I would say that if you understand phenomenon X, you should be able to build a specialized compressor for phenomenon X that will achieve a short codelength. The study of compression algorithms for datasets produced by phenomenon X is effectively identical to the study of phenomenon X. Furthermore compression provides a strong methodological advantage: there can be no hand-waving; it is impossible to “cheat” or self-deceive.
I would say that if you understand phenomenon X, you should be able to build a specialized compressor for phenomenon X that will achieve a short codelength. The study of compression algorithms for datasets produced by phenomenon X is effectively identical to the study of phenomenon X. Furthermore compression provides a strong methodological advantage: there can be no hand-waving; it is impossible to “cheat” or self-deceive.