Historical events recede in importance with every passing decade. Crises, political and financial, can be seen for the blips on the path of progress that they usually are. Even the horrors of war acquire a patina of unreality. The laws of physics, though, are eternal and universal. Elucidating them is one of the triumphs of mankind. And this week has seen just such a triumphant elucidation.
Economist, The Higgs Boson: { Science’s Great Leap Forward }
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Well said.
People are asking, “What does this ‘God Particle’ mean for me? How will it change my daily life?”
The realistic answer is that it likely won’t. We’ve made it possible to live here (for now, although it’s not working out too well for us) in a “human bubble” and not care much about anything outside of human culture, human perspective, and how the rest of the world relates to us. It’s possible to go on living here and not give a damn about nature or science, because we don’t really have to encounter the former anymore, and can rely on others for the latter.
But should it be like that? I don’t know that there’s anything more sublime, more important, more vital than trying to know the world on its own terms. Once you’ve had a taste — a real taste — it’s near impossible to go back.
