Stephen (guest) 30 Apr 2011 15:32
Hey guys, I'm having some trouble lately.
Ever since September 2008, I've been afraid of the LHC. Once nothing happened on March 2010 and November 2010, I've stopped being afraid of it. But recently, I started being afraid of the LHC going into higher energies in 2014. What scares me the most, is the possibility of it creating vacuum bubbles in the heavy ion collisions.
The reason for that is because no direct measurements of lead cosmic rays at energies higher than 2.76 TeV were observed, so we have so rely on different safety arguments. The first argument is the abundance argument, which says the abundance of elements in cosmic rays is roughly equal to their abundance in the solar system, which means lead cosmic rays exist, even if we can't measure them directly at this point.
In addition, there's a formula created by the RHIC safety report authors, which allows us to determine the number of specific heavy ion collisions in the entire history of our planet, using iron cosmic rays. The argument still applies to the higher energies of the LHC.
The second safety argument, is the existence of iron cosmic rays at energies much higher than 1000 TeV. Since heavy ions behave the same in an electric field, iron cosmic rays can be used to determine the safety of the lead collisions in the LHC.
The third safety argument is empirical evidence. Because our moon is consistent of heavy ions and much powerful collisions have taken place on the surface of it for the past 5 billions years, we can safely say nothing bad is going to happen in the LHC.
Now I know there is no logical reason for me to be scared of it, as the safety arguments I mentioned are strong enough, but I can't seem to let go of my anxiety. I blame my OCD for that, as ever since September 2008 I haven't had a single moment of peace.
Once the world didn't end on March 2010, I stopped worrying of the LHC and started fearing 2012. Once I found your website, I stopped being afraid of 2012 and went back to being afraid of the LHC. Once nothing bad happened on November 2010, I stopped being afraid of the LHC and started being afraid of Harold Camping's theory. Recently, I realized Camping's theory was BS, so my fear of the LHC came back.
My psychologist keeps telling me my problem has to do with my OCD, rather than specific theories such as the LHC or 2012, and he might be right. I'm getting professional help and taking some anti anxiety pills, but nothing seems to work, as my anxiety of the LHC is as strong as always.
Can anyone please help me out with my anxiety?
