I have heard that there are 4 fundamental forces: Gravity, Electromagnetism, the Strong Nuclear Force and the Weak Nuclear Force. But I have also heard that gravity is not a force at all, it is simply the curvature of spacetime. So, aren't there only 3 fundamental forces? I would love it if someone clarified my confusion.
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1$\begingroup$ I have heard that there are six forms of life: Animals, plants, funguses, protists, bacteria and viruses. But I have also heard that viruses are not really a form of life; they are just packages of genetic material. So are there six forms of life or only five? Does this bother you? Does it also bother you that some people say heavy metal is a form of music while others say it's just noise? $\endgroup$– WillOCommented Jun 5 at 22:06
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$\begingroup$ @WillO, hey you forgot about Archaeal, so there are seven forms of life. Oh if you include my neighbor Keith, there are arguably eight forms of life. On a separate note, there are actually 5 fundamental forces: the fifth one is mediated by the Higgs boson with the coupling strength being the Yukawa constant. $\endgroup$– MadMaxCommented Jun 7 at 16:45
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Regardless of the underlying mechanisms, gravity provides a channel for an object to realize the presence of other objects around. In other words, it mediates an $interaction$, one way or another. So gravity is a force in this sense.
Actually you can still say there are only 3 fundamental interactions if you count electromagnetism and weak interactions as one (cf. Electroweak interaction).
