Hello Mike,

The forces at work in downtown NYC on the morning of 9/11 were

hardly restricted to gravity alone.

"Newton's law of universal gravitation" is just the formula that
describes how masses attract. (attraction force is proportional to the
product of the mass of the objects, and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between their centers)

Did you write that yourself?

I typed it. It was drilled into my head exactly like that many years ago.

Must have been the same apple that knocked Newton out cold.
Or at least from the same tree.

Technically, gravitational attraction is classified as a scientific
theory.

A guess. Whether educated or not, just a guess.
If made by a scientist, it would appear to us as magic.
Even though it is just a guess.

That's a hypothesis, then. A theory is backed up by observation, experimentation, and peer review.

In everyday use, the word "theory" means an untested hunch, or
a guess (whether educated or not). For scientists, a theory has
almost the opposite meaning, that can incorporate laws.

People often misconstrue "theory" for "hyphothesis" or even "idea".

A hypothesis is a tentative explanation that can be tested by
further investigation. But often is accepted, rather than tested.

A theory is an explanation of observations, usually supported by
at least some evidence.

A scientific law is a statement that summarizes the relationships
between variables.

Not all scientific laws are accurate.
Especially those based on nonsense.

Arthur C. Clarke called it "magic" ...

No, that was "technology"

"Magic is just something that we don't understand yet."
~ Arthur C. Clarke

Of course, you were thinking about his *other* quote -

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic."
~ Arthur C. Clarke

So I guess we were both right, or wrong, on that one. :)

Sometimes I'll remind them that gravity is classified as a theory, and
invite them to jump off something tall to test it.

MAGA nutjobs do it all the time.
But how many of them land on their feet?

Wouldn't matter much if it was tall enough.

You would be surprised. I saw two guys survive having been
tossed from a draw bridge into the bayou while still inside
their car. Both managed to get out of their car, swim to
shore, go to the other bridge, and sign up folks to get them
to appear in court for an upcoming trial with the city over
the incident. The city settled with them for an undisclosed
amount.

For Life,
Lee

--
Free Palestine!

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