This is a wonderful response in that it points clearly to the modern disconnect between physics theory and the experimentation which led to its greatest advance

This is a wonderful response in that it points clearly to the modern disconnect between physics theory and the experimentation which led to its greatest advances. Simplifying assumptions can be very useful for didactic purposes, but nature isn't simple. There are many sciences which put observations that threaten the status quo into a (physical or dogmatic) closet. "the problem comes from combining a certain set of assumptions, doing a calculation, and arriving at a contradiction.... without data, the question is not which solution to the problem is correct, but which one you like best."