Now this is working really hard:
To understand what’s fishy about the observable Higgs mass being so low, first you must know that it is actually the sum of two inputs: the bare Higgs mass (which we don’t know) plus contributions from all the other Standard Model particles, contributions collectively known as “quantum corrections.”
The second number in the equation is an enormous negative, coming in around minus 1018 GeV. Compared to that, the result of the equation, 125 GeV, is extremely small, close to zero. That means the first number, the bare Higgs mass, must be almost the opposite, to so nearly cancel it out. To some physicists, this is an unacceptably strange coincidence.
Or it could be that it’s not the bare Higgs mass doing the heavy lifting here; it could be that there are additional contributions to the quantum corrections that physicists don’t know about.
Either way, many particle physicists aren’t comfortable with this situation. There’s no known underlying reason for these almost exact cancellations, and insisting that “it is the way it is” is unsatisfying.
Madeleine O’Keefe, “Fine-tuning versus naturalness” at Symmetry
In general, we are informed, physicists want nothing in their theories that seems “contrived.” One physicist quoted puts her faith in supersymmetry and others dream of a final theory in which fine-tuning disappears.
Prediction: It’ll get worse. The no-fine-tuning theories will get crazier. The war on math, will intervene to create a welcome distraction.
See also: What becomes of science when the evidence does not matter?
as to this comment from the article:
Hmm,,
So it bothers them that the universe seems to be ‘deliberately created’?
That is a very interesting thing for them to be ‘bothered’ by.
Exactly why would they be ‘bothered’ by that particular prospect? I’m not bothered, irritated, or annoyed, by that prospect at all. In fact, it seems very ‘natural’ to me that knowing that the universe, and even our very own lives, may very well have a much higher purpose should be a source of great joy and wonder for us!
If anything is to be considered ‘unnatural’ in all this, it is people being irritated, annoyed, and/or ‘bothered’ by the prospect that this universe, and even their very own lives, may have a higher purpose, and, on the other hand, supposedly being ‘comforted’ by the prospect that the universe, and therefore their very own lives, have no real purpose or meaning whatsoever.
For crying out loud, why in blue blazes would a person, as a starting presupposition in science, prefer a purposeless existence that is devoid of any true hope for his life, over a purposeful existence that is potentially full of hope for his very own life?
Is nihilistic death really to be preferred over eternal life as a starting presupposition in science in how we are supposedly allowed evaluate our scientific theories? That’s completely absurd!
The Christian founders of modern science would have strongly protested such unwarranted nihilistic presuppositions for how we now are apparently ‘suppose’ to evaluate our current scientific theories!
Indeed, I am quite sure that the Christian founders of modern science would have preferred hope and life over nihilism and death as a starting presupposition in science! In fact, as the quotes illustrate, it appears that hope and life was very much a integral part of their starting presuppositions in science.
BA 77
These people are curious.
They say life is “purposeless” because we are all going to die.
Which implies life is valuable, because if it not were true, why should they feel saddened knowing it is going to end?
A “purposeless” universe gave rise to the concept of “purpose”. According to them, it “just-happened”.
Theirs is intellectual laziness.
BA77,
I like your comment, specially quoting the founders of modern science to contrast it with the seemingly confused attitude displayed by some current scientists.
Truthfreedom,
You raised a very good point.
I believe that God provides the solution for the “death” problem.
Natural science can’t resolve it.
From the article:
Right. For the guy who gets a straight flush 5 times in a row. The dealer just says “coincidences happen”?
Some of these scientists don’t see anything to wonder about with coincidences of fine tuning. And there’s another problem with nihilism. It destroys the sense of wonder and appreciation we should have when we observe nature.