Most code is unreadable, but that doesn't mean there isn't beautiful code out there worth reading.

https://norvig.com/spell-correct.html is like poetry— or at least what I imagine poetry is like to people who like poetry.

Reading it changed the way I look at code, and inverted what I consider good code.

If it's not in a super high level language it probably won't be beautiful, at least not in the same way as Norvig's spelling corrector. For lower-level code, approaching it like a scientist, as OP suggests, may be right; I wouldn't give up on a reading group for sufficiently high-level code.