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That's the totally wrong analogy. Dark matter and dark energy are just placeholder names for something we don't understand and don't know what it is. We didn't
by senttoschool 3y ago
That's the totally wrong analogy.
Dark matter and dark energy are just placeholder names for something we don't understand and don't know what it is. We didn't make them up. We just observe the effects and conclude that there must be something there that is making the universe behave the way it does.
- BobbyJo 3y ago> Dark matter and dark energy are just placeholder names for something we don't understand and don't know what it is. Mostly, but they have a lot of behaviors attached to them at this point due to various measurements and accompanying assumptions. Not to mention that labeling the sets of interactions each exhibit with a single name creates the appearance to the public that they are created by a single source. Dark Matter could be several different things interacting, likewise for Dark Energy.
- wongarsu 3y agoThe names also suggest that Dark Matter is matter, and Dark Energy is energy, while there are still scientists that try to find other ways to explain the data (tweaking gravity etc). But you have to name them something to talk about them. There probably would have been better names, but physicists are no better at naming than programmers
- mrguyorama 3y agoMaybe the public shouldn't expect to understand something that takes 8 years of rigorous study to work with, just by reading a news article from someone who also doesn't have 8 years of the necessary math study, and was explained by someone who spends all their time working with these concepts mathematically, and might not have a concrete interpretation at all.
- BobbyJo 3y agoMy intent was less "we should name things better" and more "using common words a common way is fine, even if they don't reflect the exact semantics of the word at its inception".