User talk:Ahhhhhhhhh-lhc

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LHC

Hi. In my opinion the danger from LHC collisions is excruciatingly small, much less than 1/100000, and probably on the order of one in a billion or one in a trillion, or even less. To get a feel for such numbers, if you have an expected lifespan of 100 years, then the chance that you will die tomorrow must average something like 1/36500 (36500 ≈ the number of days in a century). So I think there is no reason for anyone to worry about their personal safety, any more than you worry about living through the next day or month. You must understand that by the logical definition of "probability", the number really must be greater than 0 and less than 1.0. It cannot be zero because we do not know everything, and people can always come up with strange "what-if?" scenarios that appear absurd to physicists with real expertise and understanding of the subjects (extremely technical stuff, quantum field theory, string theory, general relativity, etc) involved, but which cannot be immediately "disproved" (that is, shown to have 0 probability). Mostly these scenarios assume at least one (and often several) changes to the currently understood laws of physics, changes which most competent practitioners consider very unlikely. Also, even if a dangerous object were produced, the amount of time for it to become dangerous to the Earth (or even noticeable) would almost surely be very long, longer than the time human life has existed, and probably longer than the age of the Earth.

I must confess that I am not truly expert on these matters. I have a PhD in physics, am on the staff of a "reputable" institution, worked in elementary particle physics for 4 years, and have worked in astrophysics for almost 40 years. I can see that many of the fears of the opponents are simply absurd. But the details of the subject are far beyond my ken. So, what do I know? I do know that several thousand of the most expert people on the planet are working on the LHC, apparently untroubled, and I have a strong belief that the number of people who are both expert and truly worried, is extremely small, probably countable on your fingers, and possibly zero.

So I can't give any absolutely certain assurance, but I think you do not need to worry too much, given the other real dangers we face as individuals and as a planet. Hope this helps. Wwheaton (talk) 06:45, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Couldn't agree more. As a scientist, I can't say much of anything with 100% certainty (there's always that 1 in 500 billion chance). But I'm not worried in the slightest. If you really WANNA worry, worry that you'll hit the Powerball on the same day that a bolt of lightning strikes the meteor that's on it's way to crushing your house (thus killing you and preventing you from cashing in your Powerball ticket)...  :-) -- MyrddinEmrys (talk) 05:57, 10 September 2008 (UTC)