"Philosophies" of physics

Richard Feynman, in Character of Physical Law, (p. 168)

"What are these philosophies? They are really tricky ways to compute consequences quickly. A philosophy, which is sometimes called an understanding of the law, is simply a way that a person holds the law in his mind in order to guess quickly at consequences."

Reminds me of Dr. Shepard quoting his professor, "Never start the calculation until you know the answers." That's the understanding of laws and the physical picture. Not any less important in experimental physics. One needs to have very good physical pictures, especially at micro-scales, to guess "what is going on down there." Good physical picture helps designing, de-bugging, getting results much faster, while a bad one throws one into confusion and frustration.