I think of scientific explanations of the universe as consisting of a mathematical model of the universe, and then various pictures derived from that model, adapted to a variety of levels of understanding and to different needs.
Scientists themselves are focused on the model alone in their work. It is the main thing they work on and its needs come first. The desirable qualities of a model are simplicity, generality, and accuracy. Nowhere in there do they consider comprehensibility to the general public. The model would never be as powerful as it is if they did.
However, from that model, one can derive pictures that provide various audiences with a handle on the model for their purposes. Even scientists try to have some sort of picture of the model. Engineers get a picture that can be pretty close to the model in order to do their work. Different popularizations provide pictures with varying degrees of detail and accuracy with respect to the model.
A professor in my undergrad years insisted that only the model mattered. That was true for his work, but not for all of the social value of science. One of the reasons he got generous public funding is that people want to hear and see the story of the universe in some way that they can understand, Popularizations derived from the model perform much of that function. They were not his focus, but they were a form of postdiction that society values. He cared much more about prediction, and he did great work in that area.
However, popularizations will never give you a real understanding of the model. They're a sort of low-resolution rendition of the model. You can't just go "enhance, enhance" like some cheesy CSI spinoff and get back to the model. You need seriously advanced mathematics to understand even the basics of quantum theory. Calculus is just the beginning. Advanced matrix mechanics will get you more of the way there. Vector calculus will get you further still. But without those, there is a point beyond which one cannot proceed.
Do I need to explain that Ol' 1.7 is incredibly short of where he'd need to be to get any of that? Even geometry and mildly advanced algebra are beyond his ken. He thinks you can't divide zero by a non-zero number. How can he ever understand a Hamiltonian operator? He couldn't even achieve operational familiarity with the mathematical operations required to perform basic calculations with them.
Of course, he is too stupid to grasp that limitation. He does not even know what he does not know. That's how he can have the nerve to be confused by his inability to grasp concepts that actual smart people struggle with. And since he would not understand the difference between the simplest popularization and the bare metal of the model itself, he never will.
