So (as I said in a sibling comment) my question wasn't "what can it be used for", but rather "what concepts are there to learn about it that could help me decide what to use it for".
But regarding the topic of what it can be used for... yes, I see people talking about doing healthcare with blockchain, or BP using blockchain, or archeology using blockchain, and people asking about how to learn to use blockchain for their next random startup ideas, and I start wondering if I'm going crazy. To me it seems basically like asking "could linked lists revolutionize healthcare?", or "could Dijkstra's algorithm help end global warming?" which sounds like a completely nuts question to ask. Am I just missing a huge, fundamental part of the picture? The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me.
Well, yes, they certainly could, even though that's an extremely vague question from someone who might not even understand what they're asking.
If you're interested in hearing about blockchain's potential from a business and society perspective, there's a bunch of material, but for example the latest Andreesen-Horowitz podcast episode was about "why crypto tokens matter".
You should ask the people doing healthcare with blockchain, or whatever it is you're confused about. I agree, oftentimes they just have no idea what they're talking about. Sometimes they do though. It's worth noting that I think a few of them expect to depend on not-yet-completely-implemented "infrastructure" projects (off-chain computation, off-chain storage, prediction markets, private transactions, cheaper transactions). However since these infrastructure projects are still in a research stage I don't think it's reasonable for you to be able to cleanly split the "conceptual user perspective" from the "bitcoin-dev perspective".
But regarding the topic of what it can be used for... yes, I see people talking about doing healthcare with blockchain, or BP using blockchain, or archeology using blockchain, and people asking about how to learn to use blockchain for their next random startup ideas, and I start wondering if I'm going crazy. To me it seems basically like asking "could linked lists revolutionize healthcare?", or "could Dijkstra's algorithm help end global warming?" which sounds like a completely nuts question to ask. Am I just missing a huge, fundamental part of the picture? The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me.