For instance, something cannot be both a particle and not a particle ...
How much math have you had? A lot of the things in quantum mechanics are attempts to put into words, the implications of things which are purely mathematical. A lot of the "naked eye, reach out and touch with your hands" concepts don't apply at the quantum level, e.g. there is not an intrinsic property of objects called "color" (orange, puce, magenta, brown). The color is actually the result of how the object interacts with light. (And don't confuse this "color" with the "color" in Laz's chart earlier. Two different things.)
Cheers!
How do you know that the color is the result of the interactions you describe, instead of the interactions just being the byproducts of the color? In other words our common sense perceptions, properly understood, are the indespensable starting place for describing reality, not just some superficial facade that is nothing more than our feeble attempts to interpret a more fundemental reality “underneath” or “more real” than perception.