All these approximations leave us in constant tension between autonomous predictions and the need for experimental validation. I wouldn't go as far as Lakatos and require that computational theoretical chemistry only be considered a progressive research program if it can predict novel empirical facts and at least some novel facts could be tested. I recognize the value of our field by how much meaningful insight it brings to chemistry, even if its predictions come after the experiments. The chemistry community recognizes this value, too, as the field has been awarded at the highest level with the Nobel of Chemistry in 1998, 2013, and 2024.