Can Asking Simple Questions Challenge General Relativity?

[jim77]

I'm going to assume that my last posts haven't provoked a crisis in general relativity that you're struggling to reconcile. I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to answer what must seem like a stupid question to you. I'm sure its as frustrating trying to straighten out popular misconceptions about these topics as it is for us who struggle to understand wtf you guys are talking about and I thought I'd say thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Of course if I have provoked a crisis in general relativity, sorry..or maybe youre welcome. I hope you don't mind if I pop in every now and then with more dumb questions.

 

[Ibix]

The problem with GR is that the concepts are extremely alien to our every day intuition. It's really not difficult to ask a question that seems perfectly reasonable, but just doesn't make sense when you try to answer in terms of GR. Or to ask a question whose answers don't seem to make sense unless backed up with a twelve-lecture course on differential geometry (the mathematical toolkit underlying GR).

So by all means ask, and we'll try to answer. But you do need to be prepared for some of the answers to fly in the face of common sense (because we're frequently discussing highly uncommon situations). Or else be prepared to put in the hours to follow the maths yourself.

 

[ZapperZ]

Of course if I have provoked a crisis in general relativity, sorry..or maybe youre welcome.

That's funny. During the past few months, three (count 'em) separate observations have been reported and published that confirmed the validity of GR. Your misunderstanding of GR does nothing to provoke a "crisis" in GR.

Zz.