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balsoft@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

When was this written?

Given it has a color photo attached to it, it was definitely published when we already understood the theory of electricity really well, so it doesn’t get a pass.

We don’t know what any of the fundamental forces (electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces) really are

I’d argue that for fundamental forces, “what they are” and “what they do” is the same, by definition.

And in any case, mains supply in your home is not just electromagnetic waves vibing around, it’s electrons engineered to move through wires in very specific ways, transferring power from a moving magnet or (increasingly) a photon falling on a semiconductor junction, to move another magnet, heat up some metal, or (increasingly) bounce around some electrons between some semiconductor junctions and then emit photons from other semiconductors junctions.

Finally, most of the text is bullshit even if you don’t think we know what fundamental forces “are”:

No one has ever felt it

You can easily feel electric discharge. Just rub your hair on some wool.

No one has ever heard it

Just be around a thunderstorm. Thunder is the sound of an electric discharge.

We cannot even say where electricity comes from

You can see where the energy that moved the electrons in your wires came from: app.electricitymaps.com

It was written by a complete and utter buffoon, and it can’t be redeemed with any amount of handwaving or philosophizing over what it means to “know” or what things “are”.

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