> Physics, indeed all science, studies observable reality. Any "deep" questions about why or about things not measurable, quantifiable, or empirically observable, are by definition outside the scope of science.

This is wrong. Scientific theories provide predictive power, yes, but they should also provide explanatory power.

Which is to say, they should describe a model of the world because this is how we devise experiments, and experiments are clearly critical for science.

Two theories with equivalent predictive power but unequal explanatory power are not equally good theories.