Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
view the rest of the comments
I’m a layman, but it seems to me you’re conflating apples and oranges.
Money is a tool invented by humans. It only exists because we created it for our purposes. If humans never existed, money would likely not exist. And someday, money as we know it, will likely change.
Energy, on the other hand, is something that exists regardless of humans. It is a concept that does not change, regardless of how you describe it.
Thats actually what OPs question was about, and I would argue its not exactly like youre saying. Energy is a concept used by humans to categorise natural processes. Its more like saying "kilometers exist regardless of humans". While technically true, nothing is "naturally" measured in kilometers and there woudnt really "be" a kilometer without humans.
I understand. But I would counter with kilometers is a unit of distance. Energy is not a unit of measure. For that we have other words, like watts and volts and many others.
Energy and distance do exist without humans. How we measure both is a human construct like you said.