So the situation is perhaps about as discouraging as it could possibly be. We know we're wrong, yet we lack access to phenomena capable of forcing us to correct our errors (and of guiding our guesswork as we struggle to correct them.)
Again, it really depends on what you want. If you must know is why everything is as it is, you can't expect standard sources to help much; most give short shrift to first principles, and focus instead on getting efficiently to and through the procedures and their applications.
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I think the main thing to know, though, is that understanding the standard model means understanding both quantum field theory in general, and the quantization of gauge fields in particular -- and neither is easy to learn. Even brilliant people need to budget some years for this.
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I'm tempted to say that the demands of the project are in direct proportion to the mathematical scruples that one brings to it, too. If you insist on understanding everything from first principles, the task is at present impossible. And impossible things always take a while.
End of conversation
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