What Is the Big Picture in Fundamental Physics?

Abstract

It is worthy to note that a theist vs atheist divide increasingly polarises Western politics and science. It has already pushed the centre of big science out of the United States over to Europe. It is no longer sufficient to justify fundamental science as a pursuit of pure knowledge when the men with the purse strings see it as an attack on their religion. The future of fundamental experimental science is beginning to shift further East and its future hopes will be found in Asia along with the economic prosperity that depends on it. In this essay, I will give my view on the big picture of fundamental physics in light of the historical discovery of Higgs boson. Although this discovery completes the standard model, many mysteries remain. It is not unreasonable to hope that some further experimental input may provide clues that lead to some new answers. But there is another avenue for progress. While experiment is limited by the reality of global economics, theory is limited only by our intellect and imagination. But the time scale for new discoveries is lengthening and the cost is growing.