I agree on the usefulness piece. But usefulness shouldn’t be conflated with the underlying truth. As the saying goes, all models are wrong, but some are useful. I can say that burying the dishes from a meal that made me sick may help avoid future food poisoning; while useful, it doesn’t get me closer to the underlying truth of germ theory.

I think the heart of these more philosophical debates is a desire for fundamental truth, not just a useful mental model.