Would any PhD guarantee your understanding? You appear to fall for an argument from authority there.

A PhD is merely intended to show your ability to do research-level science. It doesn't show you know independently what to research, let alone why.

You confuse your ability to solve riddles competition-style with the answer to why you should do that in the first place.

Regardless of credentials you certainly appear to have entirely missed his point. Imagine if someone suggested that cars existed for the sake of competition. But they don't, right? They exist because in our society we've organized the bulk of transportation around them. The fact that formula 1 exists, or that delivery drivers can be rated on performance relative to one another, those are not (at least in and of themselves) arguments against this basic fact.