Maybe the closest analog is: imagine if you have that type of magic hydrophobic sand that doesn't get wet, like you can buy for kids. So you have a sandbox with

Maybe the closest analog is: imagine if you have that type of magic hydrophobic sand that doesn't get wet, like you can buy for kids. So you have a sandbox with this, and initially there is a big circular valley in the middle of the sandbox that is filled with water. Then you can slowly move the sand around, making different hills and valleys, and the water will follow the sand always in the minimum energy configuration, until the shape of the lakes in that terrain represent the solution to whatever problem you care about. Then you take a photo and measure exactly the distances, angles, areas etc. With this analogy you get some feeling for what manipulating the ground state means, and why you need to do so slowly, and also that this is not a tool that will solve all types of problems.