> When it comes to fundamental science, a consistent map is the territory. "Map is not the territory" applies to simplifications that omit detail. But physics

> When it comes to fundamental science, a consistent map is the territory. "Map is not the territory" applies to simplifications that omit detail. But physics does leave out detail. It's an abstraction over many particular instances. Nature isn't a physics equation. An equation doesn't generate a field of force, nor does it have any causal powers. > We can never know more about reality than what we observe If that were true, then theoretical physics wouldn't exist. Much of scientific theory involves unobservables, or processes way too long for us to observe. Most of evolutionary history is unobservable. We have to fill in the gaps with a theory explaining the fossil record, genetics, and the organisms around us. We don't have time machines, nor billion year old cameras.