Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#5708

Question. From a practicality standpoint how would companies provide the information for the blockchain to reach consensus? Take to yogurt business case, how would the chain get the information that company x was able to use the sugar they used because they acquired it from company y? Would their be barcodes/qr codes on products that relay that information to the computers?

I hope this question makes sense.

#5709

It depends on the approach. A while ago there was an app available here in Slovenia from OriginTrail where you were able to scan the bar code and input the batch month and was able to got the entire chain of the yogurt all the way from which farms milk was collected for that particular batch.
It was not yet blockchain based back then and the app isn’t available anymore, but I hope they will release a new version once their ODN network is fully functional. :slight_smile:

#5710

  1. The coalition of majority of the nodes/users agreeing on a data set.

  2. The central databased is biased and has single point of profit.

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#5711
  1. Consensus is reached by nodes of network that decide whether the transaction is valid or not and should it be added to the whole transaction dataset or not. They are economically/financially incentivized to bring the trust.
  2. In a centralized database we have the head of the transaction, who decides to give green light to occurring transactions, he can be easily corrupted.
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#5712
  1. It means that each transaction is agreed upon and verifiable in the network so there is no need for trust when you can validate
  2. Truth is relied upon from the intermediaries who hold the data and periodic audits which help to validate information which is costly and untimely
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#5713

  1. In a blockchain, a slew of people verify that the new data is accurate. As is stated, they have financial incentive to be honest, even if they’re not so in reality : D

  2. In a centralized database, the ledger is controlled by one person or department.
    They could falsify information, including for financial incentive, yet what they write is going to be considered official, as they alone have the authority to determine truth.
    Others do not get any input other than to dispute the official account according to some kind of legal procedure, which would be a drastic measure.

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#5714

Both questions are two sides of the same issue. On the one hand, the blockchain is decentralized, so many parties must be involved in confirming each transaction as valid, and thereby achieving a certain level of consensus on each action. Whereas, with a centralized database, only one party is the authority on a transaction, and therefore everyone else must trust them.

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#5715

1.Teamwork with a network of incentives computers (minors and nodes) to confirm each transaction. All parties reaffirming them, thus removing the trust necessity.

  1. In a centralized database there is only one source or authority who makes the decision what is true. Therefore opening the door to mistrust and potential concerns.
1 Like
#5716

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    All nodes/participants have to go through the process of verification and agree with the transaction (its features etc.)

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Depends on the human factor and decisions are made by a group of (maybe) few people - less immune to make a mistake or even worse a fraud

1 Like
#5717

  1. The consensus mechanism makes sure that new added transactions are legit and are following the network rules

  2. central database there’s a central authority that decides the truth.

Cheers!

1 Like
#5718
  1. Consensus - each transaction is included on the blockchain ONLY after validation. The members of the network have to come to an agreement first that the transaction is valid and is playing by the rules of the network. only after the whole network agrees on it, that when validity is confirmed.
  2. Truth is determined by humans who have to check the transaction data and decides whether its valid or not. The human has considerable power to manipulate the validity of the data.
1 Like
#5719

1 Everything is there on the blockchain. If supplier a claims to have this ingredient but it is not verified by supplier b having provided them this ingredient it is hard / impossible for supplier a to claim it genuinely has this ingredient. On the blockchain everyone holds others accountable. So we have this consensus where we in effect remove the trust element of an individual saying this.

2 In a central database, information can be changed-removed by the authority that presides over the central database. In essence, they become the “truth” element. They can manipulate and influence it as they wish. With blockchain technology, the blockchain itself provides the trust.

1 Like
#5720
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    A: concensus combined with provenance, consistency across all blocks and traceability with the incentive to be factual, and there is concensus on all these factors, the logical conclusion is that the facts are consistent and true.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    A: In contrast, DBs are changeable, often inconsisten since, anyone witll access can change it, it is a single source of information and can be corrupted with no way to verify the facts.
1 Like
#5721

consensus determines the truth through the process of giving the participants an incentive to tell the truth or verify if something is correct. and through a system of nodes on the blockchain that validate what is true, they do so through the incentive of getting digital currency to validate transactions.

1 Like
#5722

  1. Consensus means that a defined majority of participants in the network have to agree or verify the appropriateness of a transaction. This prevents a minority set of bad actor/s from corrupting the system.

  2. In a central database, the determination of the appropriateness of a transaction is monitored and controlled by a central party.

1 Like
#5723

Consensus in blockchain means that all decisions need to be accepted by all participants of the network.

Every participant is incentivized in being truthful and as soon as consensus is reached it becomes the truth.

In contrary, “truth” in central database cannot actually be verified and data can easily be manipulated.

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#5724

  1. consensus determines truth by a group of people verifying, not just one centralized party

  2. there is no incentive to verify the correct information with a centralized database, and it could easily be corrupted.

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#5725
  1. The whole network is stimulated to follow the rules, and any cheat / fraud shall cause harm to the everyone therefore consensus determines the truth, which means nodes jointly come to agreement on what is true of false.
  2. In case of central database the truth becomes “questionable” as it is agreed and is fully under control of dedicated authority.
1 Like
#5726

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    In a blockchain, the majority of its network participants must agree that a block’s data is valid for it to be included in the chain.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a central database, a single entity can control the data. In a blockchain, dishonesty is much more difficult (an disincentivized).

1 Like
#5727
  1. It verifies it. 2.it is decentralized.
1 Like