I don't think the author is suggesting that diagrams and visualizations are inherently bad. In fact, the vast majority of physics is done with help of diagrams.

I don't think the author is suggesting that diagrams and visualizations are inherently bad. In fact, the vast majority of physics is done with help of diagrams. Even modern particle physics (Feynman diagrams). I believe the author is pointing out that a lot of people see a cartoon diagram in a news article and treat it like a scaled blueprint of the theory/concept.