this behavior is stupid. why would a logic gate generate power

This is a NOT gate, it inverts the input (0 to 1 and 1 to 0), the logic voltage levels are 0V and 5V. EveryCircuit doesn't have Vcc in gates, so it outputs 5V when there are 0V at the input. In real you would need to power the gate with a Vcc voltage.

it doesn't "generate" - could it be that your refer to the gate sourcing while many real world devices are better current sinks than current sources? There is no universal law requiring devices to be bad current sources, and some drivers for example can source pretty well.

The logic gate doesn't "generate" anything. Components in EveryCircuit are based on their schematic symbols. Op amps, logic gates, and other ICs typically have the Vcc, -Vcc, and GND pins omitted from schematic symbols because they're always there, and always the same. You simply know that a logic gate does not work without power. For a not gate, there are at least four pins; Vcc (5V or 3.3V), GND, input, and output. You supply a high and low voltage reference, then based on the input, the output is either high or low. This is known as Boolean or binary logic. There are only two states: 1 (true), or 0 (false). To set the supply voltage (Vcc) in EC, select the component. The only parameter is "logical true". This is both your supply voltage, and thus the voltage of the output when high, or 1. The same concept works for op amps. When you set the maxiumum high and low outputs, that is the same as setting Vcc and -Vcc, because the output can never be higher than the supply.

That is an awesome explanation of not just EC but schematics in general. Been that way for almost 40 years with power plant and substation schematics. Thanks for ALL your explanations

I appreciate the answers you folks took time to write. will do some self study to answer my next question lol.

(vs asking it here not trolling sadly I really am this ignorant)