> To the absolute limit of our ability to measure it — and our ability to measure it is really good, since we used electromagnets and lasers and other expensive

> To the absolute limit of our ability to measure it — and our ability to measure it is really good, since we used electromagnets and lasers and other expensive science things — when an object is dropped, it begins falling instantaneously. Not after a very small interval of time, but absolutely instantaneously. As in zero time elapses between dropping and falling. > This is fairly earthshaking, really. Because it implies that somehow a "signal" of some kind is getting from the ground to Wile E. faster than the speed of light. Which is supposed to be impossible. I don't know a lot about physics and relativity but this actually seems to me how I'd expect it to be. I don't understand why people expect that there has to be an interaction before gravity starts, or that gravity is directed linearly between two masses (you and the earth). It's already being emitted, and you're stepping out off the cliff into a gravity wave that is already there. You're always in that wave. Now the thing beneath you preventing you from being pulled in is gone. No initial setup was required. Imagine the same example with a light beam instead of gravity. At the foot of the cliff is a ball as bright as the surface of the sun, radiating light in every which way. If you step off the cliff, it doesn't take a few nanoseconds for the light to hit you, because you're stepping into a lightbeam that is already there. No interaction is necessary to set it up. I dunno. This seems like the intuitive way to think about it to me. Anything else would seem strange. Maybe I'm misunderstanding?