They've finally found it. Maybe. The long search for the proposed Higgs
boson, popularly known as the "God Particle," may be over.
I found a neat little article explaining the basics of the Higgs boson
which can be read online by clicking this link.
So now we are on the verge of understanding the big picture of reality,
correct?
Other than telling us how important, fascinating, and game-changing this
discovery is, physicists can apparently do little to let us know what it
actually means.
Joe Incandela, professor of physics and head of the CMS Experiment at CERN
(The European Organization for Nuclear Research), explained it this way:
This is so far out on a limb, I have no idea where it will be
applied. We're talking about something we have no idea what the implications are
and may not be directly applied for centuries.
And it is this "something" that has for decades carried (admittedly,
however, to the consternation of many scientists) the designation "the God
Particle"?
So does it get us closer to understanding God? And please bear in mind
that when I speak of God I don't have in mind the old white-haired,
gray-bearded guy who sits upon a throne in the heavens dropping tree limbs on
people (see previous two posts) and sending earthquakes and hurricanes to get
the attention of his stubborn and rebellious creatures. I have in mind something
more like the Force of the old Star Wars movie franchise: "a
binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power."
No, this was never a religious matter at all in the deepest sense.
Interestingly enough, Peter Higgs, for whom the Higgs boson is named, is an
atheist, yet disliked the moniker God Particle because he thought
it might be offensive to those who are religious.
5 comments:
I'll check out that link in the hopes that it clears things up. I've read several articles about the Higgs boson and even watched a layman's video about it, and I still have NO idea what it does or what it's significance is. All I can grasp at this point is that the Higgs boson gives other particles mass and confirms certain theories.
Ugh. I wish I had a head for science.
I'm with Ahab. All I can figure out from what I've read is the particle gives some other particles mass and confirms certain theories.
Apart from that, I have read that the particle was originally called the Goddamn particle because it was proving so elusive to find. But an editor changed that to "God particle" because he or she found Goddamn offensive. At any rate, that information comes to me from several sources.
It's a reminder of how much more there is to learn.
@ Ahab and Paul,
We non-specialists seem to be a bit underwhelmed by this. Physics always kicked my butt anyway. But we still seem to be a long way from a theory of everything.
@ DoOrDoNot,
Seems to me that everytime we open a box there is a smaller box inside the box we just opened.
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