"we live in a preposterous universe", says cosmologist Sean Carroll...."
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Compared to what? Some other universe that isn't preposterous? LOL!
On a deeper level, the scientists don't know what the heck they are talking about. Their theories and observations have led to a view of the universe that is way beyond common sense and starts to sound like magic, or God.
Just one teeny weeny example. The "cosmological constant" either doesn't exist, or they have no idea what it is. Their observations of the universe don't match what should be the behavior of the "stuff" they know to exist, so the cosmological constant is a number thrown in to make up for the difference. They have no idea what it is or if it is real.
Modern physicists especially enjoy coming up with explanations for things that don't make any sense, and then saying something like, "It doesn't have to make sense. It just has to describe reality. Reality doesn't necessarily make sense."
I think Einstein got that started when he came up with the Special Theory of Relativity, which seemed to contradict our common understandings. But the irony is that Einstein insisted that the Theory of Relativity not only made sense, but it was the only possible explanation that did make sense.