From Bill Westmiller:
“On a cursory read of the Amazon reviews and a few articles on your website, I'll give you at least 95% conformity. The sole exception is 8.1, since my theory postulates an irreducible 'microscopic' particle that is common to all matter.”
Bill:
You are not alone. Most physicists hypothesize an irreducible (elementary particle) or "god particle." Microcosmic finity was the primary supposition underlying Greek atomism and its offspring, classical mechanics and classical determinism. That is why the Eighth Assumption of Science, infinity (The universe is infinite, both in the microcosmic and macrocosmic directions), is undoubtedly what puts my work ahead of the mainstream. You might want to do a thorough reading of Chapter 8 (pp. 88-97) in "The Ten Assumptions of Science" (TTAOS) (pp. 89-97 in "The Scientific Worldview"). Microcosmic infinity, in particular, is a thread that runs throughout all ten assumptions of science. It is what makes them “consupponible,” that is, if you can assume one of them, you must be able to assume all of them without contradiction. For instance, the Second Assumption of Science, causality (All effects have an infinite number of material causes), would not be possible without it. All things (microcosms) must be bathed in an infinite sea of particles (supermicrocosms) so that no two reactions can be exactly alike. Similarly, interconnection (All things are interconnected, that is, between any two objects exist other objects that transmit matter and motion) obviously requires it. Frankly, I don’t see how you can agree with anything in TTAOS without also agreeing with infinity.
Despite their claims to be “relativists,” modern physicists have not disentangled themselves from this one presupposition that most distinguishes classical mechanics—finity. They are ambivalent about the macrocosmic variety, as shown by the currently popular oxymoronic “parallel universe” and “multiverse” theories. Nevertheless, like yourself, most are firm believers in microcosmic finity. You are in good company, because the billion-dollar bet at CERN is all set to discover the Higgs boson, a hypothesized elementary particle otherwise dubbed the “god particle.” Only one problem: it cannot possibly exist.
There are many reasons for this. One is its association with the photon, the oxymoronic massless particle hypothesized by Einstein. Another is the fact that all microcosms must contain submicrocosms ad infinitum. An elementary particle can have no parts. If it did, then these would have to be considered even more elementary. Even if an elementary particle, filled with solid matter, actually existed, it would pose the most critical problem of all. In tune with the idealism that engendered it, all of these particles would have to be identical. To be non-identical, any two “elementary” particles could not be “partless.” At least one of them would have more “solid matter” than the other. For that to be the case, that solid matter would have to be subdividable, i.e., made up of submicrocosms. This, of course, negates the “elementary” claim.
Now let us suppose that these elementary particles really are identical, as claimed by those who hypothesize them. This would contradict the Ninth Assumption of Science, relativism (All things have characteristics that make them similar to all other things as well as characteristics that make them dissimilar to all other things), producing a logical conundrum for believers in TTAOS. This is not so bad for those who prefer the indeterministic opposites anyway, but it presents yet another logical problem. Identical elementary particles, hypothesized to be the constituents of all things, have no reason to associate with each other. They could not be charged or have opposed polarity, because that would mean that at least half of them were not identical and therefore not elementary. Identical particles would bang around the universe forever, never having reasons for joining with other particles to form anything. As hard as it is for us to believe that all things must contain other things and must have other things outside them, it is even harder to believe that the universe could be constructed of elementary particles.
Recently, the CERN folks have admitted that the Higgs boson may be a “mirage” (Evans, 2011): “The centre's research director Sergio Bertolucci told the conference, at the Indian city's Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, that if the Higgs did not exist ‘its absence will point the way to new physics.’” You betcha.
Reference:
Evans, R. (2011). "Higgs boson may be a mirage, scientists hint." Retrieved August 22, 2011, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/22/us-science-higgs-idUSTRE77L5KS20110822 or http://reut.rs/rkw3ca