“For one thing, my understanding is that electrons are not particles as much as they are discreet energy particle.”
I was always taught electrons were waves until you isolated one, and then it became a point particle. I think Einstein came up with that duality.
Some time ago at Lowes, I bought a few 2x4s and cut off some of the twine, that is real light, to tie them down and tucked it in my back pocket. When I got to my truck, I realized that I had tucked the spool end into my pocket and walked at least one hundred feet to my truck, stringing it behind me. For that little moment, I experienced the brilliance of Einstein.