you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 0 points 3 years ago (4 children)

Gravity is neither a law nor a theory. ....

The law of gravity is ....

The theory of gravity is ....

So, it's neither a law nor a theory, but also it's both at the same time.

This is getting a little ridiculous.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Gravity (phenomenon) is neither a theory nor law, in a similar way that a cat is different from a picture of a cat or a dictionary entry describing the word cat or our collective understand of what a cat is. At the same time, gravity is also BOTH a theory and a set of laws in the same sense that you could point to a picture of a cat and say "that's a cat right there", and no one would correct you. The distinction seems silly, but it is important. Theory, law, etc are structures/lenses through which we understand and predict things. A sort of formalized collective metacognition is the basis of science, and this is why we have these terms and distinctions. And theories and laws are fundementally different things in a way that's may be best expanded by critically reading the resources provided by the other commenter.

  • source
  • parent