Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#5607

  1. It means that blockchain is determined by a collection of people who are incentivized by validity of the truth.

  2. In a central database only one company that is getting benefitted is telling their own version of truth to get maximum truth from the information they provide.

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#5608

Consensus determines the truth because if 99% of the blockchain says a transaction happened and 1% does not agree, the 99% will override the 1% and come to the correct conclusion. This displays how fallacies cannot exist on a correctly coded protocol. In a central database, you either have to take the word of the individual who input the data or have to trust that an unbiased auditor completed the audit without error or misdoings.

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#5609

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
    There is no one centralized authority validating the truth/validity of transactions. The network of computers validating transactions must come to a consensus before the transaction is added to the blockchain.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a centralized database one entitiy must be trusted to determine truth, the validity of transactions.

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#5610
  1. it means all decision being made in a decentralized network to prevent cheating.
  2. truth will be only determined by a single party, the authority of the network. When there is corruption or manipulation in the process, the truth can be changed.
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#5611
  1. Consensus in the blockchain means that everyone who is a part of the blockchain can verify the data of any entity on the blockchain without needing anyone else to rely on for data, they can simply verify if something is true by checking the blockchain history/records.
  2. It’s different because in a central database you have to rely on their word with no way of actually knowing if what you are being told is true. With the blockchain, anyone can look at the information and verify the authenticity. Trusting a central database vs. no trust needed you can just check yourself no problem.
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#5612

1- because the nodes need to agree if a transaction is valid or not. If so, they will add it to the blockchain.
2- You need to trust the owner of that database, which can corrupt the data on propose or by a mistake.

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#5613

  1. Blockchain consensus determines truth b/c network participants are financially incentivized to be honest or else their transaction will be ignored and thus lose money.

  2. In a centralized database, “truth” is arrived at via confidence in the institution… confidence that can be betrayed. You must “trust” the authority is doing what is says it is doing and there is very little opportunity to verify.

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#5614
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth? the truth is collectively decided by a network of individuals.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? anyone can altar a central database and put what they want on it.
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#5615

  1. In a blockchain a consensus means the truth. If all ledgers agree a transaction can be added to the blockchain. You cannot cheat on blockchain.

  2. A central database can be manipulated or changed by 1 user/admin. It isn,t open to the public.

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#5616

Homework on Consensus - Questions

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Network validation. Redundancy.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    At central database, data can be manipulated.

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#5617
  1. Consensus is determined by the incentives of other parts of the blockchain, we rely on the incentives of the parts in the blockchain to correct anything that is wrong and determines if something should exist or not.
  2. Central database is located in a single area, if there is something that should not exist then it will be difficult to fix it. It is less reliable and relies on trust. It can also be manipulated as it is in a single location and others can’t check
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#5618

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Decisions about what information is added to the blockchain (“truth”) are made collectively by the network.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    A central database is not a public ledger. Decisions about what information is included in the database are not made collectively and are therefore vulnerable to fraud and error.

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#5619
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus can determine the truth because people are incentivized to be honest as they will lose money if they are not honest.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a central database, the owner determines what is the truth.
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#5620
  1. It means that in blockchain there is no way something is not true, because everybody verifies if transaction is valid or not, and agrees with it together. Nobody cannot cheat.
  2. In a central database there is a central authority that decides the truth, while blockchain is decentralized and trustless.
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#5621
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
    Because consensus has to be achieved before a transactions is approved, and each party providing approval is decentralized and has their own independent incentives
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? Centralised databases can be hacked, the incentive can be created by manipulating the network
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#5622

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus determines truth with multiple parties working independently & requiring a majority of nodes/validators to agree on the validity of a transaction before it can be added to the official record (blockchain). Having multiple parties verify makes hacking/cheating the system difficult because there are multiple points of failure.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    A central database is also a central point of failure, requiring trust in that single database. If an outside source were to gain access to the single database, they would be able to manipulate the whole system.

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#5623

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    In blockchain the ledger is shared by all the nodes and in order for a transaction to be accepted and included within the ledger first it must be accepted as valid by a majority of nodes.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a central database you have a single point of failure in both the database information all being in one file and even worse more than one person most likely has access to the database & the ability to alter it. Centrel database requires trust and can be altered by bad actors or even natural disaster.

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#5624
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth? It means removing trust since we can verify each transaction mathematically and all the nodes have to agree or accept that transaction in order for it to be true or legitimate. In a technology where there is no central authority consensus acts as the source of trust for a transaction. Consensus is achieved by rewarding nodes with financial incentives this in turn motivates the parties involved to be honest.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? In a central database the central authority is responsible for determining the rules and since all transactions are private there is no way for the central authority to verify if the information provided is completely true. Also since there are a lot of middle man involved, and all the transactions are private there is no way to verify if the information provided is true. To some extent central database works based on trust and this can lead to misled information when someone provides false information.
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#5625
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
* Due to all participants in the network having incentive to validate the correct origin of all transactions. Through the consensus of all participants the truth can be determined.

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

    • The incentive to provide the truth in a centralised database system is not present because there are no external participants validating the transactions and coming to consensus.
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#5626
  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. That the ‘’Truth’’ is decided as a group/collective.

A2.Central database is only one entity making all the decisions and decides what the “Truth” is.

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