Homework on Consensus - Questions

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
  • In the blockchain, all the computers in the network have to agree on what is true or not. they reach consensus built on top of incentive so everyone plays by the rules and only trustworthy transactions are made.
  1. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
  • In a central database, the information is centralized and is decided by the authority entity (and it can be manipulated). Blockchain is decentralized and the information can not be edited. The truth is approved by all the computers on the network, reaching consensus.
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  1. It means that every computer using blockchain technology is incentives to work together by mining on the network using Proof of Work, decentralized therefore trustless.

  2. Central databases are centralized, the authority is in control.

  • What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    A blockchain consensus means that all the nodes in the network have universally determined that an input is approved by the majority and is therefore correct.

  • How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Truth in a central database is determined by the controlling party to that database.

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1 It means that you dont need to trust anymore in any centralized authorirty, instead the truth is able to be verified by every partiicpants in the network.

  1. In a central DB theres only one authority master wich says what its truth, that is the data stored in that DB.
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What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
Consensus is a methodology by which a universal truth is determined by the majority rather than an individual.

How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? In aq central database the truth is determined by the controlling party.

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1.It means that the members of the blockchain will approve any change. since the blockchain incentive’s the participants to “play by the rules”, the outcome will be the truth.
2.Central database is controlled by an entity which can change the data at will and according to its interests, the blockcain is controlled by everybody and can be changed only when in consensus.

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What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
Blockchain truth depends on consensus. Consensus is achieved among the network of computers when the participants agree on the state of the ledger of transactions. Each participant has a copy of the entire ledger. When all parties agree that the ledger is correct, the ledger is secured and the truth is documented. Participants are economically incentivized to tell the truth. Blockchain is controlled by no particular one, so the collection of participants gives the truth via their agreement or consensus.

How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
A normal database is a collection of data that was input by one to many participants. The weak link here is that it’s not assured that anyone has monitored or audited the data. No one has to agree that the input of data was performed correctly or verify that duplicates aren’t present. Data can be corrupted or deleted at any time, so the truth lies with the central authority who controls the database.

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

Everybody can and is checking on everybody. So when agreeing what remains is the truth.

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

A central database is able to choose what it wants it to be the truth

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  1. When we say that consensus determines the truth in a blockchain, we mean that the majority of people using the blockchain agree on the truth or state of the system, using the rules employed by the blockchain. This allows people that play by the rules to be incentivized for agreeing on the truth of the current state, and not be incentivized to cheat the system.
  2. This is different because in a central database, the truth of the system is determined by a central authority, who has the power to alter the database/ledger in ways that may not be in the best interest of all the users. A blockchain consensus system uses principles of game theory to give incentive to users to maintain the truth of the system that in theory benefits everyone involved, according to the principles the users have agreed to play by when using said blockchain.
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1- The network only accept the true and validated transactions and invalidated transaction is not accepted

2- In central database, date are recorded based on trust with the editor while on blockchain it based on consensus

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  1. In blockchain, using a built-in monetary mechanism, honest nodes can be rewarded and dishonest nodes can be punished thereby encouraging everyone to play by the rules and hence determines the truth of every transaction.
  2. In a central Database, only the owner of the database determines what is a honest transaction and what is not.
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  1. Every node guarantees that the we have consensus by universally determen that it is trusted (True), and then we can add it to the ledger.

  2. A consencus network needes no authority to decide the truth. By decentrelising the information, you get a hedge ageinst manipulating, that is a risk with centelised databases.

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Homework on Consensus - Questions

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

We mean that the decision is made by the whole network, we inpput some data and the community is validating it based on the established rules. If the community confirm our input then it will be the accepted truth, otherwise it will be consider as a false.

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

In central database the truth is not frequently validated, the individual person can decide what is true and input something wrong into the database just by an accident and create a mess, it doesn’t have to be always related to bad intention.

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

Consensus is an agreement between computers on the network that something happened
or can happen. e.g. a user can afford to sent payment

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

It’s different because in a central database there is only 1 user/computer making the change. It hasn’t been verified by other computers on the network and might not be the truth.

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  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    It means all the nodes need to agree for the transaction.

How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
its trust-less and decentralised system. where as centralised system need to Trust and authority can intervene

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  1. Everyone in the the blockchain agree that the information in the chain is true due to traceability and verifiable by all, hence forces contributors to supply truthful information to stay included in the blockchain.

  2. If you receive information from a central entity you have to trust that whatever they claim or say is the truth, because they have full control of the information, they can show or hide anything, to ensure your business with them.

  1. cause you can’t manipolate data in blockchain
  2. people are incentivate to tell the truth
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  1. Consensus determines the truth means that when the computers on the blockchain network agree on a transaction made on the blockchain, it becomes part of the blockchain, never being able to be changed again, what the blockchain agrees on is the truth for that blockchain.

  2. The truth in a central DB is set by the owner or manager of that DB.

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  1. Consensus determines the truth because all nodes must agree on data that gets permanently recorded into the blockchain.
  2. Truth is determined in a central database only by the central authority, which can add, edit, or delete whatever it wants. The nodes do not need to agree on the edits, they simply replicate the edits made by the central authority.
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  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

In a blockchain (decentralized network or database), a consensus mechanism is used to make sure that all information that goes into the ledger is valid and that all nodes agree on that. The consensus is reached when different nodes compare their own copy of the ledger with the other nodes in order to make sure that they all match and, this way, reaching an agreement (truth) that the transaction is a valid one or not. By doing this, the network can verify all the transactions and guarantee its users the integrity of the information existing in the blockchain, removing the need for trust and replacing trust for auditing and verification.

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

In a central database, there is no consensus mechanism and the truth is determined by the rules established by a central authority. This central authority (single party) decides which information can go into the blockchain or not, forcing the users to trust (blindly) in this single entity for validating the transactions and maintain the integrity of the information existing on the database.

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