Higgs Boson Closer to Explain the Origins of the Universe

Morning Star · Jul 11, 2012

Higgs Boson Discovery - Misleading Words "God Particle"

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The media-adopted name for the Higgs Boson, believed to be discovered this week, couldn’t be more misleading. Lawrence M. Krauss explains how the particle could finally dispense with the idea of a supernatural creator. Plus, cosmologist Sean Carroll on how the discovery will revolutionize physics.

There has been a lot of hoopla since the July 4 announcement by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) that the two largest experiments at the Large Hadron Collider had uncovered evidence for a new elementary particle. The particle in question appears to be the Higgs particle, which scientists have been seeking for almost 50 years and is at the heart of our current best theory of nature. But the real excitement seems to stem from the fact that this long-sought discovery is frequently called, in colloquial circles, “the God particle.” This term appeared first in the unfortunate title of a book written by physicist Leon Lederman two decades ago, and while to my knowledge it was never used by any scientist (including Lederman) before or since, it has captured the media’s imagination.

What makes this term particularly unfortunate is that nothing could be further from the truth. Assuming the particle in question is indeed the Higgs, it validates an unprecedented revolution in our understanding of fundamental physics and brings science closer to dispensing with the need for any supernatural shenanigans all the way back to the beginning of the universe—and perhaps even before the beginning, if there was a before. The brash notion predicts an invisible field (the Higgs field) that permeates all of space and suggests that the properties of matter, and the forces that govern our existence, derive from their interaction with what otherwise seems like empty space. Had the magnitude or nature of the Higgs field been different, the properties of the universe would have been different, and we wouldn’t be here to wonder why. Moreover, a Higgs field validates the notion that seemingly empty space may contain the seeds of our existence. This idea is at the heart of one of the boldest predictions of cosmology, called inflation. This posits that a similar type of background field was established in the earliest moments of the big bang, causing a microscopic region to expand by more than 85 orders of magnitude in a fraction of a second, after which the energy contained in otherwise empty space was converted into all the matter and radiation we see today! Alan Guth, the originator of the theory, called it “the ultimate free lunch.”

If these bold, some would say arrogant, notions derive support from the remarkable results at the Large Hadron Collider, they may reinforce two potentially uncomfortable possibilities: first, that many features of our universe, including our existence, may be accidental consequences of conditions associated with the universe’s birth; and second, that creating “stuff” from “no stuff” seems to be no problem at all—everything we see could have emerged as a purposeless quantum burp in space or perhaps a quantum burp of space itself. Humans, with their remarkable tools and their remarkable brains, may have just taken a giant step toward replacing metaphysical speculation with empirically verifiable knowledge. The Higgs particle is now arguably more relevant than God.
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My Take

While humans carries the need to explore and seek out answers, we still tend to shackle ourselves to the ideas of old. The more we know about the universe, the less relevant and less significant supernatural elements are. The Higgs-Boson discovery will soon be able to deliver a certain heir of promise to the world we're in and a greater understanding of the macrocosm we know as the universe and beyond.

However, I do feel that people still need to create something greater than themselves to retain a sense of ease and calm in their lives. Unfortunately, it's only there when you stop and think, and not when events turn catastrophic.

Morning Star · Jul 11, 2012

You mad, bro?

paniro187 said: ↑

Yeah yeah there's no God we know your MO........if only we could all be as open and "unshackled" as you
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Alinoa · Jul 12, 2012

paniro187 said: ↑

Yeah yeah there's no God we know your MO........if only we could all be as open and "unshackled" as you
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There may no god in a traditional sense such as fundamentalism but there is creative intelligence (yes I realize that's a hardcore Christian term) and I really don't see the point in trying to say yes it is or no it isn't.

It. Just. Is.

Period.

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Higgs Boson Closer to Explain the Origins of the Universe

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