That's a severely strained comparison. We have only seen elementary particles at CERN etc. because we designed those systems to create the extreme situations w

That's a severely strained comparison. We have only seen elementary particles at CERN etc. because we designed those systems to create the extreme situations which we predicted should be able to make elementary particles measurable, based on mathematics derived from empirical evidence. The fact that observable reality lines up so well with predictions in that case is a huge credit to empiricism, and a physical explanation for the universe. If we had a CERN for the science of mind, it would be building an artificial brain and using it to replicate consciousness.