I have a friend who is a physicist. He spent years learning particle physics and did some work that ended up influencing how certain detectors are programmed at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern.

We've talked about popular science education, and he made the same point as you several times, insisting that there is no simple way to conceptialize, let alone explain, the physics he specialized in. He can think about the physics and do the work only because he sweated (and, wow, did he ever!) to acquire the mountains of knowledge and advanced math skills necessary for it.

At one point during his university years, he worked so hard he became ill and needed a doctor's treatment. Sometimes, he looked at the mountain of knowledge he had to master and he became depressed thinking he couldn't do it.

But he did it. He stayed the course, and he contributed original work to his field. (Then he left pure physics and went to work someplace where his hard earned knowledge pays more, but that's a different story.)

Anyway, when somebody asks him to explain a particle physics concept so a child could understand, I can feel his eyes roll even if he's on the other side of the planet. 🤣