Le 6 ao=FBt 04, =E0 11:47, Paul Stone a =E9crit : > <snip> > > I don't know what causes gravity, but I know what it is and so does > everyone else. M.C. I don't *know* what gravity it is; in fact I don't even *know*=20 what it is not. However, I *thought* I understood that the Newtonian=20 conception of gravity Paul explains so ably above is widely believed to=20= be false, presupposing as it does the existence of a force that can be=20= transmitted instantaneously (which is, again, widely believed to be=20 impossible). I also thought that Einstein had shown in his general=20 theory of relativity that the effects Newton thought he could explain=20 by means of gravitational "forces" exerted on one object by another=20 are in fact due to the curvature of spacetime brought about by mass. I also thought - and continue to think - that if Weil compares = gravity=20 and grace, and if I don't *know* what either of these are, then I have=20= no business claiming her comparison is silly, wrong, or meaningless. > > Michael Chase (goya@xxxxxxxxxxx) CNRS UPR 76 7, rue Guy Moquet Villejuif 94801 France ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html