I don't have a strong background in astronomy or physics, but I've often pondered the discussions here, and the one that stands out to me the most is, what is gravity? Considering that question, and how gravity has to be near-instantaneous to make the planet system stable, I wonder if this conclusion is wrong, and actually it is the science that lead to this conclusion that is in fault.
If we are to consider a force-driven planetary system, then we have to have the near-instantaneous forces keeping things working. But what if instead of that it is an equilibrium that keeps the planets in place? That is, the planets stay their positions because they are balanced out in a fashion similar to how the electrons balance out in an atom. Now, I hear say that the electrical force is not powerful enough to explain the planetary system, but isn't it silly to talk about some force for which there is no evidence? It would seem to me that it would be more productive to dispense of "gravity" as a force, and move forward with what forces we do have concrete evidence of. Yes, we have evidence of apples dropping at a steady rate, but that isn't "gravity" but rather an unexplained event. Calling it "gravity" may be missing the point of why the apple falls in the first place.
As I understand, gravity was defined as a force, and then the planetary system was defined based on gravity as the mechanism, including deciding the mass of the planets, etc. Has anyone ever considered throwing out the whole thing and starting over? With the added discussion of mass being based (at least in part) on electrical charge, wouldn't it make sense to reconsider the simplistic view that planets work not too differently from electrons?
Maybe my naivety is now showing too much, but maybe it allows me to consider the unconsiderable or impossible. At any rate, I believe there is little reason to continue to use the term "gravity" which does little to benefit any discussion, even if it means we have to go back to the drawing board and start saying, "I don't know." It's ok to say, "I don't know," as long as it is followed by, "but I'm going to try to find out the answer."
