This is where you start losing me, and I feel as though I’m not smart enough. How does a normal, non-tech person acquire bitcoin then, if not through a centralized exchange? Seems as though people here feel those are insecure (and you are still sort of beholden to a company?), but then it’s not for everyone/anyone to find, only extremely technical people and/or companies? 

 You can buy it from an exchange like Coinbase, through an app like CashApp, or directly from another human. No need to mine or even understand how it works to acquire it.