As Compared to What?

The other day I was trying to explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity to my twelve year old son.  I don't really understand the theory myself and now I have dutifully passed on my ignorance to the next generation.  I love being a dad!

The best I can come up with is that relativity simply means a thing cannot exist if there is nothing to compare it with and, by the same definition, if something does exist then it must be defined relative to something else.  That's why we can't travel faster than light.  Light is the ultimate reference and even though it has an opposite, we can't define it because we can't see it.  Therefore anything beyond light is also beyond our comprehension.  I'm sure my version of relativity is something akin to a paint-by-number Picasso version of the Mona Lisa but now at least you can sympathize with my unfortunate son.

It is a little known fact that the theory of relativity was actually mentioned long before the 20th century by another father who was giving some words of wisdom to one of his sons.  The year was about 580 BC, give or take, and a certain family's long and often perilous journey through the wilderness and across the ocean had resulted in a deep and bitter division amongst the siblings.  In a tender moment, not long before his death, the father was delivering words of comfort to a young son who had been born during the journey and knew nothing of the family's former prosperity and comfortable lifestyle before they left everything behind and ventured into the unknown.  The father explained to his son that it is necessary to have an "opposition in all things" and that we must endure sorrow in order to truly understand what real joy is.  He explained further that a thing cannot exist without an opposite comparison.  Somebody really should have explained this principle to the Crayola folks before they made all of those white crayons.

It's interesting to think about things outside the normal frame of reference that we give them.  Here's an example: Once a year a reclusive stranger with a list of everyone's name, address, personality traits and daily sleeping habits travels around the world with unfettered access to our homes, only entering after everyone is asleep.  And we're happy about this?

It makes sense that we must have opposites in order to fully comprehend everything, otherwise why bother? It's good to be able to contrast and compare.  It makes life more fulfilling and provides beautiful irony.  Speaking of irony, I know a family with the last name of Winterton and they live just outside of Somerton.  You could say they are only a Spring away from Somerton but they actually Fall in Yuma.  See what I mean?  Irony is the seasoning of life.  I know, I know, stop already.

As we continue through life and learn to understand more about things and their opposites our capabilities increase.  We are able to enjoy life more fully when we better understand how rotten things can be sometimes.  We can make our greatest accomplishments only after we experience our biggest disappointments.  You think that's profound?  Consider this; The better a person is, the worse they are capable of doing.  I know that sounds negative but now you will appreciate good people that much more.

I must apologize to any physicists who might happen to read this but if you find a flaw in my explanation of relativity please don't point it out to me.  I've come to realize that although ignorance isn't fulfilling, it is easier and as long as I don't know that I'm wrong, then I'm right!