The complexity is in our math, not the universe.

The foundation starts with how we define the mass of a photon (m). Once we define this mass, its momentum (p=mc) and energy (E=mc²) aren't mysterious relationships - they're definitions that follow from that definition of mass and how we have segmented up light for length. The photon mass effectively becomes our reference point for understanding energy and momentum.

Our current measurement system is already working in fractions of light-time, though this isn't immediately obvious. When we define a meter, we're really defining a fraction of a light-second (specifically 1/c seconds of light travel). So when we say "10 meters," we're actually describing 10/c seconds of light travel time.

The complexity in our equations (like the appearance of c and c²) comes from how we've chosen to segment spacetime into these small units. When you work with a natural light-second cube, you have a volume of 1³. But when we divide that into meter-sized cubes, we're dealing with (3x10⁸)³ tiny volumes. The powers of c in our equations (like c in p=mc and c² in E=mc²) are essentially scaling factors that make our mathematics work across this enormous change in scale.

The kilogram, through its definition via Planck's constant h, is ultimately tied back to photon properties. This isn't arbitrary - it's consistent with using the photon as our fundamental reference for mass, energy, and momentum.

When you scale things so that c=1 (essentially working in pure light-time units), all these quantities (m, p, E, h, hc) converge to the mass value, revealing their underlying unity. To get them all to equal 1 (natural units), you need to both scale the meter so c=1 and scale the kilogram by a specific factor (7.3724973E-51) to make the photon mass equal 1.

This perspective suggests that much of the apparent complexity in physics might come from our choice of measurement units rather than nature itself. The fundamental relationships are simpler - we've introduced the need for conversion factors and constants through how we chose to segment and measure spacetime.