20 Things You Didn't Know About A Serious Man

20. The Possible Meaning Of The Mentaculus?

In the film, Larry's brother, Arthur (Richard Kind) is working on the Mentaculus, a 'probability map of the universe' - a notebook filled with intricate doodles that supposedly detail the known universe's structure. This is obviously a virtually impossible endeavor to undertake, but it fits well in the quirky world the film has created and ties into its theme of making sense of a chaotic world.

It is interesting to note that the eccentric mathematician's cosmic cartogram contains a page with the words 'Higgs-Boson' written backward. This is a clear reference to the Higgs-Boson particle (infamously known as the God Particle), a fundamental particle in quantum physics that is used to explain why objects in the universe have mass.

Given how Arthur wrote the particle's name in his map, in addition to its nature, can be interpreted as Larry trying to ground himself in an increasingly confusing world.