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Some people work with the interpretation that the time basis vector has magnitude sqrt(-1) to justify the negative sign in a -+++ Minkowski metric signature.

I came across a Youtube comment that remarked that such an interpretation for the negative sign is wrong. Upon further research it seems like many other people (including those on this site) have a similar distaste for the imaginary number time interpretation.

My question is, why is the imaginary time interpretation "bad" or "wrong"? I'm having trouble seeing the justification in disliking the imaginary time interpretation.

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    $\begingroup$ "Upon further research it seems like many other people (including those on this site) have a similar distaste for the imaginary number time interpretation." - It considered good form to cite (quote or link to) the questions and answers here that you found relevant in your research, and then to explain what remains unclear. For example, consider this answer to a related question (which I evidently still have an action item for). What remains unclear after reading "Farewell to $ict$"? $\endgroup$
    – Alfred Centauri
    Aug 23, 2019 at 23:09
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    $\begingroup$ Does the interpretation that you described lead to any different predictions? Or does it simplify anything? Does it make anything conceptually or mathematically more clear? (These questions need to be considered with all of physics in mind, not just special relativity.) Instead of asking why physicists don't like that intepretation, a better question might be: Why should they? $\endgroup$
    – Chiral Anomaly
    Aug 23, 2019 at 23:22
  • $\begingroup$ Possible duplicates: physics.stackexchange.com/q/107443/2451 , physics.stackexchange.com/q/121380/2451 and links therein. $\endgroup$
    – Qmechanic ♦
    Aug 24, 2019 at 4:10

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