

Scientists Abuzz Over Rumor that God Particle Has Been Detected at LHC - sasvari
http://www.livescience.com/13853-higgs-boson-signal-lhc-cern.html

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pshapiro
From the article:

Dorigo — who said he doesn't have access to the full ATLAS memo — gives
several reasons for this viewpoint. He points out, for example, that
scientists at Fermilab didn't see the putative Higgs signal in their Tevatron
data, which covered similar ground as the ATLAS experiment.

Dorigo feels strongly enough, in fact, to put his money where his mouth is.

"I bet $1,000 with whomever has a name and a reputation in particle physics
(this is a necessary specification, because I need to be sure that the person
taking the bet will honor it) that the signal is not due to Higgs boson
decays," he wrote on his blog today. "I am willing to bet that this is NO NEW
PARTICLE. Clear enough?"

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hugh3
I hope when it is discovered then journalists can give up on the nickname "God
particle".

Sheesh, it's just the Higgs Boson. It gives mass to particles. It didn't
create the universe. It doesn't turn water into wine. It doesn't smite ancient
middle-eastern cities for playing with their wangs. And it doesn't love you or
demand you love it in return.

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pshapiro
All the things you listed seem to be propagated by religions, rather than
being abilities of a God or things that non-religious people report about
gods.

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hugh3
Fine. It doesn't have a giant hammer or throw lightning bolts or... wait, what
_do_ non-religious people report about gods?

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pshapiro
The following might seem somewhat far fetched to you, but then again, when I
was in your position it seemed that way to me too. One thing non-religious
people are able to report about God is that what we call a god means the
consciousness which is generated by activities. Consciousness is like an
electrical signal in that it will transmit any information input into it.
Something recorded in a consciousness can be said not to have very much mass
compared to the actual object which was met, so curiously (and not
coincidentally), people calling the Higgs particle the god particle is
actually as wrong as the religious accounts of gods ability because god
doesn't have the ability to change massive things by itself. Hope this makes
more sense..

