Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#4238

Question 1) What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

Consensus is the method and rules used by the blockchain network to determine the true state of the information held by the ledger. Each individual node on the network must agree that the state of the information held locally is “true”. This is achieved through POW (proof of work) mining, a system where the node proposing a new block must provide the solution to a cryptography problem. Once this problem has been solved, and validated by at least 51% of the other nodes on the network, the block is added to the blockchain. If the new block being proposed has information that has been doctored in some way, validation will fail, and the block rejected. This will result in real term financial loss for the individual node seeking to enter a doctored block.

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#4239

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
    All nodes in the network have to agree before a transaction (or information) is written to the blockchain. In this way, decisions are made together.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Everyone in the network ‘tells’ the same story, so the information is verified by the community of nodes.

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#4240

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

  • Consensus determines the truth means all participants in the network has to agree to complete transactions.

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

  • Central database can be corrupted by the owner/controller so the truth is questionable.
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#4241

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

In a blockchain, the system is “trust-less”, and transactions verified across the network by independent nodes. This requires no central administration to enforce rules and make decisions regarding provenance and consensus. With a central database, the information is stored locally on data storage systems, and anybody who has access to that data storage system can enter fraudulent information into it. This results in the database being wholly dependent on the honesty of the administrators and organization that service the database, and as a result, the data you entrust to a traditional database then becomes dependent on a high level of “trust” in the administrators.

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#4242

hi all.

  1. Consensus determines truth in blockchain because the only valid ledger on a blockchain is the one where the majority of nodes on the network share and broadcast the same information, therefore reaching consensus.

  2. In a central database, truth is determined by those who control it. If there is only one party in control of a central database, they can change the inputs of a database to reflect whatever they consider true. Truth is most likely derived from a central source with the ability and incentive to alter it. In blockchain, truth is derived from numerous distributed sources that, for the most part, cannot be altered and have little incentive to do so/

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#4243

It means that computers/algorithm working together agree if the transaction should be valid or not based on their previous logs.

In central database there is only one who controls information and since there isn’t anyone to confirm if the given info is correct or not it can dilute the truth.

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#4244

  1. We say that in Blockchain, consensus determines the truth. We say this because consensus ensures all parties involved have to play by the rules or the blockchain wont verify their information therefore they will not receive the payment for their work. So if they don’t comply by the rules/regulations they will not receive the financial incentive the were originally trying to receive

  2. In centralised databases truth is determined by trust. You have to trust that a third party or the people in charge of the database are not adding false/incorrect data. There is an authority in control of a centralised database where as on a decentralised database there is no one in charge just many computers verifying whether information is correct or not.

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#4245
  1. Consensus determines the truth through a network of computers agreeing on the same data.
  2. In a central database truth can be decided by an individual/s or central authority
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#4246

  1. That a transaction has been verified independently by numerous nodes.

  2. Central data base implies one regulator/source responsible for confirmation/substantiation of the data.

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#4247
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?

A meeting of the “minds” agrees mutually on what is truth by consensus through incentives that encourage playing fairly.

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

In a central database the information input originally has to be assumed as true unless otherwise confirmed by researching the information behind what was input.

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#4248

Homework Consensus

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth? It means that most participants of the network agree with the specific action and declare it as the truth. Parties that build consensus will get rewarded for their work.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? In central databases the operator declares the truth. Therefore his truth doesn´t has to be the truth of most participants and can be manipulated by the operator in his favor.
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#4249

  1. Truth is verified by, network of computers that are intecivided for that. Trustless network of decentralized computers

  2. You have to trust central authority. Blockchain is trustless

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#4250

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

Consensus in blockchain is that the network can verify their information and can determine is there are false or corrupt data along the network. There is no central command in control of everything. Consensus determines truth because most of the parties agree.

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

Central database lacks of truth because it can be cheated and the information in it can be modified. With this happening there are no other entities or databases who can correlate with a copy of it and disagree with the false information.

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#4251

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
    In Blockchain it means that the members of the network have verified the transaction and “agreed” to count it as valid and trustworthy. The agreement is based on the algorithmic calculations. When there is a unity in the network about the transaction this creates Consensus of entire community.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In Central database the truth is claimed by the Authority (admin, grantee, empowered entity etc.) and this authority can change the ledger (the data, or transaction) upon the need or the requirement of an authority. This is different under blockchain consensus, where there is no authority that can misuse the transaction, or even cheat.

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#4252

  1. It means that for something to be labeled as the truth it needs to make sense for every party involved.

  2. In a central database what is true and false is determined from within and nobody outside the system can have a say.

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#4253

  1. It means that the truth is determined by several people, not a central authority and so that consens

  2. Central database is managed by a central authority so they can act for a personal gain and everyone else does not have a say so it is not trust because decisions are made together.

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#4254
  1. It means if all participants of the network come to an agreement about something, that something will be a truth
  2. If we have traditional database which is controlled by some central authority then truth in that database will be what central authority want to be a truth.
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#4255
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

A consensus mechanism is a fault-tolerant mechanism that is used in computer and blockchain systems
to achieve the necessary agreement on a single data value or a single state of the network
among distributed processes or multi-agent system. A consensus is reached by various anonymous computers
that agree on the validity of a transaction and then add it onto the blockchain.

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

In a central database, a user/administrator/developer can make changes to database without consulting anyone else.
Truth is determined via the central authority. On blockchain, everyone confirms.

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#4256

  1. Consensus is a crucial part of decentralized verification system in a network. Different nodes of a blockchain need to confirm a transaction for it to be added to ledger. Data gets validated only by unanimous verification, and there needs to be consensus throughout the network for that to happen.

  2. In case of decentralized network there is no one single party that can verify transactions or change the rules alone. In a case of central database such party exists and therefore that party needs to be trusted. When transactions are verified by consensus, there is no need for trust because the truth is built on mutual confirmation.

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#4257

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth? - There is incentive for miners to all collectively agree on a transaction before it is verified

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? - There is no real time verification so truth is never fully determined as reliant on network to be honest

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