Higgs Boson

[Freakness]

hey, maybe someone around here has an answer to this:

if the Higgs field is supposed to be the reason that all other particles have mass, then how can it be that the Higgs Boson itself is a massive particle? that doesn't seem to make sense to me. how can the Higgs Boson give mass to itself?

and what CAUSES the Higgs field itself? isn't it just a new version of the ether? this all-pervasive, but generally undetectable soup?

i'm seriously trying to understand why this theory has gained so much traction. but i don't have much of a head for math, so i can't really look into the theory itself. can someone explain to a guy with a degree in English how this is supposed to work?

 

[Freakness]

anyone?

 

[FordSVT]

The Higgs Boson Wikipedia entry is fairly comprehensive, and contains very little math. Unfortunately, like a lot of this kind of thing, in order to know it well you've got to understand a bit of the terminology if not the math. A lot of things in physics are hard to explain using "everyday" words if you know what I mean.