You are clearly not the only one. I question the importance/value of
insisting on removing causation from the physics--especially at introductory
levels. It seems to me that concepts such as force become far more abstract
and even more difficult to deal with if when we insist that forces do not
cause accelerations. They do for me--I'm still not convinced despite all
the arguments here (and don't want to reopen that 'can' either). This is
just to say that many (if not most) are preconditioned and I personally
don't see a lot of problems with that--at least not for the level of physics
I teach. ;-)
Rick
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana
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----- Original Message -----
From: "ludwik kowalski" <kowalskil@mail.montclair.edu>
Why is it easier, for me, to say the "impulse causes change a in
momentum" and not the "impulse results from a changes in momentum." I
am probably not the only one to be "preconditioned" to think in terms
of causes and effects.