# Higgs Boson **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259 "2012-03-09T13:26:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armstrong-m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@armstrong-m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armstrong-m)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/1 "2012-03-09T13:26:09Z")
If the Higgs Boson is found to exist does that prove that god doesn’t exist? ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/2 "2012-03-09T13:29:24Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > If the Higgs Boson is found to exist does that prove that god doesn’t exist? No, but it does show that you have missed the point about the Higgs Boson. ---
**Author:** ![armstrong-m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@armstrong-m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armstrong-m)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/3 "2012-03-09T13:30:48Z")
what point have I missed? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/4 "2012-03-09T13:35:02Z")
That the name God particle is bunk ---
**Author:** ![armstrong-m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@armstrong-m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armstrong-m)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/5 "2012-03-09T13:36:18Z")
What you mean isn’t it supposed to explain the origin of maths ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/6 "2012-03-09T13:38:19Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > what point have I missed? The Higgs Boson is related to a theorised process that gives all matter mass. It has nothing to do with religion. If it is found then it means that current theory is on the right track. > **[Higgs mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_mechanism)** > > In the Standard Model of particle physics, the Higgs mechanism is essential to explain the generation mechanism of the property "mass" for gauge bosons. Without the Higgs mechanism, all bosons (one of the two classes of particles, the other being fermions) would be considered massless, but measurements show that the W+, W−, and Z0 bosons actually have relatively large masses of around 80 GeV/c2. The Higgs field resolves this conundrum. The simplest description of the mechanism adds to the Stand... ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/7 "2012-03-09T13:39:01Z")
If you ask me, the finding of thousands of people willing to be on and the prevalence of reality television proves that god doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/8 "2012-03-09T13:40:40Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > What you mean isn’t it supposed to explain the origin of maths More like the origin of mass. And not the kind that you go to church for. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/9 "2012-03-09T13:41:50Z")
From the [wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_particle): “In the popular media, the particle is sometimes referred to as the God particle, a title generally disliked by the scientific community as a media hyperbole that misleads readers.” ---
**Author:** ![armstrong-m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@armstrong-m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armstrong-m)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/10 "2012-03-09T13:45:36Z")
Well if not for mass what is left for god to do? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/11 "2012-03-09T13:47:05Z")
That’s not a question for science to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/12 "2012-03-09T13:49:50Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > Well if not for mass what is left for god to do? Assuming he exists, he can take care of the floods, huricanes and droughts. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/13 "2012-03-09T13:51:59Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > Well if not for mass what is left for god to do? What\*\* Grey\*\* said. Also, she said flippantly, who created the Higgs Boson? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/14 "2012-03-09T14:12:50Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > What you mean isn’t it supposed to explain the origin of maths It’s linked to _mass_, not _maths_. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/15 "2012-03-09T15:24:09Z")
As I recall the particle got its “god particle” pseudonym as a shortened form of “god damned particle” which reflected scientists frusteration in finding it. So no connection to the existence of god. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/16 "2012-03-09T15:28:07Z")
> [@armstrong-m](#): > > Well if not for mass what is left for god to do? The existence or lack of existence of the Higgs boson does not in any way prove the existence or lack of existence of God. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/higgs-boson/615259/17 "2012-03-09T15:45:05Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > As I recall the particle got its “god particle” pseudonym as a shortened form of “god damned particle” which reflected scientists frusteration in finding it. So no connection to the existence of god. That’s what Leon Lederman wrote about it in _The God Particle_, but I assumed it was a joke.