I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the latest NOVA program today. Here is what I learned/relearned:
When I was in High School, they taught us that the atom was the building block of matter. Lowest common denominator per se. Lo, this wasn't precisely correct. Everything is made from particles. Matter Particles = quarks, leptons. Force Particles = photons, gluons, w^z, and bosons. This particle taxonomy is called the Standard Model.
Science has now found evidence for all of these particles. The most difficult detection came with the Higgs-Boson type particle.
“Within a fraction of a second of the big bang, physicists believe that the absolute symmetry of the universe was shattered by a tiny fluctuation: the Higgs (Higgs-Boson) field appeared in all of space. The forces split apart, the particles of the standard model became distinct. Structure emerged. This fall from perfection is what allowed us to come into being” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/big-bang-machine.html
Big Bang Machine (2015) NOVA
Perfection is unstable.
At the beginning of the universe :: Perfection/Balance/Symmetry :: everything was the same.
A fraction of a second later, something happened, and Perfection was lost. Individual particles became distinct and visible. If I understand this correctly, physicists believe that it was the Boson particle that broke Perfection. This is why some people call the Higgs “The God Particle”
I fully realize that I am missing large chunks of information that is frankly over my head. Yet, I am amazed at how many parallels I see here. Just two:
1. S*IT happens. Everything's nice and pretty, and along comes the Higgs particle to crash the party. Shortly after the mayhem begins, he disappears. The only evidence of his existence is a pile of empty metaphorical pizza boxes.
2. "Fall from perfection is what allowed us to come into being" (direct quote there) verbiage is reminiscent of scripture. Perhaps this is the scientific basis for the Garden of Eden. Personally, I don't think so. I am far more likely to believe that this is merely a simulacrum of an oft-repeated tenet of physical and spiritual reality.
Big Bang Machine (2015) NOVA
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