I don't even understand 4-velocity

boring basic relativity 

Why is 4-velocity, the proper time derivative of position, automatically normalized to length 1 (or c, depending on unit convention)?
It is related to the vector (1, 3-velocity) by a factor of gamma, the Lorentz factor. Which also happens to be (?) the inverse of the length of the vector (1, 3-velocity). The Lorentz factor is both the conversion between time and proper time derivative and normalizes 4-velocity.

boring basic relativity 

because
ds^2 = dt^2 - dx^2
ds^2 /dt^2 = 1 - v^2

could really use some latex

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