Thank you for the question, shoot-lough,

The particles were used in the Cloner. They produced nine clones. As with all Clones who are used with a Ridgid Body, they follow what the Dynamic creates in terms of motion. Otherwise, the results of the Dynamic wouldn't be a dynamic one. Like keeping the cake and eating it, one has to decide. As long as the Force>Position/Rotation is on 0% in the Rigid Body settings, the Clones follow what their Dynamic will create. The idea of intersecting objects violates a natural idea of spheres, for example, given that Colliding is part of the dynamics. Here, the Spheres jump away from each other as the initial position of the Particles is too small. The whole motion in your scene is NOT based on particles at all. The particles, again, provide only a starting position and provide the amount. The problem you mentioned in the first post above is a result of some information not being available at one point. Why that is, I can't find out, and it is a problem for Tech Support. Your setup surely didn't lead to that.

So, problem solving by excluding parts, meaning replacing them. One by One. I was lucky to start with the particles, and used the points of a spline (set to nine) as a starting source for the Cloner. The Spline was used as it provides a configuration that is not a default Cloner 9Linear, Radial, etc).

The movement of the Sphere needs some forces to work on the Sphere; otherwise, they settle like real spheres in a bowl. The first question here is to ask, what motion do you want to have? It is an Art Direction process here, whereby the term is often seen as creating an aesthetic, but that is secondary; the primary idea of Art Direction is to direct the audience's impression and hopefully emotions seeing it, while leaving the open-minded with a feeling. When this is clear, the setup of movement is done. Since they would settle in, what is the expression, what is the message? Without that, it is just creating perhaps a wow effect with no real impact.

Let me know what the result needs to be, and then I will try to find suggestions.

About feeling knowledge gaps. In my research about learning over the years, it has become clear, we all have them. But how to know what one doesn't know? Of course, there is constant learning and hoping that one day something new will be in the beginner trainer. Focusing on tips and tricks learning (or MicroLearning as more Buzz Word Jockeys call it) has a huge potential to increase the amount of such gaps even more. My impression is that here is one reason for the Impostersyndrome. Since we talk about Adult training (vs K-12), we don't define what to learn; we can only offer content.
However, the idea of closing gaps can be stated with Mind Mapping apps.

My main tech is typically watching and reading anything, even on a beginner level, as mastering one part of the app doesn't magically elevate the other parts to master level, and even if we get there, the next update might take things away. Most ask for new features, but it is also important to know them and get them integrated in all options to stay creative and in the "Zone or Flow", to name a favorable state to create in. How easy it is to keep up is a clear quality indicator of any company.

Cheers