What is being missed here, IMHO, is that there are really 3 parts to saying something is real.

1. Does it exist?

2. Can we actually define what it is doing?

3. Do we know what the mechanism is that makes it?

So, for the earth sciences we are pretty close to knowing all three, BUT until GR and QFT are Unified, for cosmology, # 2 is many times iffy, and #3 won't be known until it is.

I think it takes #3 to really make it 'real'.

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RussT
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Everything is, as it should be, otherwise, it wouldn't be!