Correlation Of Time And Distance In Einstein's Dreams By Alan Lightman

In today’s society, time dictates everything; whether it be how long it takes to complete something or how many hours put in at work, we are constantly focused on time. A fascinating aspect of time in our society is that we are more focused on the time it takes to get somewhere, versus the distance. How has distance become so intertwined with time? Not only are we correlating time with a physical distance to travel, but generally speaking, most people utilize time as a method of discussing the processes of traveling to a certain status in their career – so a metaphorical distance. For example, for me to get to become a medical professional, I am essentially on a path with a specific number of steps, however these steps (four years of college, four years of medical school, etc.) are not the main focus. The main focus is the amount of time it will take for me to complete the journey. Overall, time and distance are tightly intertwined. The concept of time was highly prevalent in Alan Lightman’s novel, Einstein’s Dreams. As I struggled for inspiration for this project, I thought back to when I read the novel over …show more content…
I knew there was something behind the correlation of time and distance, yet how to compose this in a cohesive and creative manner was difficult. Creativity wise, I seem to be lacking in my skills; I have no artistic capabilities so I was dumbfounded as to what to do. I feel as if this project further validated why I am a STEM major, given my lack of creativity and more analytical thinking. I addressed the physical topic concerning time, versus the abstract concept first, which made it difficult to find a creative presentation. Overall, I feel as if this project allowed me to appreciate the simplicity of quantifying a distance with time; it is much easier, in both a physical and metaphorical sense, to simply say the amount of time it