Assuming you aren't going to try to remember each and every card, there are still a few rules that can make your fling at blackjack more interesting, and less of a losing proposition.
For one thing, most customers don't like to play alone, and will avoid a table with no other players. Casino owners and operators know this, which is why you almost never see a dealer standing around alone, waiting for business.
The house hires shills, or, more politely, house players, to take the icy edge off the confrontation between the single player and the dealer.
It should be emphasized that there's nothing illegal about this. The shill isn't there to cheat you, just to induce you to play by making the whole scene a little more comfortable.
There are shills - both men and women - at most every game in the big casinos. In Nevada, the dealer is required to tell you which players at the table are working for the house, but you have to ask.
The object of the blackjack game is to get a higher point count on your cards than the dealer gets on theirs.
Blackjack is an ace, coupled with any 10/face card. If either player or dealer exceeds 21, they go bust, which means they lose.
However, the dealer has an advantage here. If you, and all the other players at the table, bust, the dealer wins without even finishing their hand. This means that even if the dealer's cards would have totaled more than 21; they don't have to play the hand through, because all the players busted first.
The dealer always plays last, so this advantage always belongs to them.
Bets are made before the deal, except for "insurance". The usual deal is two cards face-down, to each player, and two cards, one face-up, to the dealer.
The fact that one of the dealer's cards is visible would seem to be a tremendous advantage to the player, but other house advantages more than cancel this out.
Another difference between the player and the house is that the dealer must "stand" (take no more cards) if their two card point total is 17 or more, and they must take a "hit" (another card) if they have 16-or-less.
Players are not bound to these rules. Another clear plus for the player is that blackjack, a perfect score of 21 points, pays the player 3 to 2, but only means the dealer automatically beats anyone who doesn't also have the two-card 21.
Finally, here's where the complications set in; a player may "double-down" or "split" their hand, propositions that can either improve their chances or ruin them, depending on how well they play.