The Skeptical Believer

Part 1 talked about whether you believe in something or nothing. Many people I know believe that there is indeed something out there, but they’re kind of vague and unspecified in just exactly what that something is. Their definition doesn’t go much farther than “a Higher Power”. Many of them believe this power is a sort of innocuous, vaguely beneficent Energy that directs and guides us.

A belief very similar to the following, if you’ll allow me to quote some sage wisdom from a venerable master:

It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.

Obi-wan Kenobi

Old Ben’s not entirely wrong.

It was announced today that physicists had found almost certain evidence confirming the discovery of the Higgs boson, aka the “God particle”. It might not seem like that big a deal to us plebeians, but to describe it as a massive, momentous achievement in the realm of quantum physics is a major understatement.

Events of this magnitude present a great opportunity to step back from the day-to-day grind and think big, fundamental thoughts about What It All Means. Let’s think big here. I mean really big. Pull the lens wayyyyy back. Let’s not even think about religion or science. Think past Jesus or Mohamed or Buddha or evolution. Let’s think about the universe itself. The physical universe of stars and galaxies, interstellar gas, quasars, black holes and the like. Let’s just ponder the mere fact that it is. That it exists.