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MidReal Story
Timebound Lessons
Scenario:I taught Einstein relativity.
Create my version of this story
Michael Jennings
high school student, mentee of Emily, tall with glasses, curious and intelligent.
Emily Carter
high school physics teacher, mentor to students, short brown hair, enthusiastic and quirky.
Sarah Lee
high school student and Michael's friend, relationship with Michael and Emily as classmates, long black hair, skeptical yet supportive.
I was in the middle of explaining the theory of relativity to my high school physics class when I had an epiphany.
I’d been struggling with how to explain the concept in a way that would make sense to them, and then it hit me.
I knew exactly what to say.
"Okay, so let’s say you’re on a date with someone you really like," I began, pacing back and forth in front of the whiteboard.
"You’re having a great time, and you look at your watch and realize it’s almost midnight."
I paused for effect.
"But you don’t want the date to end, so you decide to stay out for just one more hour."
The students were all staring at me with blank expressions, but I didn’t let it faze me.
I’d learned long ago that they often looked confused even when they weren’t, so I just kept going.
"Then you look at your watch again, and it’s only ten o’clock," I said.
"You’ve only been out for two hours, but it feels like five minutes."
I stopped pacing and looked at them expectantly.
"Does anyone know why that is?"
There was a long pause, and then one of the students raised his hand.
"Yes, Michael?"
Michael Jennings was one of my favorite students.
"I think it’s because you’re having a good time, and time seems to pass more quickly when you’re doing something you enjoy," he said.
"Right," I said.
"But that’s not the whole story."
I turned back to the whiteboard and wrote the words "time dilation" in big, bold letters.
Michael stayed after class to talk to me about it.
"I’m still not sure I understand," he said.
"Okay," I said.
"Well, let me put it this way…"
I was in the middle of explaining the theory of relativity to my high school physics class when I had an epiphany.
I’d been struggling with how to explain the concept in a way that would make sense to them, and then it hit me.
I knew exactly what to say.
"Okay, so let’s say you’re on a date with someone you really like," I began, pacing back and forth in front of the whiteboard.
"You’re having a great time, and you look at your watch and realize it’s almost midnight."
I paused for effect.
"But you don’t want the date to end, so you decide to stay out for just one more hour."
The students were all staring at me with blank expressions, but I didn’t let it faze me.
"I’d learned long ago that they often looked confused even when they weren’t, so I just kept going.
"Then you look at your watch again, and it’s only ten o’clock," I said.
"You’ve only been out for two hours, but it feels like five minutes."
I stopped pacing and looked at them expectantly.
"Does anyone know why that is?"
There was a long pause, and then one of the students raised his hand.
"Yes, Michael?"
Michael Jennings was one of my favorite students.
He was tall and skinny with glasses that were always sliding down his nose, and he had an insatiable curiosity about everything.
"I think it’s because you’re having a good time, and time seems to pass more quickly when you’re doing something you enjoy," he said.
"Right," I said.
"But that’s not the whole story."
I turned back to the whiteboard and wrote the words "time dilation" in big, bold letters.
Michael stayed after class to talk to me about it.
"I’m still not sure I understand," he said.
"Okay," I said.
"Well, let me put it this way…"
Several days later, Michael was on a date with his best friend, Sarah Lee, and he decided to bring up the subject of time dilation to see what she thought about it.
"So let me get this straight," she said, raising an eyebrow skeptically as she stirred her milkshake with a straw.
"You’re saying that if you were to travel close to the speed of light, time would pass more slowly for you than for someone who was standing still?" "That’s right," Michael said, nodding eagerly.
"But you have to be going really, really fast for it to make a difference."
Sarah snorted.
"Okay, so when do you plan on going that fast?"
Michael frowned at her.
I’d been struggling with how to explain the concept in a way that would make sense to them, and then it hit me.
I knew exactly what to say.
"Okay, so let’s say you’re on a date with someone you really like," I began, pacing back and forth in front of the whiteboard.
"You’re having a great time, and you look at your watch and realize it’s almost midnight."
I paused for effect.
"But you don’t want the date to end, so you decide to stay out for just one more hour."
The students were all staring at me with blank expressions, but I didn’t let it faze me.
I’d learned long ago that they often looked confused even when they weren’t, so I just kept going.
"Then you look at your watch again, and it’s only ten o’clock," I said.
"You’ve only been out for two hours, but it feels like five minutes."
I stopped pacing and looked at them expectantly.
"Does anyone know why that is?"
There was a long pause, and then one of the students raised his hand.
"Yes, Michael?"
Michael Jennings was one of my favorite students.
He was tall and skinny with glasses that were always sliding down his nose, and he had an insatiable curiosity about everything.
"I think it’s because you’re having a good time, and time seems to pass more quickly when you’re doing something you enjoy," he said.
"Right," I said.
"But that’s not the whole story."
I turned back to the whiteboard and wrote the words "time dilation" in big, bold letters.
Michael stayed after class to talk to me about it.
"I’m still not sure I understand," he said.
"Okay," I said.
"Well, let me put it this way…"
Several days later, Michael was on a date with his best friend, Sarah Lee, and he decided to bring up the subject of time dilation to see what she thought about it.
"So let me get this straight," she said, raising an eyebrow skeptically as she stirred her milkshake with a straw.
"You’re saying that if you were to travel close to the speed of light, time would pass more slowly for you than for someone who was standing still?" "That’s right," Michael said, nodding eagerly.
"But you have to be going really, really fast for it to make a difference."
Sarah snorted.
"Okay, so when do you plan on going that fast?"
Michael frowned at her.
"Probably never, but that’s not the point," he said.
"The point is that it’s a real scientific thing that has been proven over and over again in countless experiments. For example, there are satellites that are orbiting the Earth at speeds close to the speed of light, and their clocks run slightly slower than clocks on the ground. So even though it might seem counterintuitive, time really does slow down when you’re moving fast."
Sarah rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her milkshake.
"Whatever," she said.
"That sounds like total bullshit to me."
Michael grinned.
"We’ll see about that."
Several weeks passed, and Michael spent all his free time researching the theory of relativity and reading everything he could find on the subject.
When he felt like he had a pretty good handle on it, he decided to conduct an experiment to prove to Sarah that it was true.
"Hey, Emily," Michael said when she answered the door a few days later.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course," she said, stepping aside to let him in.
"What’s up?"
Michael pushed his glasses up his nose and took a deep breath.
"I’ve been doing some research on time dilation," he said.
"And I think I might have figured out a way to prove it using a simple experiment. Would you mind taking a look at my notes and telling me if I’m on the right track?"
"I’d be happy to," Emily said with a smile as she led him into the living room.
A few minutes later, Sarah arrived, and Michael explained his theory to her as well.
Emily and Sarah exchanged skeptical glances, but they agreed to help him conduct the experiment nonetheless.
The next night, Michael met them at Emily’s house after dinner, and they spent the evening conducting the experiment and recording their results.
When they were finished, they sat down at the kitchen table with a bottle of wine and went over their findings in detail.
Emily and Sarah were both impressed by how thorough Michael had been in his research, and they were even more impressed by the results of the experiment they had conducted together.
"I have to say, I’m pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished here tonight," Emily said as she poured them each another glass of wine.
"I mean, it’s not every day that a high school student teaches me something new about physics."
"Thanks," Michael said with a shy smile.
"But I couldn’t have done it without your help."
Emily shook her head.
"Nonsense," she said.
"You’re the one who came up with the experiment and did all the hard work. I just helped you understand the theory behind it. And besides, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you guys tonight."
"Me too," Sarah said, giving Michael a playful shove.
"You’re such a geek, but I love it."
Michael grinned and took a sip of his wine.
"Hey, being a geek is cool these days," he said.
"Didn’t you know that?"
Sarah laughed and shook her head.
"Yeah, I guess you’re right," she said, poking him in the ribs.
"Especially when you can use your geeky superpowers to prove that time travel is real."
Michael shot her a mock glare.
"Time travel is not real!"
He insisted.
"And I never said it was. I just said that time dilation is real, and there’s a big difference between the two."
Sarah and Emily looked at each other and smiled.
"I think he likes being the smartest person in the room," Emily whispered.
Sarah nodded.
"Definitely," she whispered back.
"But he’s earned it, that’s for sure."
Emily nodded in agreement as she watched Michael launch into another detailed explanation of the theory of relativity.
After spending the next few weeks conducting more experiments and discussing the theory in great detail, Emily felt like Michael had a better understanding of the subject than most college students, and she was more than a little bit proud of him for how far he had come in such a short amount of time."I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by how much you’ve learned about the theory of relativity since that day we talked about it in class," she said one afternoon as they sat in the library working on their next experiment.
Michael shrugged.
"Thanks," he said, blushing slightly.
"But I was always interested in the subject. I guess I just needed someone to explain it to me in a way that made sense."
Emily smiled.
"Well, I’m glad it all worked out for you in the end," she said.
"And I’m sure your girlfriend is too."
Michael sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Yeah, about that…"
He said.
"It turns out that she’s not really my girlfriend anymore."
Emily raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
She said.
"What happened?"
Michael shrugged.
"Not much really," he said, shaking his head.
"We just decided that we’re better off as friends, you know?"
Emily nodded.
"Of course," she said, smiling at him reassuringly.
"But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet someone else soon enough."
Michael grinned and nodded.
"Thanks," he said.
"I hope so."
A few days later, Michael’s friends threw a party to celebrate his eighteenth birthday, and afterwards, they all went out for dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant.
As they sat around the table eating fried rice and chow mein, Michael’s friends took turns asking him questions about the theory of relativity, and he answered each one with ease and confidence.
Even Sarah, who had been his biggest skeptic, was impressed by how much he knew about the subject, and she listened intently as he explained it to her in great detail.
By the end of the night, Michael had managed to convince them all that time dilation was a real thing, and that it could be used to travel through time if you knew how to manipulate it to your advantage.
"I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by how much you’ve learned about the theory of relativity since that day we talked about it in class," she said one afternoon as they sat in the library working on their next experiment.
Michael shrugged.
"Thanks," he said, blushing slightly.
"But I was always interested in the subject. I guess I just needed someone to explain it to me in a way that made sense."
Emily smiled.
"Well, I’m glad it all worked out for you in the end," she said.
"And I’m sure your girlfriend is too."
Michael sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Yeah, about that…"
He said.
"It turns out that she’s not really my girlfriend anymore."
Emily raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
She said.
"What happened?"
Michael shrugged.
"Not much really," he said, shaking his head.
"We just decided that we’re better off as friends, you know?"
Emily nodded.
"Of course," she said, smiling at him reassuringly.
"But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet someone else soon enough."
Michael grinned and nodded.
"Thanks," he said.
"I hope so."
A few days later, Michael’s friends threw a party to celebrate his eighteenth birthday, and afterwards, they all went out for dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant.
As they sat around the table eating fried rice and chow mein, Michael’s friends took turns asking him questions about the theory of relativity, and he answered each one with ease and confidence.
Even Sarah, who had been his biggest skeptic, was impressed by how much he knew about the subject, and she listened intently as he explained it to her in great detail.
By the end of the night, Michael had managed to convince them all that time dilation was a real thing, and that it could be used to travel through time if you knew how to manipulate it to your advantage."I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by how much you’ve learned about the theory of relativity since that day we talked about it in class," she said one afternoon as they sat in the library working on their next experiment.
Michael shrugged.
"Thanks," he said, blushing slightly.
"But I was always interested in the subject. I guess I just needed someone to explain it to me in a way that made sense."
Emily smiled.
"Well, I’m glad it all worked out for you in the end," she said.
"And I’m sure your girlfriend is too."
Michael sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose.
And whenever he had a question, he would come to her for help, and she would do her best to explain it to him in a way that was easy for him to understand, without getting too bogged down in the technical details that often made it so hard for students to grasp the concepts behind the theory of relativity.
Over time, Michael’s understanding of the subject had grown by leaps and bounds, until he had reached the point where he was able to explain it to others with ease, as if the theory of relativity was something that he had known about all along, rather than some new concept that had only recently been introduced into his life.
Since then, he had become something of a time dilation expert among his friends, and they would often come up to him at parties, over lunch, or between classes, just so that they could ask him questions about the theory of relativity, and he would happily oblige them by giving them the answers they were looking for, while doing his best to explain it to them in terms they could understand, without getting too technical or complicated along the way."I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by how much you’ve learned about the theory of relativity since that day we talked about it in class," she said one afternoon as they sat in the library working on their next experiment.
As it turned out, all it had taken was a little nudge in the right direction to get them started on their journey through the mysteries of physics, and now they were well on their way to becoming time dilation experts themselves, much to Emily’s delight.
And while at first, they had been content to simply learn more about how the theory worked, over time, they had started asking questions that went far beyond that, such as whether or not it would be possible to use time dilation as a way to travel back in time, or what kinds of effects it might have on your body if you were to experience it firsthand.
Of course, Emily didn’t have all the answers to those questions, but she did her best to help them figure things out for themselves, while encouraging them to explore their own curiosities along the way.
And so, over time, Michael and Sarah had become more than just students who needed her help with their homework; they had become friends who shared her passion for learning new things, especially when those things happened to be related to the theory of relativity.
And so, over time, Michael and Sarah had become more than just students who needed her help with their homework; they had become friends who shared her passion for learning new things, especially when those things happened to be related to the theory of relativity.
She could still remember how surprised they had both been when she had first started explaining time dilation to them, using her own aging as an example of how it worked, and now they were practically experts on the subject, always eager to learn more, no matter how complicated things might get along the way.
In fact, just a few days ago, Michael had come up to her after class to tell her about a new theory he had read online, one that suggested that time dilation might be able to help astronauts travel through time if they were able to move fast enough.
Apparently, the theory was that if you were to spend a year in space traveling at close to the speed of light, by the time you returned to Earth, thousands of years could have passed for everyone else, which meant that in a way, you would have traveled thousands of years into the future, even though you yourself wouldn’t have aged at all.
To Emily, it sounded like something straight out of a science fiction novel, but for Michael, it was just another puzzle waiting to be solved, so he had spent the next few days researching everything he could find about time dilation and its effects on space-time, until he was able to explain the whole thing to Sarah in terms she could understand.
As for Sarah, Emily couldn’t help but notice that while she was still fascinated by everything Michael had to say about the subject, she also seemed slightly skeptical of his claims, especially when it came to whether or not time dilation could actually be used as a form of time travel.
After all, it seemed like such an outlandish idea that Emily couldn’t blame her for being doubtful about its practical applications, even if she did have a pretty good understanding of how the theory itself worked.
It was a project on the theory of relativity, which she had always been interested in, but she wasn’t sure if it would be too complicated for her students, who were only in tenth grade after all, so she had been careful to explain everything as simply as possible and break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Of course, she hadn’t expected Michael and Sarah, the two students she was mentoring, to become so obsessed with the subject that they would spend all their free time researching it on their own, but now that she thought about it, she supposed it made sense.
After all, Michael and Sarah were both incredibly smart and curious kids who loved learning new things, and it was only natural that they would be drawn to such an interesting and complex topic as the theory of relativity.
So as Emily watched them from across the room, whispering back and forth about whatever it was they were discussing, she couldn’t help but feel proud of them for being so dedicated to their studies, even if she did wish they would pay a little more attention in class instead of fooling around all the time.
The theory of relativity had always been one of Emily’s favorite subjects, simply because it was so mind-bogglingly strange and different from the way most people thought about the world around them.
It was a theory that had been developed by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century, and while it was incredibly complex and difficult to understand, it was also one of the most important scientific theories ever created, because it explained how time, space, and gravity all worked together to govern the universe.
Basically, the theory of relativity said that everything in the universe was relative, meaning that there was no such thing as absolute time or space, only different frames of reference that were all equally valid.
This meant that time could speed up or slow down depending on how fast you were moving, and that two objects could be in two different places at the same time if they were far enough apart, among other things.
Michael and Sarah had both been fascinated by this idea, so after they had finished their project, they had started reading more about the subject online, until eventually, they had come across a forum where people were arguing about whether or not time dilation could be used as a form of time travel.
Apparently, some people believed that if you could find a way to move faster than the speed of light, you would be able to travel backward in time, since time would be moving more slowly for you than for everyone else.
Michael thought this was an interesting idea, but Sarah wasn’t so sure about it; after all, she had always been taught that nothing could travel faster than light according to the laws of physics, so how could anyone use time dilation to go back in time if it was impossible for them to do so?
Of course, Michael didn’t have an answer for that question either, but he still couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to travel backward in time if he ever got the chance to do so.
