In grappling with this question myself -- it&#x27;s a good question -- I&#x27;ve concluded the interest is in understanding and predicting the behavior of a system based on a few laws.<p>The system is quite complex and full of exotic objects, so ordinary real world intuition is a poor guide.  And the laws are couched in a mathematical language that is also foreign to our everyday world.<p>Yet, predictions can be made and tested.  It&#x27;s an intellectual puzzle like &quot;what does this very tight loop do?&quot;, or &quot;how does the Y combinator work?&quot; -- but in a different arena.