hey guys, still trying to wrap my head around what ''mining'' actually is.
i get that mining is hashing the current block/blocks for a solution to the ledger
to verify that all transactions are accounted for since the inception of the originating block was descovered
That's a simplified description and not entirely accurate, but probably good enough for this discussion right now.
but, as i look at blockchain.info i see hundreds of transactions refreshing every minute...
Yes. These are the unconfirmed transactions that people are broadcasting onto the bitcoin network. They are waiting to be confirmed into a block by a miner.
are these blocks or are these individually verified transactions?
Those are individual transactions that are not yet confirmed in a block. They are waiting for a miner to include them with other transactions into a block of transactions and then find an appropriate hash.
if they are just transactions does that not count as solving a block?
No. First the solo miner (or mining pool) needs to assemble a set of transactions (1 megabyte worth or less). Then they need to build a header for the block. Finally they (or the poll participants) need to find a hash of the header that is lower in value than the current difficulty target.
in theory couldnt my inferior laptop run the hashing program in conjunction with the blockchain and stumble on a solution for the next block?
In theory? Yes.
In practical reality? No.
just so i can actually see the finer workings of it?
There won't be much to "see" if you are just running mining software.
