So my theory is that much of compartmentalization is simply because the search space is so large that people don’t end up seeing that there might be a connection between two domains.
I’m not sure about this. In your examples here, people are in fact completely lacking any full understanding of gravitation and/or (I suppose) knowledge of the masses of notable celestial objects in our solar system.
Now, I have to admit that the correct answer wasn’t obvious to me at first.
I up-voted just for you admitting this in your example, but lets talk about this. You knew the moon had gravity, but not much. Then you remember its enough for astronauts to walk on, so most likely enough to attract a pen as well.
Do you understand that the same thing would happen if you were standing on an asteroid? Yes you can stand on an asteroid—I wouldn’t recommend walking or any movement at all without a tether but as long as you don’t move you will stay on its surface. In this case, gravity would not be enough for you to walk even with “heavy boots”.
But if you just release the pen (don’t throw it or toss it at all please!) it will still fall. Every object with mass has gravity, and any two objects will be attracted even if its by a relatively weak force. Yes other celestial masses will exert influence but as long as this asteroid is not on a collision course with another body we can be reasonably sure that 3-4 feet from its surface, its gravity will be greater than any other body’s.
If you don’t understand gravitation, you can’t really expect to answer the question correctly. As for the people who can’t answer it correctly: lots of people didn’t really care much for physics when they studied it, and so while they may have known this at one time (to pass a test) it did not really get integrated into their working knowledge. It may have been possible to dredge up the correct answer by asking the right question to trigger the right memory, but the fact is that they really just don’t have this knowledge, even if the information is in their brain.
I’m not sure about this. In your examples here, people are in fact completely lacking any full understanding of gravitation
And even without a full understanding of gravitation and the nitty gritty of what causes it, it would suffice to know ‘gravity is basically acceleration’.
I’m not sure about this. In your examples here, people are in fact completely lacking any full understanding of gravitation and/or (I suppose) knowledge of the masses of notable celestial objects in our solar system.
I up-voted just for you admitting this in your example, but lets talk about this. You knew the moon had gravity, but not much. Then you remember its enough for astronauts to walk on, so most likely enough to attract a pen as well.
Do you understand that the same thing would happen if you were standing on an asteroid? Yes you can stand on an asteroid—I wouldn’t recommend walking or any movement at all without a tether but as long as you don’t move you will stay on its surface. In this case, gravity would not be enough for you to walk even with “heavy boots”.
But if you just release the pen (don’t throw it or toss it at all please!) it will still fall. Every object with mass has gravity, and any two objects will be attracted even if its by a relatively weak force. Yes other celestial masses will exert influence but as long as this asteroid is not on a collision course with another body we can be reasonably sure that 3-4 feet from its surface, its gravity will be greater than any other body’s.
If you don’t understand gravitation, you can’t really expect to answer the question correctly. As for the people who can’t answer it correctly: lots of people didn’t really care much for physics when they studied it, and so while they may have known this at one time (to pass a test) it did not really get integrated into their working knowledge. It may have been possible to dredge up the correct answer by asking the right question to trigger the right memory, but the fact is that they really just don’t have this knowledge, even if the information is in their brain.
And even without a full understanding of gravitation and the nitty gritty of what causes it, it would suffice to know ‘gravity is basically acceleration’.