The most commom derivation I've seen of the geodesic equation of a massive particle is by the use of the Variational Principle. My problem is that I can't realize what the meaning of find a spacetime path (the geodesic) such that the proper time is extremized. (If the signature is $(+,-,-,-)$ it should be a maximum as some textbooks say.)

I understood that the action integral must be proportional to the line element $ds$ because we need that all the observers compute the same value of action to obtain the same equations of motion.

What I don't understand is the physical meaning of finding a maximum proper time instead a minimum, and what physical implications it leads to. How can I conclude that what I need to find a geodesic equation is maximize proper time of the massive particle? If possible, make an analogy with the Minkowski Space.

The most commom derivation I've seen of the geodesic equation of a massive particle is by the use of the Variational Principle. My problem is that I can't realize what the meaning of find a spacetime path (the geodesic) such that the proper time is extremized.

I understood that the action integral must be proportional to the line element $ds$ because we need that all the observers compute the same value of action to obtain the same equations of motion.

What I don't understand is the physical meaning of finding a maximum proper time instead of a minimum, and what physical implications it leads to. How can I conclude that what I need to find a geodesic equation is maximize proper time of the massive particle? If possible, make an analogy with the Minkowski Space.

The most commom derivation I've seen of the geodesic equation of a massive particle is by the use of the Variational Principle. My problem is that i can't realize what the meaning of find a spacetime path (the geodesic) such that the proper time is extremized ( If the signature is (+,-,-,-) it should be a maximum as some textbooks say)

I understood that the action integral must be proportional to the line element $ds$ because we need that all the observers compute the same value of action to obtain the same equations of motion.

What I dont undertand is the physical meaning of finding a maximum proper time instead a minimum, and what physical implications it leads to. How can I conclude that what I need to find a geodesic equation is maximize proper time of the massive particle? If possible, make an analogy with the Minkowski Space

The most commom derivation I've seen of the geodesic equation of a massive particle is by the use of the Variational Principle. My problem is that I can't realize what the meaning of find a spacetime path (the geodesic) such that the proper time is extremized. (If the signature is $(+,-,-,-)$ it should be a maximum as some textbooks say.)

I understood that the action integral must be proportional to the line element $ds$ because we need that all the observers compute the same value of action to obtain the same equations of motion.

What I don't understand is the physical meaning of finding a maximum proper time instead a minimum, and what physical implications it leads to. How can I conclude that what I need to find a geodesic equation is maximize proper time of the massive particle? If possible, make an analogy with the Minkowski Space.