But the alternative to pondering isn't "do nothing", but rather "do experiments". The philosophy of it all seems rather pointless. I don't have any references,

But the alternative to pondering isn't "do nothing", but rather "do experiments". The philosophy of it all seems rather pointless. I don't have any references, but I'm sure there was a lot of ink spilled about the philosophy of flight, arguing that it was or was not possible a priori, before we actually did it. Was any of it useful? I don't think so!