>I think it’s a bit backwards that he took something that he knows very well and somehow finds that it’s how the universe works
That's in a sense how every model works. All theoretical models of the world are human inventions that aid in making sense of the world in terms familiar to us and nothing more. If you get good results from thinking the world is made of atoms, then the world is made out of atoms. When someone comes along and explains the same thing with strings, then the world is made out of strings. Models are just 'manners of speaking'. It might very well be that you have a dozen entirely different, but equally accurate fundamental ways to talk about a thing.
That's in a sense how every model works. All theoretical models of the world are human inventions that aid in making sense of the world in terms familiar to us and nothing more. If you get good results from thinking the world is made of atoms, then the world is made out of atoms. When someone comes along and explains the same thing with strings, then the world is made out of strings. Models are just 'manners of speaking'. It might very well be that you have a dozen entirely different, but equally accurate fundamental ways to talk about a thing.