Friday, July 13, 2012

Wow, these God particles......

July 4, 2012 - It is the big day when the proof of the God particle is shared with the world. Scientists at the CERN have close to demonstrable proof of the existence of the God particle as we have come to know it or the Higgs Boson as it prefers to be called. Some trivia I picked up as to why it is called Higgs Boson as opposed to Higgs bottom or Higgs bosom is due to an India connection. Boson it is because Higgs proposed the existence of this particle based on some early particle physics principles laid down by Satendra Nath Bose, and the Bose somehow leads to Boson. 

Now, the idea is not to sound knowledgeable, but neither do I want to exhibit my extreme ignorance of this phenomenon. So, I read up on this God particle. Well, I get it that the Universe came into being as matter was formed, that matter gained mass because of the God particle. I grew up thinking God made man, but somehow thinking the God particle did that is close enough. So, that is easy. Now comes the difficult part. So, you are telling me that electrons, protons and neutrons have mass but photons don't. Why would something as crazy as that happen? Oh, because the quarks and the leptons came together because of some energy field. Must be some energy field like a Beatles concert for everyone to come together, right here...wow, these God particles must be something. Well, anyway, my day goes on with no flashes of extraordinary. It does not have to be extraordinary just because someone found the God particle...

I had enough of the God particle and its mystery, so,  I decide to do something less stressful than think about that. I am in New York on the 4th of July and want to soak in the NYC experience on this American Independence day. So, I say to myself, let me walk down Broadway, the whole length to Times square. I get to further ahead of Lincoln center and start to walk down towards Time Square. As I start to walk, I notice that I am pretty much the only fool on a hot afternoon going down that path. You would expect New York to be crowded so I wonder, I am going the right way? I stop to ask and the unfriendly person I meet, he nods his head curtly. I carry on down the road and as I pass Lincoln theatre and some more, I start seeing other folks all walking down that path too. Not too many but there are people now on this road. Great.... I think we are like quarks and leptons, we move in seemingly aimless ways. And I walk some more before I need a break. I stop by the sidewalk cafe for a Corona and some eats. I watch the people go by and I realize that the foot traffic is picking up. Yes, and they are all going the same direction towards Times square. These people look like floating particles illuminated in the sunshine, like God particles....I laughed off what the Corona was trying to do to me and continued my walk. The traffic grew and I hit this sea of humanity in Times Square. In joy, in celebration, I see milling crowd, I see a mass of humanity as One. I see flashes of extraordinary, I see joy, I see oneness, I see extraordinary. Because I found these people, these God particles. Illuminated in the sunshine, illuminated in joy, these God particles.....wow, these God particles must be something.

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