>>11412446Its a side effect of time being non-euclidean. In a 2D euclidean space, the distance between any two points is simply root(x^2+y^2), you should remember this one from highschool. While in a 3D euclidean space root(x^2+y^2+z^2) and in a 4D euclidean space root(w^2+x^2+y^2+z^2).
the problem is that time doesn't act like that, in minkowski space (approx model of what we live in), its root(w^2-x^2-y^2-z^2), that negative makes all the difference.
So lets simplify this down by saying we're only going to travel in a single line, so y=0 and z=0. Say we want to go to to Alpha Centauri which is 4 light years away, and go fast enough that it takes 5 years to do so (distance over time is speed, so 0.8c). root(5^2-4^2) = root(9) = 3 years of time traveled through. That is the actual real number that'd occur.
You have to realize that years is just a measure of distance in time. We don't think of this normally because we can't perceive or interact with time like we can with normal distances.
This isn't QM either, and predates Relativity, which built on this concept.
