Particle chauvinism is the term used by British astrophysicist Martin Rees to describe the (allegedly erroneous) assumption that what we think of as normal matter – atoms, quarks, electrons, etc. (excluding dark matter or other matter) – is the basis of matter in the universe, rather than a rare phenomenon.[1]
With the growing recognition in the late 20th century of the presence of dark matter in the universe, ordinary baryonic matter has come to be seen as something of a cosmic afterthought.[2] As J.D. Barrow put it:
"This would be the final Copernican twist in our status in the material universe. Not only are we not at the center of the universe: We are not even made of the predominant form of matter."[3]
The 21st century saw the share of baryonic matter in the total mass-energy of the universe downgraded further, to perhaps as low as 1%,[4] further extending what has been called the demise of particle-chauvinism,[5] before being revised up to some 5% of the contents of the universe.[6]