Why is gravity visualized by putting a heavy object on a flat plane, creating the curved shape, when space is 3D?

Question

Wouldn’t it curve and pull objects in all directions?

In: 279

Answer 1

I think many answers here are misunderstanding the underlying cognitive dissonance created by a model that depends on gravity, the very thing trying to be understood, to explain the 2D model’s function. Why do marbles roll down the depression on the 2D sheet created by the heavy object? Because of gravity? And before you give me a snarky answer, many science writers and even physicist have said, this kind of model, isn’t always useful. The better the model gets you to an understanding of gravity the worse the model becomes

The truth is, gravity is very hard to understand and all models fail in one way or another.