3 ms·

> Considering any disagreement with the idea that gravity is a force would end your academic career Gravity is not a force. So thinking it is a force would end

by rdtsc 5y ago

> Considering any disagreement with the idea that gravity is a force would end your academic career Gravity is not a force. So thinking it is a force would end one’s academic career. See, even scientists can live in their own “bubbles” once things get complicated enough :-) Gravity is the effect of masses moving along geodesic lines in curved space-time. Edit: Since you probably don’t believe me https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRr1kaXKBsU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRr1kaXKBsU

ars 5y ago
That video is not persuasive - every single thing described there would apply to a charged object in an electrical field. So why is charge a force and gravity not?
- rdtsc 5y ago
  Charge is not a force either! It’s a property of objects. In that respect you may be interested in the https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_radiation_of_charged_particles_in_a_gravitational_field https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_radiation_of_char...
  - nsonha 5y ago
    You could've said "no such thing as a force" instead. I believe the person meant "electromagnetic force" instead of "charge". Question remains.
    - rdtsc 5y ago
      > I believe the person meant "electromagnetic force" instead of "charge". Question remains. But those are different things... The question is answered by stating that all the other forces are explained by the standard model, with gauge bosons mediating their interactions, while gravity is currently best explained using general relativity. The funny part is, of course, that we were ready to let go, without a severance package even I presume :-) those academics who did not believe that gravity is a force. Given that the leading theory states that gravity is indeed not a force.
chaxor 5y ago
I don't think there is a conflict between gravity being a force (and therefore having an associated gauge boson to mediate the force) and mass causing deformations in spacetime. IIRC, Einstein's Field Equation equates the stress energy tensor to the spacetime curvature - so I think logic is that if the stress energy tensor has quantized levels, then the spacetime curvature should as well.
- rdtsc 5y ago
  But that's not the current most accurate working theory? We have not detected any gravitons yet. So the general theory of relativity is still the top contender, with some cracks showing in it as well. But the comment is tongue and cheek, of course, mostly illustrating how we were ready to fire any academic who didn't believe gravity is a force, when the leading explanation at the academic is the GR explanation. The idea being, is that perhaps some phenomena are multifaceted and complicated and climate study is the same. Moreover, it is compounded by a multitude of political and social interests trying to insert themselves into the discussion.

by rdtsc 5y ago

ars 5y ago

That video is not persuasive - every single thing described there would apply to a charged object in an electrical field. So why is charge a force and gravity not?

rdtsc 5y ago
Charge is not a force either! It’s a property of objects. In that respect you may be interested in the https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_radiation_of_charged_particles_in_a_gravitational_field https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_radiation_of_char...
- nsonha 5y ago
  You could've said "no such thing as a force" instead. I believe the person meant "electromagnetic force" instead of "charge". Question remains.
  - rdtsc 5y ago
    > I believe the person meant "electromagnetic force" instead of "charge". Question remains. But those are different things... The question is answered by stating that all the other forces are explained by the standard model, with gauge bosons mediating their interactions, while gravity is currently best explained using general relativity. The funny part is, of course, that we were ready to let go, without a severance package even I presume :-) those academics who did not believe that gravity is a force. Given that the leading theory states that gravity is indeed not a force.

chaxor 5y ago

I don't think there is a conflict between gravity being a force (and therefore having an associated gauge boson to mediate the force) and mass causing deformations in spacetime. IIRC, Einstein's Field Equation equates the stress energy tensor to the spacetime curvature - so I think logic is that if the stress energy tensor has quantized levels, then the spacetime curvature should as well.

rdtsc 5y ago
But that's not the current most accurate working theory? We have not detected any gravitons yet. So the general theory of relativity is still the top contender, with some cracks showing in it as well. But the comment is tongue and cheek, of course, mostly illustrating how we were ready to fire any academic who didn't believe gravity is a force, when the leading explanation at the academic is the GR explanation. The idea being, is that perhaps some phenomena are multifaceted and complicated and climate study is the same. Moreover, it is compounded by a multitude of political and social interests trying to insert themselves into the discussion.