You are trying to ask a good question that few people in bitcoin ask. I think the reason so few people ask it is that they fear looking a bit foolish, which you do right now, but all of progress hinges on the bravery to tolerate looking foolish so do not let that concern you.

Your post makes it clear to me how I need to explain the nature of the situation and I will make sure to tag you when my response is out. The next questions and their answers are far more interesting than the ones you have posed and very few are aware of them (likely because I don't usually care all that much about making my writing easy to parse).