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The math is one thing, but I find the idea that the fundamental pieces of reality aren’t particles a little unsettling.

The classic double-slit experiment is kinda bizarre when one considers the “single electron” case.

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"Particles" don't exist in the naive sense. What a particle is, is an excitation of a field. A "particle" is a dynamic pattern.
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Do you have any recommended resources that you used to help learn the linear algebra?
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Start with 3Blue1Brown's "Essence of Linear Algebra" series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHQObOWTQDPD3MizzM2x...

Axler's "Linear Algebra Done Right" https://linear.axler.net/LADR4e.pdf

Nielsen and Chuang's "Quantum Computation and Information" Chapter 2. (Available online, but legality depends on where you live)

If you're interested primarily in QM rather than linear algebra, I'd recommend not working through all of Axler, but instead using Nielsen and Chuang to learn about qubits and observables, and using Axler to fill in the gaps.

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"A Course in Modern Mathematical Physics: Groups, Hilbert Space and Differential Geometry" by Peter Szekeres has several chapters on linear algebra early on, starting with sets and groups and including tensors (which you absolutely need for QM).

I loved it.

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not sure about its specific applications to quantum mechanics, but I worked through MIT OpenCourseWare's Linear Algebra class (taught by Gilbert Strang) and I thought it was amazing. The lectures are very very good.
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Agreed.

Quantum Processes, Systems, & Information by Benjamin Schumacher and Michael Westmoreland is another good treatment along those lines.

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It makes sense in the framework but the framework makes no sense. The model contradicts regular intuition.
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If we've learned anything from modern physics, it's that our regular intuitions are often wrong. The framework makes perfect sense mathematically, and it makes the right predictions experimentally. It's still controversial how exactly the framework relates to reality, which is where you get into interpretations of quantum mechanics.
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One of my favourite examples of this pedagogically is how kinetic energy is quadratic with velocity. It's easy to tie into things people think they understand, like braking distance. Our intuitions are wrong even in shockingly simple problems.
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Agree, but kinetic energy being mv^2/2 rather than mv can be pretty intuitive in the right context:

> Would you father get hit with:

> * a 1 kg object moving at 1 m/s or

> * a 1 g object moving at 1 km/s?

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This. A tesla model Y going 60mph has almost 2 times the kinetic energy (75MJ) of the same car going 45mph (40MJ)

Your stupid brain thinks, oh I am just 10ish over the limit.

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Intuition is much more adjustable than youre giving it credit for.

One can build new intuitions.

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Nature gives jack crap about our intuition
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Mike and Ike is almost always my standard recommendation.
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