Thanks for explaining. I'm just trying to get the point across that I just don't understand, but would like to. I happen to think that HN is a pretty reasonable and normal place to engage in discussions about these sorts of things, so it seemed natural to me to ask.

I can only ask you to believe me when I say I'm not being disingenuous here: I am genuinely curious about all this stuff, especially since I have no first- or even second-hand experience with it. I am sorry if I come off as somewhat clinical or detached... as I mentioned and we all know, it's very hard to get tone across via a medium like this.