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What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
It means that all decisions are made by xyz number of units who are trying to reach agreement to validate accuracy trough verifying their own blockchain data. -
How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In a central database we rely on trust, as the word says for itself - centralized, meaning it is managed by one person, company, government etc.
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- when a decision is made, you know that different people agreed on that decision. Trough provenance mechanism we get the transparancy needed to prove the truth.
- In the blockchain ecosystem, the consensus mechanism works with incentives that reward honest people with money.
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Question #1: What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
Consensus is needed to decide if a transaction makes sense or not, should this transaction be permanently accepted into the blockchain? Consensus is built on incentives where by being honest results in the most rewards.
Question #2: How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In a central database the truth is determined by the most trusted relationship. The latest version of the truth overrides others in the database. Without consensus from many, many nodes the likelihood of getting an accurate truth will likely decrease.
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- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
[Answer 1]: There are two ways of establishing truth. First is by asking someone, who you trust, to determine it. And the second is to verify yourself.
In Blockchain, the network determines the truth, not because majority of nodes agree. It is because the method of determining the veracity of the ‘chain’ requires proof of work (and, not simply trust).
Why would nodes put in effort to establish the proof of work? Because, they are incentivized to do it.
So, when all in the network are motivated by monetary incentives, the endeavor is to adhere to the method of proof of work. The longest proof of work (derived from hashing algorithm) determines the truth, not the majority opinion. This is the ultimate verification.
Hence, without being driven or influenced by any or few nodes in the network, honest verification determines the truth.
- How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
[Answer 2]: In a central database, the truth is determined by the person that has the authority over the database. Since the claim to truth can be verified by only a few, it is not necessary that a centralized database represents truth all the time.
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Consensus is the act of verifiability by the nodes/ledgers. Once the transaction is verified and approved it can never be changed or removed, which makes it a verifiable truth!
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In centralised databases the “truth” is determined by the governing parties. There is no verifiability, only trust and belief that what er are told is true.
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When everyone is incentivized to tell/verify/agree upon an answer/event/transaction, the overall consensus must be the truth.
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Central databases control what information is displayed and are not as vulnerable to the type of auditing which exists in blockchain technology. The information is chosen by the central database and users must trust, whereas blockchain verifies.
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- In Blockchan, blocks get confirmed based on consensus between different copies of the blockchain. If one node has a version of the blockchain that does not meet that consensus it gets rejected by the network.
- In a central database there is only one live copy of the data so the truth is whatever is in that single central database.
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- we mean that only if everybody are agreed upon a transaction, then it is true, means that the transaction can be executed.
- if not centralized, than one person can decide what is true and what isn’t
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- consensus enables verifying in a trustless mode
- it is completely transparent, based on mathematics and you do not need to trust but can verify
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1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth? Verification involves a network of computers and is not dependent on a single person or entity. Each node is incentivized to tell the truth.
2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? A centralized system is built on trust where the information cannot be verified instead you have to go by the word of one or two centralized entities. In a decentralized model, the consensus, whether in blockchain or supply chain, we can be confident that everyone is telling the truth, not because we trust them but because we can verify.
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- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
Consensus determines the truth meaning it needs a network to come to agreement on a transaction by all having the same database. Different databases to consensus are rejected. The network is incentivised to tell the truth making it a trustless decentralised system.
- How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In a centralised database truth is determined by whoever governs the database. There is only their version of the database allowing the truth to be how they see it and that is what data to trust.
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Homework on Consensus - Questions
- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
The truth is deemed to be the answer most entities (consensus) arrive at independently using the same input data. - How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In a central database whoever controls the database gets to determine truth.
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Consensus determining the truth in blockchain refers to the fact that the blockchain is decentralised so the decision that a transaction is legitimate does not come from 1 source but rather is verified from a network therefore creating a safe and secure trustless process.
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Truth is determined in a central database by a single source of truth where trust is needed, this is different from determining truth via consensus as trust is not needed to verify and so therefore is trustless.
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- Consensus determines the truth because it verifies the truth. It is the removal of trust in the system.
- In a central database you have only a single entity which determines the truth of a given situation. Any entity is incentivized to make money, thereby incentivizing lying indirectly. In blockchain the communication between individual nodes verifies the truth of the given situation.
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Consensus determines the truth by the fact that all have to agree on the same thing. Let’s say a majority have to agree on certain facts. The question is if the fact is true.
A central database doesn’t require consensus from all participants, therefore the truth in a database can be changed and the new information might be false. E.g tempered transaction. Adding to my account 1000000$
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What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
All nodes within the network must validate a transaction before it can be added to the blockchain, that is to say everyone must agree that the data in this latest transaction must be ratified by everyone in the network. -
How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In a central database there is no requirement for third party ratification, and therefore there is no one to hold the any party to account if they lie or mislead anyone though their records.
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Homework on Consensus - Questions
- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth? The network nodes in a trustless mechanism check for agreement/consensus
- How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? Decentralised without one authority determining outcomes
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- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
It means that in order to validate something, let’s say a supply chain, or a transaction, or the outcome of an election, all participants of the network agree on the same facts, f. e. agree on the vote count of an election.
- How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
The blockchain consensus is fairly different to a central database “truth”, as only the ones with access to a central database can truly know the hard facts. Everyone outside the central database can only choose to believe or not. In a blockchain, everything is documented and “engraved in stone” and openly visible for everyone. Therefore the blockchain truth is bullet-proof, the “central database truth” is not.
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- What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
The consensus is determined by the network, avoiding fake transactions to be part of the blockchain, just getting info from all the parts to determine the trust, not just trusting what and individual part says
- How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
All the participants can check and verify the info before accepting the transaction and can’t be manipulated individually
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What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
Consensus mechanisms are built in to blockchain technology to ensure all transactions are valid and agreed upon. All nodes participating in consensus are incentivized to verify information. -
How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
With a central database comes a lot of trust to the entity that handles the database. The entries within a database is mutable and can be easily altered. In contrast, a blockchain will require consensus between many other nodes for information to be changed and that is nearly impossible especially with the larger blockchains we have today.
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