I would tend to agree -- the way I always learned quantum mechanics was that the wavefunction was merely a representation that happens to give the right answers

I would tend to agree -- the way I always learned quantum mechanics was that the wavefunction was merely a representation that happens to give the right answers when operated on by the Hamiltonian. In much the same way, I don't think that particle physicists really think that matter is made of tiny strings. I might actually buy a copy of this paper, I'd be curious to see what new experiments they have done to more closely demonstrate the physicality of the wavefunction.