without understanding how other person might have created his/her perspective. Most of the time there is never an absolute reality and multiple perspectives are the only way to understand a situation. What you see is never all there is.