I don't think it's backwards. We started out with this big sweeping and simple statement that (seems to) holds true for physical reality, but it doesn't account

I don't think it's backwards. We started out with this big sweeping and simple statement that (seems to) holds true for physical reality, but it doesn't account for everything. The statement allows for two realities, one where there is one single global phase, and another where each point has its own local phase. The first option might be true, no real way to measure it and that's sort of it, no explanation for all the other stuff going on. The second option is a little more complex, it requires an extra construct to make it work. And apparently when we do the math and work out this construct, it exactly maps to things we can measure in reality, that were not explained by the other simpler option. So it's not backwards because it's simply the first full match in a depth first search through the possible realities that follow from this wave function theory.