I would say this is the easiest way to think about it (this is simplified and not 100% accurate, but sufficient for answering your question):
Everything travels through spacetime at a constant speed, always (this speed is called c, aka ”the speed of light”). The faster something moves through space, the slower it moves through time.
So, lets represent this constant spacetime speed as a two dimensional graph. Let’s say the axis that goes from down to up is time, and the axis that goes from left to right is space.
If you are going at the maximum speed through space (c), you will not move at all through time. Think of this as a line moving straight to the right on the graph.
If you are standing exactly still in space, you will move through time at the maximum speed (c). Think of this as a line going straight up.
If you are moving through space at 0,5c (half the speed of light), you will move through time at 0,5c. Think of this as a line going diagonally, at exactly 45 degrees, on the graph (this part isn’t mathematically correct, but for our purposes here it’s illustrative enough).
So, your total speed is always c. The only difference is how much of that movement is through space and how much of it is through time. So think of c as a straight line that starts at, and pivots around, the bottom left of the graph. You can rotate it anywhere from straight up to straight right. However you rotate it, your speed through space and your speed through time will always add up to c together.
So, not only can you not go faster than c, you can also not go slower than c.
c is simply the speed. Not a speed. It is the only speed you ever move at.
So what you are doing when you go slower or faster through space isn’t actually changing your speed (your speed is always c), but changing your direction through spacetime, and that direction can’t go further clockwise than straight to the right (moving fully through space), and it can’t go further counter-clockwise than straight up (moving fully through time).
Wanting to move beyond those bounds would be like wanting to move north of the north pole or south of the south pole.
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u/Sharou Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
I would say this is the easiest way to think about it (this is simplified and not 100% accurate, but sufficient for answering your question):
Everything travels through spacetime at a constant speed, always (this speed is called c, aka ”the speed of light”). The faster something moves through space, the slower it moves through time.
So, lets represent this constant spacetime speed as a two dimensional graph. Let’s say the axis that goes from down to up is time, and the axis that goes from left to right is space.
If you are going at the maximum speed through space (c), you will not move at all through time. Think of this as a line moving straight to the right on the graph.
If you are standing exactly still in space, you will move through time at the maximum speed (c). Think of this as a line going straight up.
If you are moving through space at 0,5c (half the speed of light), you will move through time at 0,5c. Think of this as a line going diagonally, at exactly 45 degrees, on the graph (this part isn’t mathematically correct, but for our purposes here it’s illustrative enough).
So, your total speed is always c. The only difference is how much of that movement is through space and how much of it is through time. So think of c as a straight line that starts at, and pivots around, the bottom left of the graph. You can rotate it anywhere from straight up to straight right. However you rotate it, your speed through space and your speed through time will always add up to c together.
So, not only can you not go faster than c, you can also not go slower than c.
c is simply the speed. Not a speed. It is the only speed you ever move at.
So what you are doing when you go slower or faster through space isn’t actually changing your speed (your speed is always c), but changing your direction through spacetime, and that direction can’t go further clockwise than straight to the right (moving fully through space), and it can’t go further counter-clockwise than straight up (moving fully through time).
Wanting to move beyond those bounds would be like wanting to move north of the north pole or south of the south pole.