Higgs Boson

It is easy to say it is more exciting not to find the Higgs, but the truth of the matter is that it has been so damn long since we found something concrete in particle physics, that everyone is desperate for it even at the expense of the possibility of having to start over on the Higgs sector of the Standard Model. The awesome days of the discovery of the W^+/- and Z⁰ are so long ago, I'm not even sure they happened Their discovery was a major part of my early life in pre-academia.Edited by cavediver, : No reason given.

Not gravity - it is a common misconception that the Higgs has anything to do with the vast majority of gravitational mass. The Higgs is what gives rise to the non-zero rest-masses of the various particles. But rest-mass is an almost negligible contribution to the total mass of gravitating objects.Yes, the origin of the non-zero rest masses becomes open again if the Higgs mechanism is not responsible. But it will almost certainly be something similar, if not specifically the Higgs then some equiavlent or condensate (possibly from some new phsyics, which is why it would be exciting); there are too many constraints from the physics we do know for it to be a completely open question.Also, finding the Higgs is no barrier to investigating new physics. On the contrary, the Stanard Model with Higgs is still the most bizarre hodge-podge and is a blatent sign that it is merely an effective theory of some deeper physics.