Crabgrass by Tauhid Bondia for March 19, 2023

Would you settle for “What goes up, Must come down.”?

Miles is still gripping and pedaling, just in case.

In another eight to ten years, Miles will understand the difference between a common theory, a scientific theory, and a mathematical theorem.

Kevin, on the other hand …

Meanwhile, ouch.

Most good theories do, Miles. Most good ones do.

It’s important to challenge established orthodoxy sometimes.

SCIENTIFIC theory, Miles. She’s a cold mistress, and defying her will only lead to your ruin.

Okay, who had the stuffed bunny on their bike?

Hmm… starting to think that gravity is axiomatic, and the theory only pertains to how it works.

Actually I thought the concepts of gravity were actually labeled as Law not theory which is actually hard to do in science

It’s no theory. It’s a fact.

it is actually both a law and a scientific theory. There is Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation and the Theory of General relativity. The law shows it exists and is proportional to mass. The theory attempts to explain how it works and is currently our best explanation.

I see Crumbs, but where’s Kody? (Arc begins April 17, 2020-May back when this was only a thrice weekly strip).

“Theory”, as in “Theory of Gravity”, does NOT mean speculation, hypothesis, or (wild) guess. It means an explanation that fits the facts and can be used predictively.

Evolution is a theory, gravity is THE LAW https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_law_of_universal_gravitation

How many of us learned about gravity watching Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius?

Different law, but, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Upon your head, in this case.

That’s because the term “theory” gets so misused in everyday usage.

A theory is not speculation or an unsupported idea. A theory is the best explanation possible for an observed phenomenon. Theories can be so good, so supported, that they become considered “facts.” But there really are no actual facts, just well-supported theories.

That’s because even well-supported theories are subject to change as new information arises. Gravity, for example, was very well explained by Newton. Until Einstein came along and changed our understanding of time and space by re-defining gravity—especially at very high speeds. And at the sub-atomic level we’re still trying to understand how gravity is different using quantum mechanics.

But some people want to take down theories they don’t like by misusing the term. The theory that describes evolution—natural selection—is an example. It is utterly undeniable scientifically, but people still do. Or the theory that human actions are causing global climate change. It’s incredibly well-supported, but some people just don’t want to believe it, so they say it is “just a theory.”

Colloquially, we use the term “fact” when we really mean a theory that is so good, holds up so well, that there is little chance anything will come along to change it. If that’s the case, then gravity, evolution, and climate change are all facts.

Just don’t test the “Theory of electricity”, Miles.

Midair air quotes, lol

A rerun