Photons and Harp Seals

Summary: Photons may have mass, and Harp Seals are lazy.

Why it's a Mind Blow: This morning was pretty frustrating. I spent a good part of the last ninety minutes trying to wrap my head around special relativity. I learned that mathematically (although I don't understand the math), it is possible to demonstrate that photons have mass, although we've been unable to observe this experimentally. Photons are quantum particles of light, and most physicists still assume they are without mass. To assign mass to photons would mean that light actually has to travel slower than the "speed of light" because at that velocity, an object with mass acquires infinite mass and requires infinite energy to move.

So assuming photons do have mass, it would seem that nothing actually moves at the speed of light but rather, only approaches it on an infinite parabolic curve of confusion.

Next, my thoughts turned to the notion of relative time. Traveling at 99% the speed of light, what seems like a day to the traveler would be experienced as about one year from the perspective of a stationary observer. If this is the case, then why do we say it takes a year for light to travel here from a source one light year away? From the perspective of the light (assuming photons have mass and travel at sub-light speeds), wouldn't the journey take only about a day? So is it right to say it takes four years for light to reach us from Alpha Centauri, which is four light years away? Or, is it more accurate to say it takes four days for light to travel four light years because in reality, that light is only four days old?

Then I started getting frustrated and wishing I was smarter. Finally, I discovered that Harp Seals are lazy, and I felt better. So without further ado, enjoy this lazy Harp Seal!