[benreesman]

I think this is the most honest-sounding reply to a layperson.

Our data doesn’t fit GR with the boundary conditions that make sense more locally. Positing a bunch of non-interacting mass/energy is closer to observations than doing nothing.

Calling it a placeholder seems honest, reasonable, and productive.

Getting pushy about WIMPs and stuff (which is deeply intertwined with the refusal to give up on supersymmetry because, careers) in a world where Michio Kaku is on TV talking about quantum computing and AI in a way that’s less scientific than Matt Gaetz yelling about UFOs on C-SPAN to distract from the child-trafficking charges is icky.