My Gravity Challenge

[AV1611VET]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

 

[Dave RP]

As I sat in my garden I saw an apple fall from a tree, I thought that looks interesting, something made it fall, I'll call what made it fall - gravity.

 

[greenguzzi]

No one has seen gravity.

 

[quatona]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

Because the bible says it exists.

 

[Dave-W]

Heavy topic - dude! Far out!

 

[Dave-W]

Because the bible says it exists.

You mean where our Lord talks about the "weightier" matters of the Law?

 

[quatona]

If you've never seen gravity before,

I have never "seen gravity". Or do you mean "If you have never seen something fall down,...?"

how do you know it exists?

I guess if we wouldn´t see things fall down we wouldn´t even have started trying to explain why it happens (and thereby developed the theory of gravity).

 

[Nithavela]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

What are you talking about? *Floats away*

 

[quatona]

I´d never have guessed that things fall down until I was taught the theory of gravity.

 

[greenguzzi]

If you've never seen electroweak interaction before, how do you know it exists?

 

[greenguzzi]

If you've never seen electroweak interaction before, how do you know it exists?

Because sunshine!!

 

[KWCrazy]

I had an evolution proponent tell me that everything had a likelihood; that if I dropped a bowling ball enough times that sooner or later it would float away like a balloon. It was his way of saying that given unlimited time and unlimited attempts even the impossible would eventually happen. It's foolishness, of course. Natural law doesn't reverse itself. God can supersede natural law, but if there is no provision for something to happen than nothing will ever happen; not in a trillion years.

Gravity can be described in this say; the earth sucks. Every time you try to get away from it it sucks you back with increasing force the further you get away from it. The earth hates parachutes. If you use one enough times sooner or later the earth will steer you into its trees and beat the heck out of you. It's best not to mess with a planet.

 

[Dave RP]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

The Bible once again has settled it!!!!!

Quoted from "Answers in Genesis"

Two Bible references are helpful in considering the nature of gravity and physical science in general. First, Colossians 1:17 explains that Christ is before all things, and by Him all things consist. The Greek verb for consist (sunistao) means to cohere, preserve, or hold together. Extrabiblical Greek use of this word pictures a container holding water within itself. The word is used in Colossians in the perfect tense, which normally implies a present continuing state arising from a completed past action. One physical mechanism used is obviously gravity, established by the Creator and still maintained without flaw today. Consider the alternative; if gravity ceased for one moment, instant chaos surely would result. All heavenly objects, including the earth, moon and stars, would no longer hold together. Everything would immediately disintegrate into small fragments.

A second reference, Hebrews 1:3, declares that Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. Uphold (phero) again describes the sustaining or maintaining of all things, including gravity. The word uphold in this verse means much more than simply supporting a weight. It includes control of all the ongoing motions and changes within the universe. This infinite task is managed by the Lord’s almighty Word, whereby the universe itself was first called into being. Gravity, the ‘mystery force’, which is poorly understood after nearly four centuries of research, is one of the manifestations of this awesome divine upholding.

There, that explains it all!

 

[tampasteve]

I get where you are going with this, can't see gravity, can't see God, but they exist. I agree.

That said, gravity is not really a "thing" like God or angels, etc. It is a word used to describe falling towards something heavy. In the plane that we live in/on we fall towards weight. Think of the Earth placed on a blanket (space/dark matter) and the blanket is pushed down by the weight of the Earth. If one gets near the Earth one is sucked/falls down towards the Earth - falls down the blanket to the heavy object pushing on the blanket. The heavier the object the more push/pull or "gravity" it has. Gas giants, stars, black holes, all have higher gravity and pull in objects from further away than a small planet or asteroid. At least that is how I understand it.

 

[lesliedellow]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

I jumped off a cliff, and now it is my ghost writing this.

 

[greenguzzi]

I had an evolution proponent tell me that everything had a likelihood; that if I dropped a bowling ball enough times that sooner or later it would float away like a balloon. It was his way of saying that given unlimited time and unlimited attempts even the impossible would eventually happen. It's foolishness, of course. Natural law doesn't reverse itself. God can supersede natural law, but if there is no provision for something to happen than nothing will ever happen; not in a trillion years.

Gravity can be described in this say; the earth sucks. Every time you try to get away from it it sucks you back with increasing force the further you get away from it. The earth hates parachutes. If you use one enough times sooner or later the earth will steer you into its trees and beat the heck out of you. It's best not to mess with a planet.

It's not just "evolution proponents" that say such things, it's a key aspect of thermodynamics. It's called "probability". It's actually just a thought experiment, it's not meant to actually describe something that coul happen. Either you or your "proponent" misunderstood the thought experiment.

You don't understand gravity. The farther away one is from a massive object, the less it attracts. So the force is decreasing with proximity.

The Earth is indifferent to parachutes, and pretty much indifferent everything that humans do.

I mess with my planet every day, I'm still here!

 

[greenguzzi]

I get where you are going with this, can't see gravity, can't see God, but they exist. I agree.

That said, gravity is not really a "thing" like God or angels, etc. It is a word used to describe falling towards something heavy. In the plane that we live in/on we fall towards weight. Think of the Earth placed on a blanket (space/dark matter) and the blanket is pushed down by the weight of the Earth. If one gets near the Earth one is sucked/falls down towards the Earth - falls down the blanket to the heavy object pushing on the blanket. The heavier the object the more push/pull or "gravity" it has. Gas giants, stars, black holes, all have higher gravity and pull in objects from further away than a small planet or asteroid. At least that is how I understand it.

Um no. That's not right at all. Actually your second last sentence is not too bad, the rest is rubbish.

 

[Hawkins]

If you've never seen gravity before, how do you know it exists?

Science is a different beast. Science can be evident because it is about a phenomenon repeatable infinitive number of times. Through this infinitive number of repetition will can speculate infinitive number of times to establish a theory to predict its behavior. At the time when we can establish an infallible formula to describe its behavior predictably without failure, a scientific truth is thus confirmed.

We don't actually know what the nature of gravity is. However we have established laws to describe its behavior predictably without error. That's why we know that it exists.

Scientific is a very specific kind of truth which is repeatable for speculation and observation. Unlike other kinds of truth such as history or religion. The fundamental way to approach a non-scientific truth is by putting faith in human accounts of witnessing.

 

[tampasteve]

Um no. That's not right at all. Actually your second last sentence is not too bad, the rest is rubbish.

OK, I am open to changing my idea on it, but would you mind explaining how it is "rubbish"?

I

You don't understand gravity. The farther away one is from a massive object, the less it attracts. So the force is decreasing with proximity.

The force is increasing with proximity. If it were decreasing with proximity/closeness to an object of weight then we would never be able to escape a gravity well of a planet....but once we get further away the gravity from said object lessens.

 

[lesliedellow]

Um no. That's not right at all. Actually your second last sentence is not too bad, the rest is rubbish.

The American education system, and/or home schooling, has a lot to answer for.