Community Update

It is always so much easier to dwell on the negative. The world is not a simple place. Our plates are full but often lacking in core substance. Many times life assumes the character of a race to innocence, attempting to give basic meaning to our complexity. Then there are events that emphasize our special nature.

Recently I had the opportunity to interview a physicist working on the CERN sponsored particle collider, an engaging man embarked on an incredible journey. He collaborates with 3,000 others in a search for the ultimate enigma, the motivating force that holds existence together.

The particle collider, built in Geneva, attempts to describe the shoelace binding our world's structure. Something holds matter to laws of pattern and shape. Something gives it physical relevance and substance. Different analogies have been used to describe a fluid field, fish in the ocean, stars in a matrix, man on a tether.

We can take a leap of faith and consider that things are simply as they are or we can try to explain. My guest spoke of a Higgs particle, something that indicated the existence of a natural field binding matter. It was a fascinating discussion, three thousand scientists working together irrespective of nationality, race, religious preference. All attempting to find answers that allow us to ask the proper questions. Such efforts are comparable to a team of artists painting the wind. Somewhere there is a young man or woman who will, in time, add another piece to the puzzle.

The particle collider has been criticized as a leap into the unknown. A rather vocal group warned of life as we know it falling into a man made black hole. Armageddon rhymes with little save our own fears. Introspective scientific investigation always carries some risk. This isn't man and creation sharing a rosebush. There are thorns. With time, patience, commitment there is also magic.