Gravity affects us at every moment, yet we find it hard to explain. Find out why Ken Wheeler’s explanation of gravity contradicts empirical evidence and relies on imaginary, disproven concepts like the ether.
Like light, gravity is one of those phenomena Einstein had in mind when he said, “A fish is the last thing to discover water.” We’re subject to gravity every moment of our lives and our minds and bodies are attuned to the way gravity works. Yet it’s remarkably hard to define and understand.
Aristotle claimed that heavy objects fall faster than light objects. As with all of the classical natural philosophers, it never occurred to him to confirm his idea by dropping two objects.
Galileo did that, and he showed that all objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. Isaac Newton was the classic case of the genius “seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.”
We Can Still Use Newton’s Theory of Gravity
Seeing an apple fall from a tree inspired Newton to think about why things fall down toward the Earth. That thought process led to a model of gravity that we can still use to this day for most kinds of motion.
Newton’s law of gravity wasn’t perfect, though. For example, it didn’t describe Mercury’s orbit around the Sun accurately.
Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, published in 1915, provided a more precise explanation. His field equations showed that matter curves the fabric of space itself, causing what we experience as gravity.
Einstein Showed Matter Curves Fabric of Space
General Relativity also has its limits. Physicists can’t reconcile General Relativity’s model with the principles of Quantum Mechanics. They’re working on that, but with mixed results so far.
The goal now is to develop a quantum theory of gravity as a step toward a Theory of Everything that reconciles the four forces of nature – electromagnetism, gravity, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force.
Along comes Ken Wheeler to boldly decree that gravity is not a force. The Angry Photographer doesn’t deny that “the phenomenon exists.” By that, he concedes that even he isn’t dishonest and arrogant enough to argue that if you drop a stone, it doesn’t fall downward to the ground.
Needs to Fall Back on His Old Friend the Ether
He’s even willing to admit that Einstein was correct in saying that gravity is equivalent to acceleration. However, as with waves, the YouTuber behind Theoria Apophasis insists that “acceleration isn’t what something is, but what something does.”
Newton explained gravity as mutual acceleration of two masses toward one another based on their relative mass. According to Ken Wheeler, Newton, who’s been called the most intelligent person who ever lived, was misguided.
The Angry Photographer has an eccentric notion of the nature of matter. For reasons that will become clear below, the YouTuber behind Theoria Apophasis needs to fall back on his old friend the ether to preserve his cherished worldview. The YouTuber Planarwalk debunks his views on the ether here.
“Matter Is High-Energy Light Inducing Current In the Ether”
Ken Wheeler claims that, “All matter, be it simplex or compounded, is ultra high-energy light and as such ultra high-energy dielectric dynamos that necessitatively induce current in the ether.”
He’s wrong, of course. Light consists of photons, which have both wavelike and particle-like properties. Matter consists of atoms, which contain protons, neutrons, and electrons. Light is not matter and vice versa.
Ken Wheeler claims that all fields are disturbances in the ether, like waves in a pond. However, he differentiates gravity from light and magnetism, insisting that “gravity is not an autonomous field modality” and also not “point source mutual mass acceleration.”
“Mutual Mass Acceleration Toward Counterspace”
In his document entitled Fields, the Angry Photographer defines gravity as “mutual mass acceleration toward counterspace. So-called gravity is non-discharging dielectric centripetal torsion dissipation (=toroidal rarefaction, i.e. magnetism).”
The Angry Photographer explains elsewhere that, “A field by definition is an ether perturbation modality; the dielectric being the ether under stress & torsion, the magnetic being the dielectric under the state of loss of energy/inertia to the medium (or field) system.”
As explained in detail under Field Theory – Why Ken’s Wrong, science has shown that there is no such thing as the ether. Michelson and Morley disproved its existence in 1887. Charles Proteus Steinmetz, who Kentucky Ken calls one of the “gods” of field theory called the ether hypothesis a “mistake.” Scientists have confirmed their findings as recently as 2015 using improved instruments and methods.
“Lowest Pressure Mediation of the Ether Torsion”
The Theoria Apophasis creator is fully aware of this and yet he persists with these logical fallacies. According to him, gravity is “mutual mass acceleration toward the lowest pressure mediation of the ether torsion between the two objects.”
Torsion refers to motion where one or more forces twist one end of something while its other end is fixed. You can’t twist a substance that’s not there. Beyond that, the Angry Photographer fails to explain what force causes this twisting action to begin with.
The Angry Photographer elaborates, saying that, “Matter as such being ultra high-energy light mutually accelerates towards the lowest null pressure in counter space.”
Impenetrable and Unnecessary Jargon
This is another example of Ken Wheeler’s impenetrable and unnecessary jargon. So let’s break down the core phrase, “mutually accelerates towards the lowest null pressure point in counter space.”
Everyone can agree that gravity is mutual mass acceleration, but the Angry Photographer goes off the rails when he mentions “the lowest null pressure point.” As with torsion, logically, something that doesn’t exist also can’t vary in pressure.
Cherry-picking some obsolete ideas from Tesla‘s fake expert period, the Theoria Apophasis host also denies Einstein’s model that space curves from the mass it contains. He insists that since space has no properties, there’s nothing to bend.
“Illogical Absurdity Birthed by Atomists and Relativists”
Ken Wheeler further expounds on his conspiracy theory about scientists. “This illogical absurdity was birthed by Atomists & Relativists as a necessary resultant to create a new medium after the dismissal of the Natural-Order of the only actual medium of Nature, that being the ether.” Regardless of who “birthed” the idea or what their motives may have been, astronomers have proven the curvature of space empirically many times.
The first was in 1919, when the Astronomer Royal, Frank Dyson, dispatched a team that verified Einstein’s finding that matter curves space. Taking advantage of a total solar eclipse, they measured the light paths of background stars, confirming that starlight follows the space curvature caused by the Sun’s mass.
The most recent confirmation of space curvature came when NASA launched its Gravity Probe B in 2004. In 2011, researchers at Stanford University analyzed the satellite’s data and verified that Earth’s mass warps the space around it, causing gravity.
Empirical Evidence of Matter Curving Fabric of Space
So, space curves. Conceivably, one could debate the causes of that curvature, but the empirical evidence of matter curving the fabric of space is well established.
Ken Wheeler accuses modern science of concept reification. By that, he means that Einstein and other physicists confuse abstract concepts like space, time, matter and energy for phenomena that are “really real.”
While setting impossible standards of proof for scientific models, the Angry Photographer fails to take into account that his own terms like ether, torsion, pressure, and counter space are also concepts. The difference is that conventional scientists derive their concepts from controlled, repeatable experiments while the Theoria Apophasis creator merely makes them up as he goes along.
Black Holes Are Fascinating Examples of Gravity at Work
Astronomy’s black holes are some of the most fascinating examples of gravity at work. They’re a region in the fabric of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including the photons that make up light, can escape.
Black holes form when extremely massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycles. These enormous stars get so dense when they die that their gravity contorts spacetime to the point where they create a black hole.
Black holes can then expand by absorbing more stars or merging with other black holes. Most galaxies, including ours, have a supermassive black hole at their centre.
Has to Concoct His Own Explanation for Black Holes
Since all of this contradicts Ken Wheeler’s worldview, he’s had to concoct his own explanation for the black hole phenomenon. He defines a black hole as, “Ultra-high energy super-mass with no magnitude.”
He goes on to claim that, “Dielectric acceleration has overthrown magnetism’s ability to keep this super-mass in the mass-visible universe…A black hole in simple, is an Aether-torsion ‘faucet’ emitting enormous amounts of hydrogen, or ultra-high energy light.”
As always, all of this is nonsense. Magnetism has nothing to do with an object’s mass. There’s no such thing as the ether, and hydrogen isn’t some kind of light, nor does it form from light.
If All You Have Is the Ether, Everything Looks Like a Magnet
Kentucky Ken is fond of saying that “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” In his own case, all he seems to have is the ether, so to him everything looks like a magnet.
Gravity is a fundamental concept in science, and it’s important that the public understands it correctly. Ken Wheeler’s bizarre notions are false and unfounded. It would be disastrous if his 250,000 followers on YouTube were to believe his fantasies about the ether and his perverse worldview in which matter becomes light and gravity becomes magnetism.
Ken’s Evidence
Gravity Is Not a Force
Fields
Newton’s Theory of Gravity
Einsteins’ Theory of Gravitation
NASA Gravity B Probe
Field Theory – Why Ken’s Wrong
Magnetism – Why Ken’s Wrong
Metaphysics – Why Ken’s Wrong
Ken Wheeler is Wrong 