Eli5 is there no such thing as cold?

Question

My SO said the above statement and gave me an explanation “Cold is the absence of heat or energy”, it does make sense however in my head it is like saying (in very simplistic terms) “the countryside is the absence of a city” and that is just a ridiculous statement.

In: 66

Answer 1

Cold is indeed the absence of heat/energy but it is still a useful concept. The lack of something is still something. Gravity may not seem that important in space since there is no or very little gravity when you’re not near large celestial bodies but whether it’s the lack of or greater magnitudes of gravity, it’s still important.