On May 29, 1:49*am, "Mark Earnest" wrote:
"namekuseijin" wrote in message

...
On May 28, 11:13 pm, "Mark Earnest" wrote:

"G=EMC^2 Glazier" wrote in message

...

Mark Its Einstein thinking. I wish it was all mine. I can only add to
the great theories of Einstein. He is very clever TreBert

OK, Bert, if it was what Einstein says, then I am sure his mathematical
brilliance was just running away with him.

Either the line is straight or it isn't.

What could be simpler than that?

Nothing is simple except in math. *All straight lines you'll ever
cross in this universe are really just tangential approximations of
curves.

You never run on a straight-line here on Earth -- it's curved after
all and at all points point to the center, thus warping surfaces even
though very slightly and not noticeable for small enough *tangents*.
Let alone out there, where you're always in orbit around some gravity
well...

Ever grab ordinary string by two ends and pull it tight?
That is a pretty good representation of a straight line: the shortest
distance between two points.

Exactly like I said, it's just a tangential approximation to a curve:
no matter how much it looks straight, you know gravity is pulling it
and making it a parable. It's never, never going to be a pure math
straight line.

The shortest path between two points in this universe is always a
curve, even though in small enough scales it may look like a mathbook
straight-line.