Ah yeah this really is basic, and kindof importnt but lets skip that for now. its about how the trick of polygons work to make smooth surfaces.
Select the object and choose [Polygons] Normals -> Harden Edge
PS you might be on to seomething when you say: "polygons look smooth, but they're not", thet would indeed be the case for most polygon models at all times. That indeed is the crux of 30% of the modelling problems ever asked.