[JumpCrisscross]

> Scientific understanding (defined by the ability to make accurate predictions) can be (must be?) anchored in both the math and physical intuitions/observations

I wouldn't conflate intuitions and observations like that. Observations in many physical realms are best described by math, which is used to build up a natural-language approximation for communicating of unintuitive findings.

[bnjmn]

you're right, I should have replaced "intuitions" with "observations" instead of waffling