I have gotten into doing this sort of work (the scientific computer modeling part, not the "cargo-cult" interpretations thereof). Popper was the first person I went back to reread when I got into it. This is very important to understand (and so simple).

However, I disagree with the author that this type of work could be dispensable. You have to test your theories in order for them to be scientific, but you have to know exactly what experimental results your theories predict. These complex systems are too important to stop studying, and they're too complex to use "simpler" methods.