I read books on quantum mechanics and cosmology, myself. Takes me about two days to read 10 pages.
Lately, I've been watching some videos on the concept of time on The Great Courses (awesome program, btw).
And you're soooo right...quantum mechanics, time, all of that stuff is completely counterintuitive, but borne out by experimentation and mathematics.
But yeah, even the physicists admit they can't wrap their heads around what they're measuring.
The way I heard it explained was philosophers want an explanation that makes sense, while physicists just want something that works.