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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that the possible sighting/discovery of the higgs boson particle

55 replies

londonone · 13/12/2011 23:08

has hammered home that being very intelligent doesn't make you a good teacher or good at explaining things!

Maybe I am exceptionally dim, but I have heard multiple scientists "explaining" what it is today, and I am none the wiser!

OP posts:
Original poster
londonone · 13/12/2011 23:26

I thought gravity was sorted as well. I think I may just start making up my own theories! Flat earth anyone? Xmas Wink

OP posts:
CupAndSorcery · 13/12/2011 23:27

Yes i understand they see magic in everyday things...which is great. Just find them a bit droning and dull is all...

....ignore me as i am now really wishing i hadn't got into this whole thing Xmas Grin

LineRunnerCrouchingReindeer · 13/12/2011 23:27

Funny you should say that, Quint, but I am working up a proposal for the Catholic Church which involves the proposition that the Higg Bosun actually carries teeny tiny messages from God to tell the world how to happen.

I need the money.

Vatican Bank. Ker-ching.

Original poster
londonone · 13/12/2011 23:27

I think cake gives me mass!

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madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:28

QuintessentiallyFestive the line between science and religion is really thin. The only difference being that scientists try to find proof that their beliefs are true. And if they can't, they're happy to discard those beliefs in favour of provable ones.

But it both start off with a theory and some faith.

Yourefired · 13/12/2011 23:29

Try infinite monkeys on radio 4. Brian Cox and Robert Innes explaining science with jokes. Love it.

LineRunnerCrouchingReindeer · 13/12/2011 23:29

Page 63 of the Rdaio Times, CupandSorcery.

The 'Santa Particle' by Brian Cox.

madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:29

londonone Then cake is the key to the universe!? science face

Original poster
londonone · 13/12/2011 23:29

I love infinite monkey!

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Esta3GG · 13/12/2011 23:30

madonnawhore - ah so is it to get to the bottom of what atoms are made of?

madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:30

I love the Infinite Monkey Cage too. Radio 4 podcast. It's great.

QuintessentiallyFestive · 13/12/2011 23:31

LineRunner, no, It does not carry tiny messages, Jesus' brother will teleport out of it.

Original poster
londonone · 13/12/2011 23:33

So that's settled then. Cake is the key to the universe and Mr Higgs and Mrs Boson are two teeny tiny leprechauns scurrying around carrying the good lord's word. Excellent MN explains things far more clearly than Newsnight

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madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:34

Esta3GG No, they know atoms are made of particles. But some particles move more slowly than others.

For example, photons (light particles) obviously move at the speed of light. But not all particles move at the speed of light. The slower ones are slower because they're heavier.

And they think that it's the higgs boson that makes them heavy.

QuintessentiallyFestive · 13/12/2011 23:34

Amen.

QuintessentiallyFestive · 13/12/2011 23:35

and gets her coat.

madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:35

But the more I think about it, I think the answer is cake.

NotADudeExactly · 13/12/2011 23:35

madonnawhore I think another important distinction between scientific and religious claims would be that religion allows a wider range of claims.

Basically, if it's not falsifiable and you're still trying to turn it into a hypothesis you'll be one frustrated researcher.

LineRunnerCrouchingReindeer · 13/12/2011 23:36

I think the Pope would prefer the teeny tiny messages to be written in Latin. Or possibly Italian or German. Just sayin'.

madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:37

NotADudeExactly well yes, exactly. In religion you can hypothesise anything you like and it's not incumbent on you to prove that hypothesis.

Although I would argue that it ought to be.

YuleingFanjo · 13/12/2011 23:37

isn't it just a theory yet to be proven?

Esta3GG · 13/12/2011 23:40

madonnawhore - oh so simple when you say it like that!
Thank you. You vay vay good at this explaining thing.
Tomorrow I shall blag myself senseless about higgs boson.

timetosmile · 13/12/2011 23:40

Higgs-Boson goes into a RC church.

Priest, "you can't come in here"

HB, "why not?"

Priest "cos subatomic particles aren't welcome"

HB "but you can't have Mass without me"

madonnawhore · 13/12/2011 23:41

YuelingFanjo yes, theory at the moment. They're tying to prove it right now. Although I read the live streaming from the CERN presentation today and one science professor they interviewed said he thinks they're all secretly hoping there isn't a higgs boson so that they can come up with a new, even more exciting theory about what gives things mass, and go off and test that.

LineRunnerCrouchingReindeer · 13/12/2011 23:42

A neutrino already told that joke.