"One thing is clear: The July 4 discovery that marked a new chapter in scientific knowledge also reignited debate over the universe's origins -- and the validity of religious faith as scientific knowledge expands. The Higgs boson explains why particles have mass -- and in turn why we exist. Without the boson, the universe would have no physical matter, only energy."Here are a few quotes from the article that show how diverse reactions are to it:
- "Humans, with their remarkable tools and their remarkable brains, may have just taken a giant step toward replacing metaphysical speculation with empirically verifiable knowledge." "That's the difference between science and religion." "We don't require the universe to be what we want -- we force our beliefs to conform to the evidence of reality." -Lawrence M. Krauss, an Arizona State University theoretical physicist
- "The mysteries revealed by modern science are a constant reminder that reality is bigger than our day-to-day lives." -Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno
- "It only strengthens the notion that the universe comes out of a nothingness which is everything. -Alternative medicine guru Deepak Chopra
- "The awe we feel with this heady topic causes even nonreligious people to use religious language." Humans are really fascinated with what we know scientifically and what lies right at the boundaries of what we can know." "The fans and the foes of religion ... are overreaching on both sides. The quest for the Higgs boson, and its ultimate discovery, neither proves nor disproves God." -Philip Clayton, dean of Claremont School of Theology and a researcher of science and religion.
I love the idea that there is something physical that came out of nothing. It speaks to me of the Genesis story and how God spoke the world into existence. Even so, I agree with Philip Clayton that such discoveries neither proves nor disproves God. I am one who agrees with the writer of Hebrews when he writes: "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible."
Yes, Bob, noticed and am fascinated. After they've pre-digested it a bit more for me I'm going to dig and read what it all really means. Right now there's way to much gushing going on, and too little meaningful explanation. For the simple reason, they're still working it out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "god-speak," you may not know the whole story. A biographer of Higgs was going to entitle his book, "The Goddamn Particle," because that's what Higgs called it while he was devoting his life to ferreting it out. The publisher decided removing 4 letters would help book sales, and now we have our religious-sounding particle. No worship was harmed in the naming of this particle. ;-)
I read about that too Kevin - what a difference four little letters make. :)
DeleteHave a great weekend old friend!
For the record, Bob, I just learned I could subscribe to comments on your posts. So, if you've ever extended a convo with me and I didn't continue it's that's pretty much why.
DeleteAlso, with captcha turned off on my blog I receive a manageable level of spam, but rates have gone from zero to about 4 spams per real comment.
Thanks for that Kevin. The new Dynamic Views Blogger template can be a bit confusing. Since disallowing anonymous comments I get virtually no spam on any of my blogs. Before that I got a lot of spam.
DeleteHave a great week week!
I think there is a confusion here of the how and the why. Just because I know wood burns does not say whether it is lite by a match or a bolt of lightening. Just because the Higgs bosom explains how some object has mass, it does not explain why it exists that way, because God made it that way or because of pure chance. Things coming into existence by pure chance does not make a whole lot of sense to me even with a particle to explain the how.
ReplyDeleteI agree Mike! Thanks for weighing in!
Deleteagreed.
ReplyDelete