A Bit About Gravity

Let me quickly explain something about gravity.

Gravity is real. It happens, and we know it. We have even tested it in excruciating detail to know exactly how strong it is and how it varies.

So gravity is a fact.

But we — that is, scientists — aren’t quite sure how it works. There have been a lot of ideas over the years. The current gravitational theory has to do with how mass (the Earth, your body, etc.) bends space-time.

But this is a theory. Yes, it’s a theory based on observation and calculation, but it’s still a theory.

So you have gravity (which is real and tested and undeniable), and gravitational theory (which is the way we think it happens).

Uneducated people might hear the term “gravitational theory” and think, foolishly, that gravity itself is “just a theory.” But clearly it isn’t, or these people would just float away.