There are some theories in physics that make me feel uncomfortable. I tend to be a contrarian, always looking for alternative explanations. Underdogs appeal to me.
Sometimes I think about putting all of physics into a symbolic math package so that I can change assumptions or make other modifications and run the implications throughout the system.
More generally, I wonder how unique particular theories are. Could there be a replacement theory that does as well in explaining the data. The goal in theoretical work is a testable theory, testable against real-world data. Sometimes there are competing theories, new data comes out, the theory is modified (that’s how it’s supposed to work), the data is explained, and both theories continue to be valid. The goal is to eliminate one.
We assume that there is only one way that a physical process works. We expect that we got the foundation of understanding correct and that we build further upon that with more unique ideas. What if one of the foundation ones is “wrong”, in the sense that a different theory could just as well explain observations? That might change the direction of understanding toward other equally valid theories.