Gravity as Dictator

Physics textbooks often announce that bodies “obey” the law of gravity. The metaphor suggests that matter is a disciplined citizenry, compelled to follow the decrees of an invisible dictator. An apple drops from a tree, not because of relational forces of mass and distance, but because it has been legally bound by Newton’s command.

The problem is not that this is untrue, but that it is ontologically misleading. Laws in physics are not edicts imposed from above. They are descriptions of regularities — ways of construing patterned relations between masses, distances, and accelerations. To construe them as commands is to import a political ontology into the cosmos, one in which matter has no agency but is subject to authority.

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The Authoritarian Cosmos

The “law of gravity” metaphor flourishes because it resonates with social structures: rulers give orders, subjects obey. In this metaphorical universe:

• Planets are loyal bureaucrats, orbiting without complaint.

• Falling apples are model citizens, demonstrating compliance with Newton’s regime.

• Rebellious objects — say, a balloon — must be “corrected” by supplementary laws (buoyancy, pressure).

The cosmos is depicted as a perfectly run police state.

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Why This Is Misleading

The danger of this metaphor is that it treats patterns of relation as if they were external commands. It conceals the fact that what we call “gravity” is a construal of how matter relates to other matter. There is no dictator in the sky — only systemic regularities we’ve abstracted into equations.

By miscasting relational pattern as authoritarian decree, we risk misunderstanding both science and the world it describes. Laws are not imposed; they are inferred.

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Relational Ontology Footnote

From a relational perspective, “law” is better seen as a second-order construal of consistent relational patterns. The apple and the Earth do not “obey” anything — they align in a patterned relation of mutual attraction. The “law” is our codification of that construal, not a cosmic policeman issuing tickets for noncompliance.

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Closing Joke (Because Parody)

If gravity truly were a dictator, balloons would be jailed, satellites would face tribunals, and every physicist would be guilty of treason for inventing exceptions. The apple, at least, would remain obedient — though perhaps only because it had no union.