{"id":601,"date":"2026-01-28T05:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talesofmanythings.com\/blog\/?p=601"},"modified":"2026-01-25T16:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T23:04:27","slug":"gravity-doesnt-have-an-off-switch-and-sadly-neither-do-conspiracy-theorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talesofmanythings.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/28\/gravity-doesnt-have-an-off-switch-and-sadly-neither-do-conspiracy-theorists\/","title":{"rendered":"Gravity Doesn\u2019t Have an \u201cOff\u201d Switch (and, sadly, neither do conspiracy theorists)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t spend a ton of time on social media. I have actual work to do and, quite frankly, my tolerance for the digital equivalent of \u201cprospecting for gold in a septic tank<\/a>\u201d is at an all-time low. Most of my social media interaction consists of posting links to my own writing and then wandering back to real life. If you\u2019ve messaged me on social media and I haven\u2019t responded, it\u2019s not because I\u2019m being rude. It\u2019s because I\u2019m likely busy dealing with reality.<\/p>\n

But every now and then, something breaks containment, misinformation so infectious that it leaks out of the Instagram containment zone and lands on my desk.<\/p>\n

When the same claim pops up in multiple places and from multiple people, all pointing back to the same source, curiosity kicks in. That happened this week when two different people asked me, independently, whether I\u2019ve \u201cseen this gravity thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

So I went looking.<\/p>\n

On January 16, a user named cthagod posted a reel<\/a> claiming that on August 12, Earth will simply \u201close gravity\u201d for seven seconds. Apparently, millions will die and the laws of physics will take a union mandated smoke break. The video\u00a0has racked up millions of views. It is delivered confidently. It is dramatic. And it is complete nonsense.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be extremely clear: gravity is not a subscription service. It\u2019ll be there, even if you miss a payment. There is no \u201cswitch\u201d. And the idea that it could \u201cturn off\u201d for seven seconds isn\u2019t just a conspiracy theory. It\u2019s a physical impossibility that ignores everything we\u2019ve learned since Newton got beaned by an apple.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about why.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Scale of the Scam<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can Earth lose gravity?<\/p>\n

Short answer: No.
\nLong answer: Absolutely not and the question itself misunderstands what gravity even is.<\/p>\n

When I was a junior in high school, I challenged a science teacher with what I thought was a clever question. He had said that everything<\/em> has gravity, even the classroom wall. I asked him why, if the wall had gravity, I couldn\u2019t walk on it.<\/p>\n

He explained that while the wall and I were technically attracted to each other, our mass was, to put it delicately, trivial. Compared to the 5.972 x 1024<\/sup> kilograms of rock and iron beneath our feet, the wall isn\u2019t even a rounding error. It\u2019s a ghost.<\/p>\n

Gravity isn\u2019t a \u201cpulling\u201d force like a tractor beam from a low-budget sci-fi flick. That lesson matters here.<\/p>\n

Gravity is not a switch.
\nIt is not a field generator.
\nIt is not something that can \u201cturn off\u201d temporarily like Wi-Fi during a thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

Gravity is what mass does<\/em>. That\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What Gravity Actually Is (And Why Instagram Can\u2019t Break It)<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Einstein\u2019s General Relativity, gravity is not a pulling force in the traditional vacuum cleaner sense. It is the result of mass and energy curving spacetime.<\/p>\n

Imagine a bowling ball on a trampoline. The fabric dips. If you toss a marble nearby, it rolls toward the ball, not because the ball is \u201cgrabbing\u201d it, but because the \u201cpath\u201d it follows is now curved.<\/p>\n

Now sit on the trampoline yourself. The bowling ball and marble will roll toward you<\/em>, because you\u2019re the larger distortion.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s gravity.<\/p>\n

In this model, mass tells spacetime how to curve and curved spacetime tells mass how to move.<\/p>\n

For Earth to \u201close gravity\u201d, the Earth would have to cease to exist as mass. Unless the planet is planning on converting itself into pure light for a few seconds and then back again (a feat that would involve enough energy to vaporize the solar system and beyond), that curve in spacetime isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n

Earth doesn\u2019t generate gravity. Earth is gravity, in the sense that its mass defines the curvature around it.<\/p>\n

The Sun is a much larger distortion. Earth moves around it at roughly 67,000 miles per hour, not because it\u2019s being pulled like a yo-yo, but because it\u2019s following the straightest possible path through curved spacetime.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But What If Something Disrupts It? \u2013 The Physics of the “Off” Switch<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is where conspiracy theories usually gesture vaguely toward \u201ccosmic alignments\u201d, \u201cenergy waves\u201d or unnamed celestial events that somehow override physics.<\/p>\n

If gravity did<\/em> somehow vanish for seven seconds, free-floating would be the least of your concerns.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Atmosphere:<\/strong> The only reason we have air to breathe is because gravity holds it down. Without it, the atmosphere would begin expanding into the vacuum of space at supersonic speeds. Think of an overinflated balloon popping.<\/li>\n
  2. The Planet:<\/strong> The Earth is spinning at roughly 1,000 miles per hour at the equator. Gravity is the only thing keeping the crust from flying apart like a wet doughnut on a drill. Seven seconds of zero-G wouldn\u2019t just make you float. It would likely cause the planet to structurally fail. Everyone gets crushed by Greenland joining the United States at 1,000 miles per hour.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The cthagod post is a classic example of Engagement Farming, scaring the scientifically illiterate for clicks. The algorithm rewards confidence, not correctness. Gravity is a symptom of mass. As long as the Earth has mass, it has gravity.<\/p>\n

    Even the most extreme gravitational phenomena we know, black holes, don\u2019t \u201cturn gravity off\u201d. They do the opposite. At zero volume and infinite mass, they curve spacetime so violently that not even light escapes.<\/p>\n

    If Earth somehow lost gravity for seven seconds and then regained it, physics would have to be rewritten from the ground up and the people claiming this would already have Nobel Prizes instead of Instagram reels.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    What About Gravitational Waves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Gravitational waves are real. We\u2019ve detected them. They are ripples in spacetime caused by massive accelerating objects like merging black holes.<\/p>\n

    What they are not<\/em>:<\/p>\n