Do electrons exist?

[robvalue]

I’ve given up having any objective criteria for what it means for something to "exist". All definitions end up being circular.

Like you say, all we can do is model to the best of our ability. We give names and attribute behaviour to parts of our models. If they can help us to predict future events in some way, then they are useful. But really all we're doing is trying to trace a drawing we can never see properly with big fat lines.