As a heuristic, assume that it is never the right question to ask "Is ___ real?"
Asking how it is measured, what kind of effect it has, whether the effects are meaningful, how it can be explained, whether there are more appropriate labels, what kind of alternative explanations exist, etc.
Asking whether something is "real" fails even when talking about fundamental physical phenomena like gravity, math or consciousness. So, this is almost always the wrong question.
Asking how it is measured, what kind of effect it has, whether the effects are meaningful, how it can be explained, whether there are more appropriate labels, what kind of alternative explanations exist, etc.
Asking whether something is "real" fails even when talking about fundamental physical phenomena like gravity, math or consciousness. So, this is almost always the wrong question.