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Could This Be The 'perfect' Analogy To Explain How RA Affects Us Everyday For Those Without RA That Ask What It's Like?

Scientists discovered how to control gravity - a Sadistic Person (SP) got ahold of the technology. Each day the SP changes how strong the gravity is & may change it throughout the day...laughing evilly while SP changes it.

Until you wake up you don't know if it's going to be a Gravity Day (GD), a Non-Gravity Day (NonD), or a Gravity Changes Day (ChangeD).

1. This section equates hands/body not working & dropping things:
You wake up and it's a GD - you're pouring water into a cup to drink when the gravity suddenly stops. You're up in the air as is the water in your cup and the water from the faucet pours up, and you have a mess to clean up.
This would be the same for any beverage or food cooking on the stove and inside the fridge too if it doesn't have a lid or isn't somehow contained.

You try to work on an NonD but your utensils don't stay put so you have to figure out a workaround to be able to use them. And that workaround has to be changed if it's a ChangeD. It takes time to figure out workarounds that actually work with the different levels of gravity.

Since you're working on a NonD, you and your laptop are up in the air when the gravity kicks in and you land on the desk hard, in pain, and your laptop landed hard too so doesn't work and has to be fixed (just like if you were carrying the laptop while walking and your hands just stopped working and you dropped your laptop...and then you have the expense of fixing or replacing the laptop).

Or you're working on something up in the air (because, why not, it's my fantasy) when the gravity changed back to GD and you land underneath what you're using which lands on your head hard giving you a migraine.

2. This section equates pain causes (tripping, joints suddenly not working causing falls, etc.):
When it goes from a NonG to a GD you land hard causing pain.

It goes from a GD to a NonG while you're jogging/walking/etc. and the momentum causes you to careen into other objects giving you pain.

GD to ChangeD - a train floats off it's track and runs into you giving you pain all over (like those days where you feel like you've been run over by a train).

3. This section is for sleeping:
It's a GD and you're sleeping normally when it becomes a ChangeD and you're hovering over the bed with the blankets tangling up around you uncomfortably - you're half warm, half cold with no support.

It changes to NonD and you whack your head on the ceiling and are now fully cold because your blankets floated away.

When it suddenly becomes a GD again and you fall hard and are in pain because you landed half on and half off your bed.

You're fully awake with too much anxiety to try to go back to sleep again.

4. This section is for having to change plans:
It's a NonD, you can't leave the house or you'd float away. You had plans, which included leaving the house, but had to change them and you don't know when you'll be able to reschedule those plans because gravity.

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I was just running a few scenarios in my head and came up with this.

I chose gravity because everyone experiences it and could make these explanations seem more personal and how they would handle things if something as commonplace as gravity started acting up. Gravity would be the base point we can all understand.

We expect gravity to behave normally just as those of us with RA 'expect' (want, crave) to have a normal day/life but RA constantly throws curveballs at everything we do, just like what would happen if gravity stopped behaving normally.

And then I tried to give examples of what non-RA people could expect if gravity stopped behaving normally. And what it would take to try to get through their days of never knowing what they could really do when gravity keeps changing and doesn't behave in a normal constant fashion.

Input would be welcomed.

  1. Hi . Thanks for sharing this - it certainly makes for an interesting thought experiment. As many around here know, I happen to be a physics geek, so I could spend way too much time thinking about this. Gravity is a function of the attraction between any two objects with mass or energy, so if it could be turned on and off it would impact this attraction between any objects, not just earth (going to leave aside the bending of space and time 😀 ). I'm trying to keep the thought process tied to understanding RA - so it suddenly increases on a person's body - bad fatigue and joint pain day. It increases on the coffee cup - suddenly you can't hold it and it crashes. The gravity between you and the train is on, but not Earth, so now the primary attraction is to the train.
    I happen to be a fan of the analogy of gravity simply being greater for someone with a condition like RA. My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed at age two, almost 45 years ago and has used a wheelchair since her teens. When she walks or exercises she has to work so much harder than others. I know gravity isn't greater for her, but it seems that way - the impact appears greater. I often comment when she is exercising in the pool that she is the hardest working person there. Others may be doing more, but what it takes to do what she does requires so much more effort/energy - like the gravity is greater. Hope some of this adds to your thought process. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)

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