Some Knowledge

I have studied particle physics in the past.  I have a degree in physics.  We know a lot about the composition and behavior of exotic forms of matter.  Does this knowledge have any relevance in the real world?

The world we inhabit is formed from four elementary particles, for the most part:  protons, neutrons, electrons and photons.  Everything we can observe in nature, aside from particles proceeding from radioactive decay, is formed of these particles.  It is the combination of the elementary particles that form the great majority of observable matter.  These four particles are all it takes to produce a rich and varied universe.

What does particle physics study?  High energy elementary particles produced in the laboratory or found in cosmic rays.  For the most part, particle physics deals with particles produced from energy by man that live very short and somewhat interesting lives.  It is perhaps important in understanding how the universe came into being in the Big Bang, but aside from such a cataclysmic event, most of these elementary particles will never be observed in nature.  Why, in fact, would it matter?  Is it just so we can attempt to explain everything about the structure of matter and energy?  Would our lives be changed in any way if we did not have huge, expensive particle accelerator labs?   I doubt it, except for persons working at these labs.

I’m not against the study of science just for the sake of gaining knowledge, but I wonder what the purpose is in studying high energy artificially-created objects for which there is no practical use.   Yay, you can make some high energy whizz-bangs in some hyper-expensive toy that tells us something about what it was like a picosecond after theBig Bang.  Is this supposed to affect my life in any real way?  Why did I spend so much time and money studying something for which there is no practical use?  I’m wondering about my own motives here.

It’s my personal opinion that governments fund this research because they don’t want to be left behind if somebody discovers how to make a bomb out of elementary particles.  Governments seem to be really interested in new ways to kill people.  There are a lot of Department of Defense dollars going into high energy physics research.  Why would the army be interested in something which has no practical purpose?  Do they just like to throw away money?

Unlike most people, I’ve actually visited a high energy physics lab.  I walked through Fermilab many years ago when they were just installing the first colliding beam experiment.  I’ve seen the bubble chamber close up and been in the control room.  I’ve seen the equipment that powers these things.  It’s all very big and interesting and impressive.  It still doesn’t do much of anything.  Physicists are not looking for any practical uses for Higgs Bosons.  Scientists just want to find out how the universe is put together.  Sometimes I wonder why they need this knowledge.  When they find out how everything works are they going to try to take it all apart?  Does it change anything to have this kind of detailed knowledge of things that only exist when we create them?

I wonder if people’s lives might not be better if they studied things like how to grow flowers.  I wonder if our world would be a better place if we tried to figure out how to feed all the starving people.  I think we would all be happier if governments quit thinking up ways to kill people and instead thought of ways to make people happy.  There is no practical use for the stars in the sky, aside from giving us a sense of wonder when we look at them.  There are many things for which there is no practical use.  We can take pleasure in our knowledge, I suppose.  As to whether particle physics is relevant, I think the answer to that depends on if you are a particle physicist.  Are turtles relevant?  To a zoologist, perhaps they are.  Should we spend so much money on something that has no real use?  Perhaps not.