oh boy. I'm right there with you.
After reading all the responses I think I'm more confused than I was before. They're very clear explanations but I must be missing something.
In any case, you're not wondering about how to store the private keys, right? (You're wondering why have a wallet if you have already secured the keys?)
That's part of it, yes. The other part is how you can do something offline to generate keys offline that can be both unique and accepted by the rest of the blockchain. Plus, you still need to use something of the generated thing to to online/on chain stuff. How? I don't get it.
I'm relatively new to the world of bitcoin. The philosophy and implications for freedom and human flourishing made sense to me almost immediately, but every time I think I understand a little bit more of the technical side I realize how much I still have to learn. Analogies help a lot (or would help) but I don't know if there are analogs in the physical world for some of this stuff.
Anyway - I'll keep following your questions and looking things up. I bet in a year we'll understand more than we do now.
