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endoself comments on "Science" as Curiosity-Stopper - Less Wrong
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Unfortunately, the Higgs-Boson would not do any of that.
From what I've read, most physicists dislike the term "God Particle", because it imparts far too much importance onto the particle. It's just another particle that should be present under the right conditions.
There are a few theories that require the Higgs-Boson to exist, and it would be really convenient if it did. They might be able to fix big things like the current theories of Gravity and Dark Matter if they find it. There are also a whole group of theories that do not predict the particle and so would be falsified if it is found.
Finding it where expected or not finding it, either answer leads closer to reality.
In either case it probably won't lead to a Grand Unified Theory of Everything, except as just another stepping stone along the way.
It's not as big a deal as it is made out to be in the media, though it is still a big deal if found, certainly.
Closer, but not quite.
Most theories require a Higgs boson. Almost all theoretical physicists would be shocked if it were not found eventually. Finding the Higgs boson would not tell us much about gravity or dark matter. The best we could hope for is finding multiple types of Higgs bosons, which are required by supersymmetry, though the LHC won't necessarily find find more than one, even if supersymmetry is true. Supersymmetry provides a possible explanation for dark matter and it is required by string theory.
Indeed, that's what I meant by "might", without it though there isn't a whole lot of hope for the current theories as I understand them.
The Higgs boson is predicted by the Standard Model as well, isn't it? It could really cause a lot of trouble if it isn't found. That would be interesting!