As forewarned, CERN has presser tomorrow on Higgs

[Mark Kohut]

I like the cartoon I saw:
 
Two scientists, evidently, in front of the machine, leaning forward, one with papers (evidently
press conference implied)
 
And the caption has one saying...."We have found what Nothingness is made of"
The Other:                                     "It's really something"..........
 

________________________________
 From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
To: Monte Davis <montedavis at verizon.net> 
Cc: Prashant Kumar <siva.prashant.kumar at gmail.com>; pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org> 
Sent: Saturday, July 7, 2012 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: As forewarned, CERN has presser tomorrow on Higgs
  

This discussion should not end this soon.

Existence, Mass (not RC), Measurement, not meta. 

More please.

On Friday, July 6, 2012, Monte Davis  wrote:

Umm… by no means all photons are virtual particles.   
> 
>From:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of Prashant Kumar
>Sent: Friday, July 06, 2012 7:37 AM
>To: Monte Davis; pynchon -l
>Subject: Re: As forewarned, CERN has presser tomorrow on Higgs
> 
>What I meant is that you have the same debate regarding identity and individuality, but in the modern debate the object is not souls but quantum mechanical particles. In fact, the mathematical definition of photons is what leads to this debate: because they are massless, photons do not experience proper time they are known as 'virtual particles' and exist outside of the reality of massive particles, in some sense. Now since every photon is identical, you have serious problems defining identity. Think 'spirit world', and you have the connection to Duns Scotus' haecceities. 
> 
>Prashant
> 
>On 6 July 2012 18:40, Monte Davis <montedavis at verizon.net> wrote: 
>In defense of physicists (of whom I am not one):  what distinguishes
>massless particles (e.g. photons) from scholastic word-spinning is that (1)
>their properties are unambiguously, mathematically defined; (2) those
>p[roperties have led to a century of predictions verified to many decimal
>places; and (3) they are the only properties consistent with such irrelevant
>arcana as stars shining, atoms cohering, and DVD lasers playing.
>
>My apologies to Abelard and Duns Scotus if that's the kind of thing they
>were doing and I missed it.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf 
>Of Paul Mackin
>Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2012 12:24 PM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: As forewarned, CERN has presser tomorrow on Higgs
>On 7/5/2012 11:35 AM, David Morris wrote:
>> OK, I stand corrected.  Existence w/o mass.  I expect such existence
>> would never become more organized than at the sub-atomic level.  But
>> I'm no physicist.
>
>Me neither, but somehow I'm reminded of the Medieval controversy over the
>distinction between essence and existence, if any.
>
>P
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 10:15 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis at verizon.net>
>wrote:
>>> It bestows mass; they haven't [yet] gotten around to a field/particle
>>> that "bestows existence."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  From  David Morris
>>> Higgs is the new either, a medium that bestows existence.
>>>
>>>
>
> 
>  
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