Mm, just like we have wave-particle duality, one can also speak of some sort of “force-coordinate duality”, as it were. Just as we let the sine function be linear for small angles, quasiparticles with forces in Cartesian space are wonderful abstractions. Good physics – especially applied physics – is about handling this balance between precision and mathematical/computational simplicity. Mind, research physics can be the opposite; a lot of nuclear involves (often special) relativity as combined with QM. Until we have a unifird theory, however, the graviton and its force ain’t dead yet.
I'm unconvinced that treating spacetime as a quantum field is the right approach -- just a gut feeling -- given gravity "feels" so much different than the quantum theories and general relativity is just so beautifully geometric.
I'd be very sad if we had to lose that and deal with gravitons.
