Relatively speaking

Re: Spare me the time ( zone); there’s really only one time anyway, Andrew Coyne, Sept. 21 Mr. Coyne says: “There is only one time: wherever you are, at this instant, is the same moment. We assign different names to the same thing.”

I would like to remind him that, according to the special theory of relativity, simultaneity is not absolute. There is no one, true frame of reference.

Events that appear, to one observer, to happen at the same time, may appear, to another, to happen at different times.

And neither will be considered “wrong,” per se, unless the two events can be causally connected.

But, as my degree is in biology, I defer to those who have studied the subject more extensively and invite them to correct me, if I’m wrong. Jordan Champagne, Beaconsfield, Que. Coyne’s argument for adopti ng UTC ( Co- ordinated Universal Time) worldwide ignores the convenience of having the day change while most people are asleep. What if we set a more practical, achievable target of setting UTC-7 ( a. k. a. Pacific Daylight Time) as a new year- round Canadian National Time instead?

Central Canada shouldn’t mind the day changing at what would otherwise be 3 a. m. I could see it becoming a pillar of unifying, national pride. Harout Manougian, Master in Public Administration Student, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Mass.