# Are we worried about the Large Hadron Collider being turned on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441 "2008-09-07T02:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/21 "2008-09-07T07:13:34Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The fact that people are able to joke about something like this truly boggles my mind. Yet in any thread about it, at least half of all the posts seem to be jokes. Maybe this is some extreme form of gallows humor, I don’t know. > > Yeah, maybe you’re more likely to die from being hit by a car or choking on food. Does that mean that you should DELIBERATELY go walk into the middle of traffic, or shove a huge piece of food down your throat and choke yourself? Turning on the LHC is more akin to eating food normally or crossing in a crosswalk than deliberately crossing a busy street or shoving a whole candy bar down your maw. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/22 "2008-09-07T07:29:14Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I am more concerned about waking up tomorrow morning to find my face a bony mask as a result of my toenails acquiring sentience during the night, prying themselves loose, scampering gaily up to my head, and carving all the flesh away from the front of my skull. :eek: Well you can just rock me to sleep tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/23 "2008-09-07T07:44:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Turning on the LHC is more akin to eating food normally or crossing in a crosswalk than deliberately crossing a busy street or shoving a whole candy bar down your maw. If you don’t eat, you will starve. If you don’t cross the street, you won’t be able to get to work, or wherever else you need to go to live a normal life. If you don’t build a multi-billion dollar contraption expending an incredible amount of time and resources, and then turn it on, causing high energy particle collisions…then…uh… ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/24 "2008-09-07T08:00:20Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I am more concerned about waking up tomorrow morning to find my face a bony mask as a result of my toenails acquiring sentience during the night, prying themselves loose, scampering gaily up to my head, and carving all the flesh away from the front of my skull. > > So no. But don’cha see- that could also happen in the LHC-BlackHole-AltUniverse! In fact, the very fact that your mind conceived of such a thing is a sign that you’ve picked up signals from that alternate universe warning us of what is to come! ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/25 "2008-09-07T08:02:25Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > If you don’t build a multi-billion dollar contraption expending an incredible amount of time and resources, and then turn it on, causing high energy particle collisions…then…uh… You won’t figure out the secret of the universe. The risk is totally worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/26 "2008-09-07T08:41:45Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > You won’t figure out the secret of the universe. The risk is totally worth it. Testing like this also leads to very unexpected applications, oftentimes things like medicine which can really open up new ways to help people that we wouldn’t have known, at least not nearly as soon, without those experiments. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/27 "2008-09-07T08:42:06Z")
The LHC will not produce energies greater than those of cosmic rays that already bombard Earth all the damn time. The only difference is that the LHC is more controlled and has detectors so that we can figure out what is happening at the subatomic level. Fearing an apocalypse from the LHC is utterly irrational. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/28 "2008-09-07T12:44:08Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > The LHC will not produce energies greater than those of cosmic rays that already bombard Earth all the damn time. The only difference is that the LHC is more controlled and has detectors so that we can figure out what is happening at the subatomic level. Fearing an apocalypse from the LHC is utterly irrational. Exactly. If the LHC was capable of destroying Earth, Earth wouldn’t have lasted long enough to be destroyed in the first place. Black holes or strangelets or the langoliers or whatever would have eaten up the chunks of debris that made Earth before there even was an Earth. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/29 "2008-09-07T12:54:46Z")
Anyone seen the [Large Hadron Rap](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/30 "2008-09-07T13:05:02Z")
Listen, I’m the sort of person that worries about everything. But I’m just not worried about this. For one thing, _it’s so freakin’ cool._ Additionally, let’s imagine that the worst happened, and we created a mini black hole which condensed our earth into an infinitesimal singularity. Who’s going to notice? We’d be gone in the blink of an eye. No suffering. No, ‘‘Goddamn it I told you so!’’ Just gone. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/31 "2008-09-07T13:33:21Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > If you don’t eat, you will starve. If you don’t cross the street, you won’t be able to get to work, or wherever else you need to go to live a normal life. > > If you don’t build a multi-billion dollar contraption expending an incredible amount of time and resources, and then turn it on, causing high energy particle collisions…then…uh… I worry about things when: 1. There is a damn good possibility that it could happen, and 2. There is a chance I can do something about it. Now, #1 is a matter of opinion, but as far as #2 goes, what the hell can _you_ do to change the situation? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/32 "2008-09-07T13:47:57Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Who’s going to notice? We’d be gone in the blink of an eye. No suffering. No, ‘‘Goddamn it I told you so!’’ Just gone. I don’t think there’s any possibility of the LHC causing the end of the world, but that would be a terrible way of looking at it if there was. First, if it produced a black hole that didn’t decay away to nothingness it would not destroy everything “in the blink of an eye” - it would take time to grow to the point where an entire planet could be destroyed, let alone every individual human. Second, saying that the people you accidentally killed died instantly isn’t much of a defense if they only died at all because you were being an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/33 "2008-09-07T13:59:59Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I don’t think there’s any possibility of the LHC causing the end of the world, but that would be a terrible way of looking at it if there was. First, if it produced a black hole that didn’t decay away to nothingness it would not destroy everything “in the blink of an eye” - it would take time to grow to the point where an entire planet could be destroyed, let alone every individual human. Second, saying that the people you accidentally killed died instantly isn’t much of a defense if they only died at all because you were being an idiot. I also believe that it poses no risk to this earth. As **Czarcasm** points out, I don’t have any control over whether it operates or not. My rationalization above is only an explanation of why I don’t worry about it, not whether I think it’s an acceptable level of risk. It’s easier not to worry about if I think about not having to psychologically cope with the consequences. Great. Now I’m going to worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/34 "2008-09-07T14:06:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Quick! Moar anti-matter! If it works, it works. And if it doesn’t? Then, Laddie, neither you nor me will be here to bandy about it, will we…? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/35 "2008-09-07T14:31:51Z")
When they turn it on, if the answer “42” doesn’t come streaming out in a display of well-trained particles, I’m going to be **very** disappointed! ---
**Author:** ![starryspice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@starryspice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starryspice)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/36 "2008-09-07T15:23:11Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The fact that people are able to joke about something like this truly boggles my mind. Yet in any thread about it, at least half of all the posts seem to be jokes. Maybe this is some extreme form of gallows humor, I don’t know. > > Yeah, maybe you’re more likely to die from being hit by a car or choking on food. Does that mean that you should DELIBERATELY go walk into the middle of traffic, or shove a huge piece of food down your throat and choke yourself? From what I understand, the high-energy particles that the LHC is creating already exist. They crash into the Earth’s atmosphere on a regular basis. If something were going to happen, it would already have happened. That’s why people are joking - all the hype is just media-induced. ETA: woops, I should read the whole thread first. Sorry **sturmhauke**! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/37 "2008-09-07T16:00:18Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The fact that people are able to joke about something like this truly boggles my mind. Yet in any thread about it, at least half of all the posts seem to be jokes. Maybe this is some extreme form of gallows humor, I don’t know. [In your thread on this topic last week](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=481509), you may have overlooked the [question from **Nancarrow** about why you’re willing to cherry-pick what physics you believe in](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10150443&postcount=45). Got an answer for why you think they’ll be created but not wink out like they always do? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/38 "2008-09-07T16:03:12Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The fact that people are able to joke about something like this truly boggles my mind. Not only is it easy to joke about this, it’s obligatory, because the fringe paranoia about this device is simply, and necessarily, laughable. It’s akin to fretting about having your brain wiped by the flashing “don’t walk” sign at the corner. It’s the same as fearing that when you pick up your McDonald’s Quarter Pounder to take a bite the meat might come flying out of the bun at decapitation velocity. It’s as dumb as refusing to use one’s microwave because of the possibility that it might malfunction and explode with the force of a nuclear warhead. That’s why people are making jokes. Because it’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/39 "2008-09-07T16:42:24Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The fact that people are able to joke about something like this truly boggles my mind. Yet in any thread about it, at least half of all the posts seem to be jokes. Maybe this is some extreme form of gallows humor, I don’t know. > > Yeah, maybe you’re more likely to die from being hit by a car or choking on food. Does that mean that you should DELIBERATELY go walk into the middle of traffic, or shove a huge piece of food down your throat and choke yourself? The reason people are joking is that it’s not going to destroy the world. You’re far likelier to be killed by a drunk driver while sitting in your own living room (which has happened.) ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441/40 "2008-09-07T17:09:02Z")
> [@Skeptoid #109](#): > > one way to look at this is that the Large Hadron Collider is like an impotent little spaghettio compared to the greatest super collider of them all - the universe. Nature’s super collider has been going for billions of years at energies millions of times higher than scientists can dream about. So far neither earth nor any of the other planets nor even super dense astronomical bodies such as neutron stars have suffered from particle collisions. In fact, according to Dr. Brian Cox from CERN the universe conducts the equivalent of 10 trillion lifetime runs of the LHC every second and has been doing so for billions of years with not a single observable consequence. No, I’m not the least bit worried. Some of the smartest people on the planet are working on this, you think maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-worried-about-the-large-hadron-collider-being-turned-on/462441.md?page=3)