'it's not just a feature of my or anyone's "model" of the world.'
This may just be semantics, but I dont see how you could argue that it isnt a feature of a model of the world. A neural representation of the world shared amongst a group of humans. Tested against reality in the best ways we can imagine. But it is still just a model, it is not actual reality. Are you really so sure about those priors? You are also have a very influential prior there which supposes that that if the device functions, it does so because it violates conservation of momentum. Surely you cant know this? Are there really no other explanations which fit more neatly with our current models?
> it is still just a model, it is not actual reality.
We have a model that includes conservation of momentum. But experiments have shown that reality also includes conservation of momentum--that that feature of the model is an accurate representation of reality.
> Are you really so sure about those priors?
Yes.
> You are also have a very influential prior there which supposes that that if the device functions, it does so because it violates conservation of momentum.
That isn't a prior; it's a hypothesis--the one the EmDrive proponents are claiming.
> Are there really no other explanations which fit more neatly with our current models?
"The experimenters have made a mistake somewhere" is another explanation which fits in more neatly with our current models. Their mistake could be that the device isn't actually producing thrust, or it could be that it's producing thrust because it's ejecting radiation out the back end which they aren't detecting. Either one of those invalidates the EmDrive proponents' claims.
This may just be semantics, but I dont see how you could argue that it isnt a feature of a model of the world. A neural representation of the world shared amongst a group of humans. Tested against reality in the best ways we can imagine. But it is still just a model, it is not actual reality. Are you really so sure about those priors? You are also have a very influential prior there which supposes that that if the device functions, it does so because it violates conservation of momentum. Surely you cant know this? Are there really no other explanations which fit more neatly with our current models?