I don’t think “just throw a single coin” really captures how I Ching divination traditionally works.

The classical Dayan method is based on human participation through division and transformation. It is the only divination method recorded in the Book of Changes. Through repeated divisions, six yin or yang lines are formed, together forming one gua. To me, this feels closer to life: we make choices, exchange one thing for another, and move from one situation into the next.

Maybe the gua is simply a manifestation that helps us see the situation more clearly. Some people believe in it, and others do not. To me, its wisdom is a bit like a zero-knowledge proof: it reveals a pattern without fully exposing the mystery behind it.

It’s great to see people discussing this. I’m a huge fan of the I Ching and built a few websites around it, including https://knowunknowable.love and https://ichingdao.love, where I explore the I Ching, Daoism, and Mozi.

I didn't say that is how the I Ching works. Participation in the process is most certainly an important aspect of binding the psyche of the questioner to the results, which supports the view that the stalk method is indeed the way to consult the book, as that requires contemplating the question while going through the process.