Dark matter? (part one)

Did you know that the concept of “Dark Matter” was actually invented by primarily American novelists?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter_in_fiction

Belief in Dark Matter has roughly the same validity as a small child’s belief that there is a monster in his closet. He can’t see anything, his parents aren’t home, the closet is dark, and its properties don’t fit with his explanatory theory which has been accepted by his epistemic peers in the scientific community. Therefore there must be this ridiculous substance to explain his yucky feelings.

Thinking I’m out on a limb on this one? Well, don’t take my word for it. According to smartest man in the world and noted scientist Noam Chomsky,

Physics is in a situation in which something like 90% of the matter in the Universe is what is called dark matter — it’s called dark because they don’t know what it is, they can’t find it, but it has to be there or the physical laws don’t work. So people happily go on with the assumption that we’re somehow missing 90% of the matter in the Universe.

There you have it, from an official and mainstream scholar of the natural sciences. What more do you need?

QUED

[EDIT: See part two in this series, here.]

The bowling ball illustration of gravity

When we were all small children, our teachers tried to deceive us into thinking that gravity was just like when you put a bowling ball on a mattress. If you doubt that this pedagogical disaster is mainstream, then take a look here, here, here, and here. The explanation goes something like this:

“Teacher, why do heavy objects emit more suction power than lighter ones?”
“Well, you know how when you put a bowling ball on a mattress, things will roll towards it?”
“Yes?”
“Well it’s just like that! The bowling ball is a heavy object, the things rolling toward it are lighter objects, and the mattress is the fabric of space!”

Can you believe that? That’s called bullshit. The only reason why the things roll toward the bowling ball in the first place is because of gravity, which is the very thing we are trying to understand! All science teachers who have ever used that illustration should be subject to intellectual denazification.