Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#2351

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Majority of participants has to agree on the outcome.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    It is not decided by a single authority

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#2352

  1. All the computers on the network have to agree in order for a block to be written.

  2. The truth is written by the owner/editor of the database. There is no outside check to verify.

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#2353
  • What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

Truth is considered to be the agreement of the majority of nodes, where nodes are incentivized to tell the truth and to detect attempts to deceive / defraud.

  • How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?

With a central database, whoever controls that database controls what is considered to be true.

It’s clear to me that “truth” here is not the abstract truth but a perception; the motivation however is to make the perceived truth match the abstract truth as closely as possible, to remove the possibility of deception.

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#2354

  1. What it means when in blockchain when they say consensus determines the truth, is that there is network of nodes in the network that have to agree on the particular transaction.

  2. Truth is determined in a central database by basing everything on trust. An example would be if a seller selling organic apples i cannot verify if your apples are organic i have to trust in what the seller is saying. Where in a decentralized network i can verify through the blockchain where your apples are actually coming from.

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#2355

Consensus in blockchain allows for verification from one network of a computer to the other. If one is false, it is detected and disregarded by another. There is no “one” particular group of authority or certain people to make the adjustments.

How is it different?
In a central database, one particular person, ‘owner’, group of higher ups of the organization can say they’re making it the truth but could be lying as that data proceeds to go through.

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#2356

  1. Consensus amoung networks or nodes is achieved by determine the ‘truth’ by coming to agreement with what transactions did or did not occur.

  2. A central database can be corrupted by a malicious agent, thereby distorting or falsifying the ‘truth’.

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#2357

  1. It means that the truth of a “fact” (e.g. transaction) is determined by many independent nodes which are incentivized to determine to “to tell the truth”.

  2. It’s different because we eliminate the trust issue related to the central database ownership, which could in effect change manipulate the data. With blockchain consensus is mathematically reached through the different computers of the network, eliminating the trust issue.

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#2358

  • What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus on a blockchain project means that many different parties that follows the rules of the same project, verifies also if a given transaction respect the rules and vote if it is ok or not. The treshold of what percent of parties need to agree is defined based on project’s economics and the level of security it needs. Preferred would be to have higher percentage of parties to agree or not.

  • How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    There is a single party that has to agree or not so the trust is assigned to one party. If that party is good or bad intended just time it’s telling.

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#2359
  1. consensus is reached by making a verification by multiple nodes and through this it removes trust from the transaction
  2. in a central database the verification is made by one sector or third-party body and thus can lead to errors or manipulation
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#2360

  1. When we say that blockchain determines the truth is that the network of nodes needs to determine the validity of the information that is going to be stored on the blockchain. The “information” will not be verified until everyone agrees to it.

  2. In a central database, there is no “validation” and “consensus” of the information that is supplied. It could be the decision of a single person, a party or companies. This leads to benefiting only the decision maker/s and creates a “trust system”

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#2361

*Nodes on the network validate transactions together all the nodes provide consensus for every transaction. Thus the network operates in a trustless manner.
*Centralised databases can not provide 100% truth about anything, as they are centrally controlled by a few or just one individual so are open to bias and corruption of the truth, this is the opposite of decentralised database.

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#2362
  1. It means that multiple parties must agree that a transaction is true or false. They are incentivised to find the truth rather than the false. Verification not truth.
  2. In a central database the “truth” is determined by a single party which is not verifiable. Truth(?) but no verification.
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#2363

  1. In blockchain, truth is determined by consensus. For anything in the blockchain to be “true” or “not true”, every computer or node on the blockchain has to independently determine that it is true or not true, and they all have to agree on the same result. If they do not all agree, the transaction is ignored.

  2. In a central database, the governing authority or administrator determines what is true. No agreement or outside verification is necessary.

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#2364

1: It means that all nodes on the network have agreed that the transaction has been verified…
2: It is more secure as the nodes are rewarded for telling the truth. There is no incentive for honesty in a centralised database.

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#2365

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    In blockchain there are no leaders or decision makers so all transactions are accepted or rejected by computers through consensus, which is built on financial incentives. Everyone wants to make money so they need to be truthful in order to gain money.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In central database people decide things based on trust between them or they job responsibilities but in decentralized system, blockchain, it is decided through consensus with help of math, logic, and scientific methods.

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#2366

1.Team work between nodes collaboratley reafirm transactions allowing diff parties to behave in a trustiness manner
2. In a central datatbase a central authority decides the truth. Someone has control over the network and decides the truth so therefore he can maipulate it or change it however he likes.

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#2367

  1. The meaning behind consensus determines truth means that everyone must agree to the changes before they can be made. Because people are financially incentivized for people being honest, the consensus determines the truth. One person can not lie because others will not be able to verify their story thus making it public that they lied.

  2. A central database consists of one person or one company creating their truth and others are unable to verify or the company makes it difficult to verify.

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#2368

Homework on Consensus - Questions

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    everyone has an incentive to tell the truth, if the chain doesn’t match up, it will say so.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? there’s no way to change it, so you’re either lying or you’re not. It’s a trustless system. Not that they are not trusted but that you literally do not have to be. It either is, or isn’t.

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#2369

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
    A: It means that all the computers in the network communicate and verify if the transaction/provenance is true or not.

  2. How is this different from how the truth is determined in a central database?
    A: In a central database, there is no communication in order to validate the truth, there is only one source.

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#2370

#1-My takeaway In a nutshell…Consensus is a trustless transaction that is varified by the network community that all agree legitimacy of transaction. The incentive for that agreement is financially rewarded.

#2- central database transaction are usually finalized by a bookkeeper employed by that company that at some point in the future may or may not be audited. Transaction is not
a varified transaction as it not done thru consensus process.

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