> Is this really where one starts while learning basic electronics?

Hmm did you miss the introductory chapter that starts with diodes, transistors and basic logic gates that they told you vaguely about in high school physics?

There's quite a bit of info before getting to using the TTL chips.

Having played a bit with redstone circuits in Minecraft helps too - or knowing about diodes and transistors when doing redstone in Minecraft helps :)