[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Oh my Gosh Alex, we seem to agree that the way we express certain phenomena is more a convenience to 'us' rather than an accurate description of 'force', or 'electromagnetisms etc.

In fact I doubt that we can ever really describe what is really going on. Perhaps trying to explain the result of what is happening is a better approach.

For example, rather than saying a space is bent, it might be better to say that after a force has been exerted on space, the result might be....

I know this is somewhat pedantic but I think everyone at school today is walking around thinking that space bends in the style you suggested when in fact, I would guess there is nothing remotely like that happening.

I put it to you that all these statements of what happens on astronomical levels, should always be preceded with a statement saying that if observed 'by a human' (usually impossible), the effect of certain phenomena, might be...

Sorry to harp on about this, but bending space, warping space, stretching space and so forth just annoys me a bit because you get an impression in your mind, hard to shake once it's in there and then when you dig deeper, you find that you can't really fully appreciate these forces and never will.

You will never truly understand the force of gravity on an astronomical level because you are not an astronomical object, and because an apple falls to the earth off your head, IMHO does nothing to explain why a super massive black hole can consume light, or why a large galaxy can strip away mass from a smaller galaxy that comes within range.

Okay, I know I am setting myself up to be abused here, because I can offer no better description....BUT....that is my point, I doubt that we can ever truly describe so that we fully understand what is going on, at a fundamental level. I would lobby for a new approach to education in this respect, with people saying that as a result of certain actions, the following conditions may occur.

It just seems to me that every statement I read (on a daily basis) is said so matter of fact that too many people are accepting these 'ideas' as dogma and it goes into urban myth or folklore, and hardly ever seems questioned.

Okay, it surely must be time for breakfast