Instrumentalism Memes

The eternal philosophical crisis of physics in one glorious meme! On the left, we have the pragmatic physicists with their "shut up and calculate" mantra, content with mathematical models that work without needing deeper meaning. Meanwhile, the unhinged philosopher on the right is having an existential meltdown, demanding answers to the universe's shape, the unmoved mover, and what kicked off eternal inflation—all while threatening violence if denied philosophical satisfaction. This brilliantly captures the tension between instrumental and realist views in physics. The "shut up and calculate" approach (popularized by physicist David Mermin) lets us make amazing predictions without worrying if quantum wavefunctions are "real." But some questions keep physicists up at night, desperately waving metaphorical shotguns at the cosmos demanding deeper truths!