Philosophy

Y! Big Story: In search of a simple explanation of Higgs boson, aka the God Particle. Click image to see more photos.

Higgs boson verified at Level 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV????? Yowza. OK, let's try this again: Scientists are now within reach of finding the so-called God particle. About 5,000 researchers divided into two teams--ATLAS and CMS--found a subatomic particle, and it could be the elusive Higgs, the polka-dotted unicorn of the physics world. Here's a "simple" explanation of what has physicists agog the world over: As of July 4, 2012, the Higgs boson is the last fundamental piece of the standard model of particle physics to be discovered experimentally.

Wait, is this the simple explanation? I thought these animals were extinct? [A] boson -- one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particles -- is named after Satyendra Nath Bose, who preceded Higgs. ... Why God Particle? Thanks for the etymology, what about the science? Scientists figured these itty-bitty particles were quarks, held together by gluons. What's the big deal?

'God Particle' 'Discovered': European Researchers Claim Discovery of Higgs Boson-Like Particle. The head of the European Center for Nuclear Research says its teams have discovered a new particle that is consistent with the Higgs boson -- a subatomic particle considered so significant to the understanding of the universe that it has been called the God particle.

"We have a discovery [that is] consistent with a Higgs boson," Rolf Heuer, director of CERN, the European research center, said Wednesday. Two independent teams at CERN, the physics lab in the Alps on the French-Swiss border, have now said that they have "observed" the new boson, or subatomic particle. The CERN teams did not outright say that they have discovered the Higgs boson itself, which has been the focus of a 40-plus year pursuit. The Higgs boson, which was first proposed in the 1960s by the English physicist Peter Higgs, is believed to give all matter in the universe size and shape. Physicists say the Higgs boson would help explain how we, and the rest of the universe, exist. ScienceHiggs bosonsubatomic particle. - StumbleUpon. Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies. Allegory of the Cave. Plato realizes that the general run of humankind can think, and speak, etc., without (so far as they acknowledge) any awareness of his realm of Forms.

The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this. In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. From Great Dialogues of Plato (Warmington and Rouse, eds.) Here are some students’ illustrations of Plato’s Cave Go back to lecture on the Phaedo Go back to lecture on the “One Over Many” Argument Go to next lecture on Criticism of Forms Need a quick review of the Theory of Forms?