Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#4177

1. What does it mean when we say that in a blockchain, consensus determines truth?

The truth, or the correct blockchain, is accepted as correct by the entire chain when the majority of the nodes agree. The only way to overpower and cheat the blockchain would be to gain control of a majority of the CPU’s on the blockchain.

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

In a central database, whatever unit is designated as the central authority determines the truth, or what is considered correct by the rest of the units in the database. This means that if that central database is compromised, it is possible to control all of the other units. A central database is more vulnerable to attack.

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#4178

All nodes verify or don’t verify a transaction by analysing their public ledger and communicating with eachother to verify a single parties transaction

Truth is determined by after the fact auditing, rather than realtime ‘verification’ in a traditional setting.

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#4179

1.It means all the computers on the network running the blockchain have to agree or at least a high enough number of them have to. This means the transaction or information is true ,consensus is incentivized.
2.It doesnt need a certain number of decentralized computers to agree.People are not incentivized to verify things are correct

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#4180

1 The nodes are incentivesed to accept only the transactions that are accettable, so there is a verification in the process.
2In other databases no verification is needed which means you have to trust in someone who says something

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#4181
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
  • agreement must be reached for consensus. In order to fabricate the truth the entire network has to be on board with the lie, which is impossible between parties that have zero association with each other. They are simply left with the TRUE/NOT TRUE judgement call
  1. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
  • central database can be adjusted at inout stage and manipulated by the inputter who perhaps is driven by an uterior agenda
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#4182
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus is all the nodes in a blockchain simultaneously communicating agreeing on one data point in the chain based on complete chain history. Something in confirmed by all the users in the chain to be true before it is officially confirmed on-chain.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a normal database, you have to go back step by step to each data source in order to confirm the previous data instead on communication with all the data sources simultaneously.
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#4183
  1. Consensus determines the truth is that it uses the agreement for blockchain to have all cryptos and transactions.
  2. The difference is a central database has one database of its own and show the truth when any attacks happens.
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#4184

  1. All nodes on the block chain are incentivized to verify that all transactions that pass through are either true or false. There is no reason to lie because everything needs to be verified on the blockchain.

  2. In a central database, trust is involved in finding out the truth.

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#4185
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth? Incentives drive the network to validate and double check the data before adding to the blockchain.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? Truth in a central database is whatever the administrators / data owners want it to be. They create the processes for accepting data and financial incentives by transaction probably don’t exist.
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#4186
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

Consensus is used to weed out suspicious transactions by checking the history of the transaction against the historical data of the blockchain. It would be hard for person A to lie to person F if everybody in the middle knows that person A is lying. With consensus, we don’t need to rely on trust; we rely on the power of decentralized databases.

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

In a central database, any admin can simply change data and nobody will find out. We have to trust the admins.

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#4187
  1. consensus in blockchain means that all participants in the networks (nodes) agree upon what happened.
  2. In a central database modifications and alterations can be made and therefore create a window to cheat and so trust goes out the window, because it human nature, if people can cheat someone eventually will cheat.
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#4188
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

Consensus gives us broad rules that everybody agrees on this determines what is “true”.
Every participant in the network is incentivised to find truth.

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

In a central database every participant can cheat a little bit and there is no way to verify whether their statements are true or false. In a decentralised network every participant is connected and transparent.

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#4189
  1. Through the consensus mechanisms, it can’t be distorted, different validators in the network have to validate the truth.
  2. The truth will be validated from many validator in the consensus, all the validators in the network have a copy of the blockchain, so if a single validator wants to distort the truth, the network will determine the untruth. In the central database there is no monitoring mechanism. The owner of the database can distort the truth anytime without an agreement from the network.
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#4190

  1. Consensus determines truth by needing the network to all to agree on decisions. No decision is made by the individual. Therefore creating a trustless system.

  2. The difference is that a central database needs trust and an individual in the chain of supply can make a decision, therefore giving the ability to abuse the system at any stage of the process.

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#4191
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?

A1. In blockchain, consensus determines the truth simply means that before a transaction is recorded into the blockchain network, the transaction is verified by all nodes in the network. Once all nodes reach an agreement/ consensus on the data provenance then the transaction is recorded in ledger and published across the blockchain network. Hence the term “do not trust—verify”. This is how truth is determined in a blockchain network. Consensus rewards the parties involved in the verification process through financial incentives based on Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS).

A2. Contrary to a central database, consensus is a unique feature of a decentralised network in order to determine truth. This eliminates human bias i.e. trust. All transactions in the network are verified in order to establish its accuracy and veracity. In the blockchain network the verification process deploys code, algorithms and scientific methods to determine truth. A centralised database does not make use of such methodology to verify truth because, again, consensus is a unique feature of a decentralised network. This makes a centralised database subject to tampering and therefore unreliable.

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#4192
  1. Because any transaction being attempted to be written to the blockchain has to be verified as true by an incentivized network of validators not a single source of validation.
  2. In a central database the validation process is owned by a single user or entity that can self verify that the entry is “the truth” and it is written to the database as so.
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#4193

1 - In blockchain the truth is the information accepted by the participants in the network meaning that they come to an agreement on the decision wether the information is valid or not.

2 - in a central database the truth is dictated by only a single or a few users and has to be trusted by the remaining users.

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#4194
  1. nodes confirm the transaction
  2. in a central database multiple participants confirm the truth and not the one
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#4195

IVAN ON TECH ACADAMY QUESTONS ON CONSENSUS

2/17/2021

  1. what does t mean when we say that in blockchain consensus determines the truth

This means that everyone ie network of databases have to agree or come to an agreement when a new transaction comes along whether it is right to add to the blockchain or not. All must agree for it to be verified and once verified it can now be added to the blockchain. As a customer you will know for certain that the product or service you are getting is what it says it is without any doubts. In blockchain the networkers are rewarded with incentives to motivate them to do the right thing and punished for not doing the right thing. At such every transaction verified is accurate

  1. how is this different from how truth is being determined in a central database

This is different in that; in Crypto, transactions are decentralized and fully verified by all parties involved as compared to central databases which are not decentralized, only the person or institution performing this transaction can verify what they say the product or information is. No one can say for sure if this is true or not.

Gina

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#4196
  1. It means that agreement needs to be reached between parties before proceeding forward. Truth is an agreement of the majority on the previous history.
  2. In a central database, only the central authority determines the way to proceed forward and can change its history (1984, worth a reading)
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