this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] Senal@programming.dev 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Let me put it this way: is the statement "there's a phenomenon called «gravity», experienced by all massive bodies, that accelerates them in relation to other massive bodies" epistemically true?

Scientifically, maybe? Because that's what the scientific method is, best approximations given the knowledge we currently have.

But let's assume yes for the purposes of this reply.

If truth was subjective, the answer would be "true" or "false" depending on the subject.

And context.

Same subject different circumstances, different gravitational forces.

For those whom the answer is "false", this means they would not experience the phenomenon, even in situations other subjects would; e.g. near Earth.

That's a binary interpretation of a non-binary system.

But again, for the purposes of this reply, sure.

That implies they'd have at least some control over experiencing gravity, because they could simply say "it's now true for me" and fall, or "it's now false for me" and stop falling.

There's a big assumption there that this is a binary.

Gravity control, doesn't have to be binary.

It doesn't even have to be direct, they could achieve the same effect by increasing or decreasing mass.

But let's say it's magic, direct control.

In an objective system where gravity exists it would conceptually be possible to control the level of gravity acting upon yourself without turning it on or off.

In a subjective system where gravity could exist or not depending on subject and context, the same is true.

Which brings me back to:

There’s no reason gravity control requires a subjective truth.

Emphasis mine.

[–] i_love_FFT@jlai.lu 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The fact that people feel different gravitational pull based on where they are doesn't make the concept of gravity different for each of them. You're just using the wrong word to describe the acceleration produced by gravity, rather than gravity itself.

That's why technical definitions (so we speak the same language) and education (si we understand that language) are important!

I see you have cleverly noticed there is a 3D object in the meme image that is casting both projections.

This argument is one that is very, very difficult to have because it veers too closely to people's first principles.

On one side, we have people who know they are forced by reason to believe in all truths that appear before them.

And on the other, we have people who have decided they will choose to believe in all truths that appear before them.

Like, it's just a semantic difference. Nobody on the subjectivity side, nobody rational anyway, disagrees with the concept of gravity, we are just simply aware of our power as fallible human beings to destructively choose not to.

That said, there is something very dangerous about being in the second group of people, but thinking you're among the first. And frequently, it becomes a problem when science brushes up against cultural fields it has more trouble explaining.

It is not always possible to see the 3D object. The ability to recognize that two groups can both be 'correct', like in a Newtonian way, even when they disagree with each other is a very useful skill.