
Peter Higgs interview: 'I have this kind of underlying incompetence' - jonbaer
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-interview-underlying-incompetence
======
baby
Awesome article.

> One has since acknowledged that they were simply too late, and Higgs agrees,
> "I think so, yes." The other two were invited to Cern in July last year when
> the particle's discovery was announced, and complained about being ignored
> by the press, but although he does say they "naturally felt a bit left out",
> he doesn't look too troubled.

One of the saddest part of this article. We often forget that a lot of
geniuses are left in the dark just because they were not here first. But they
might have very interesting stories to tell as well.

> But his reluctance to embrace the technological developments taking place in
> everyday life had nothing to do with incompetence. My dad, I tell him, is of
> the view that the more gadgets we have, the less we can think, and Higgs
> smiles and agrees: "I have a bit of that, too." His son gave him a mobile
> phone two months ago, but he is yet to make a call, and no one outside his
> family knows the number. "I resent being disturbed in this way. Why should
> people be able to interrupt me like that?" Because they like to be in touch?

Damn true, the more gadgets we have, the less we can think. I feel overwhelmed
by technology these last few years. The only moment I can feel really in
control is when I only take a few math papers with me and go do my laundry. No
phone, no internet, no tv, no nothing...

> It is true he has never liked the popular nickname for his particle – "the
> God particle" – but not, as has been reported, because he doesn't want to
> offend religious sensibilities. If anything, his objection is the opposite.
> "For a start, I'm not a believer. Some people get confused between the
> science and the theology. They claim that what happened at Cern proves the
> existence of God. The church in Spain has also been guilty of using that
> name as evidence for what they want to prove."

> People write to him claiming the God particle was predicted in the Torah,
> the Qur'an and the Buddhist scriptures, which only makes him regret the
> nickname more, "Because it reinforces confused thinking in the heads of
> people who are already thinking in a confused way." He doesn't bother trying
> to change their minds. "If they believe that story about creation in seven
> days," he muses, "are they being intelligent?"

That last sentence, that's tactless. I like it.

~~~
visakanv
What's especially funny is that the meaning of "day" has been largely lost in
translation- if I understand corectly, the original meaning in the original
language wasn't specifically 24 hours, but interchangable with "age" or
"epoch". So people aren't even reading scripture literally, they're reading an
over-simplistic interpretation of scripture literally.

~~~
saraid216
That pretty much describes all literalist interpretations of the Bible. If you
want to be shocked and amazed sometime, research End Times theories. It's
incredible how much effort goes into "reading it literally".

~~~
Natsu
Which is weird, because people in ancient times knew better.

------
Create
"How should we make it attractive for them [young people] to spend 5,6,7 years
in our field, be satisfied, learn about excitement, but finally be qualified
to find other possibilities?" \-- H. Schopper

The numbers make the problem clear. In 2007, the year before CERN first
powered up the LHC, the lab produced 142 master's and Ph.D. theses, according
to the lab's document server. Last year it produced 327. (Fermilab chipped in
54.) That abundance seems unlikely to vanish anytime soon, as last year ATLAS
had 1000 grad students and CMS had 900.

In contrast, the INSPIRE Web site, a database for particle physics, currently
lists 124 postdocs worldwide in experimental high-energy physics, the sort of
work LHC grads have trained for.

The situation is equally difficult for postdocs trying to make the jump to a
junior faculty position or a permanent job at a national lab. The Snowmass
Young Physicists survey received responses from 956 early-career researchers,
including 343 postdocs. But INSPIRE currently lists just 152 "junior"
positions, including 61 in North America. And the supply of jobs isn't likely
to increase, says John Finley, an astrophysicist at Purdue University in West
Lafayette, Indiana, who is leading a search to replace two senior particle
physicists. "For the most part, I don't think departments are looking to grow
their particle physics programs," he says.

[http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previou...](http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2013_08_29/caredit.a1300185)

A warning to non-western members about values at CERN:

"The cost [...] has been evaluated, taking into account realistic labor prices
in different countries. The total cost is X (with a western equivalent value
of Y)" [where Y>X]

source: LHCb calorimeters : Technical Design Report

ISBN: 9290831693
[http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/494264](http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/494264)

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JonnieCache
_" I don't regard television as the outside world," he offers dryly. "I regard
it as an artefact."_

Nice.

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Tycho
The article gives the impression that he basically made one breakthrough in
the 60s, never kept up with his field and hasn't contributed anything in 50
years. How far is this from the truth?

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visakanv
I have a kind of underlying incompetence too! If only correlation implied
causation. :(

~~~
wsc981
Don't worry, it's probably just the impostor syndrome[0] acting up.

[0]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome)

~~~
JamesArgo
You're not supposed to tell him that. You'll only give him meta-imposter
syndrome.

~~~
moocowduckquack
What happens if you now describe that?

~~~
JamesArgo
I'm quite confident I would be unable to do so adequately.

~~~
visakanv
That sounds like misplaced confidence, good sir. Your claims of inadequacy are
likely inadequate. You're probably a genius.

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squozzer
He does seem to reinforce the stereotype of the eccentric physicist, e.g. the
rumor that Einstein couldn't tie his shoelaces.

