No, it's acknowledging that for decades, the people doing mathematical modeling of waves dismissed lived experiences and reports of waves that didn't fit their models as "anecdotal", "folklore", and "insufficiently evidenced".

ok, but technically speaking, those repeated anecdotal reports wove a type of folklore, but were insufficiently evidenced to study.

Are any of those things a reason for people who are modeling waves to disregard the experience that surfers have with waves?

Yes, because people are notoriously bad at reporting things properly or accurately or with any useful measurements.