First of all, I disagree that the negative time solution can be removed using math; the math will tell you that the solution is perfectly valid.
Secondly, yes, there are cases like in statistical mechanics or basic QM where the theory isn’t that intuitive, dealing with huge numbers of particles (as in SM) or dealing with position probabilities (as in QM), but where the process makes sense (I can grok it).
But these theories have clear interpretations in terms of observables; SM has a systematic justification in terms of physical intuition (in terms of the preferred configurations being those with the most probability, or something of that nature), and QM develops right from the beginning how the wave-function picture can be seen as a generalization of the classical picture (positions directly become position operators, as with momenta and so on). There’s no such obvious justification for the MWI, in my mind; the linkage between there being many branches of the solution, and there being many universes, is weakly justified at best.
Yes, I am very familiar with this kind of experience. I think the point about singular epiphanies of this sort is that they are always too brittle and inflexible to carry you on in any meaningful, long-term sort of way. Two further comments:
The realization of “epiphany addiction” it itself a sort of epiphany, in the same sense that this discussion is talking about. I’m not sure what the punchline of -that- should be, except maybe to say, there doesn’t seem to ever be any such “magic bullets” in terms of personal understanding … . Yes, this may seem strange.
This whole idea and discussion draw to mind some closely related ideas from eastern (buddhistic) philosophy and thinking, which considers in detail the process of self-growth (ideally, samadhi) by means of self-consideration (generally, meditation). Within those lines of thought, there seems to be a general emphasis on this point in terms of attachment and detachment fallacies; the human being naturally tends to attach to certain dogmas, beliefs, fears, etc. always forgetting the fact that such things are not really real in the same sense that objective reality is real. Thus they are largely illusionary and fallacious in nature. I think a buddhist might probably look at this article and say, “oh, yes I agree,” and then promptly forget all about it.