Final point on this while I’m thinking about it.
Energy is relative. You can go negative (when the system does work on you). As such, a zero level of energy might not mean exactly what it sounds like, nor would a positive amount of energy necessarily mean the ability to do things.
So if our previous system has 1/2 an eV, that might be zero.
What’s weird about quantum…one thing that’s weird about quantum is that energy is calculated relative to other things that aren’t energy. So if you take a Hamiltonian of a wavefunction, you get an energy. But you’re not entirely sure what that energy is in relation to. If you take a classical Hamiltonian of a rock on a sled going down a hill, you know what the energy is relative to. It’s the hill. In a quantum state? Eh. Things can get kinda squiggly.
There’s a real theory in quantum that says, ‘Quantum is impossible to understand so don’t try.’ I think that’s my ideological justification for my denial of QT, even though by all practical standards, it works incredibly well.