Why Science Can’t Replace Religion

[Jim__]

116. No, actually I didn't just make up the fact that just about anyone can run an equivalent ...

... to Thomson's CRT experiment. Have you looked at the kits that are available? I'm sure lots of people are not interested. That means they won't run this test. It doesn't mean they can't.

As far as muons, quarks and neutrinos, see my post 87. I didn't just make them up out of thin air. But it's obvious you can't even attempt to answer the questions I posed:

How is accepting the existence of those particles fundamentally different from accepting the existence of a Higgs boson? What makes one an act of "faith" and not the others?

Your original question in post in post 75, only talked about the existence of electrons, antibodies, tsetse flies and Brunei. I answered that question. The game of well then, what about this, what about that is never-ending. And not worth beginning.

As far as particles go, my claim was about electrons. The difference? Well, as noted above, you (or at least most people) can run the test to demonstrate the existence of electrons. And, as particle physiscist Lily Asquith said:

So, the Higgs boson "is" also a pair of Z or W bosons, a pair of photons, or a pair of quarks or leptons. We cannot predict whether a single Higgs will decay to a pair of photons or to a pair of something else, we can only give a probability of each decay type.

See post 96 for a more complete quote from Asquith.

What percentage of the population must understand the theory and the math behibd <sic> the evidence for those particles for your threshold to be met?

As far as demonstrating the existence of electrons, I'd say just about anyone who is interested can buy a kit and test. Just about anyone satisfies any threshold that might be set.

How much does the equipment for testing them have to cost before accepting their existence becomes a matter of "faith"?

To buy the kit to run an equivalent to Thomson's test will run you about $200. That makes it well within the reach of the majority of the population. It means that anyone who is seriously interested can verify at least the rudimentary evidence.

The problem with the Higgs boson, as Asquith pointed out, is that all you can observe are the decay products and they could have come from something other than a decaying Higgs boson.

If you're just going to duck and dodge those questions again, please don't waste my time replying.

If you think that I am wasting, or can waste, your time; that is just sloppy thinking on your part.