Energy in physics feels analogous to money in economics. Is a manmade medium of exchange used for convenience. It is the exchange medium between measureable physical states/things.
Is energy is real in the same way money is? An incredibly useful accounting trick that is used so frequently it feels fundamental, but really it’s just a mathmatical convenience?
Small aside: From this perspective ‘conservatipn of energy’ is a redundant statement. Of course energy must be conserved or else the equations are wrong. The definition of energy is it’s conservation.
I understand. But I would counter with kilometers is a unit of distance. Energy is not a unit of measure. For that we have other words, like watts and volts and many others.
Energy and distance do exist without humans. How we measure both is a human construct like you said.