Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#583

  1. Consensus removes trust by financially incentivizing the network to communicate with each other honestly as well as being able to VERIFY transactions/information.

  2. Consensus removes trust. Is decentralized, whereas, a central database controls what is truth with the ability to corrupt the truth.

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#584
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    By having consensus we can determine the truth because it is confirmed by multiple parties and those parties are incentivized to tell the truth.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    This is different because you have 1 central database that bases there decision on what they think is correct.
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#585
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus determines the truth because the network of computers all come to an agreement on want the truth is, in order for it to become a record on the blockchain. This is acheivable because all computers in the network are incentivized to follow the rules because everyone wants to make money, as opposed to not following the rules and losing money.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    This is different in that all the participants in the network are incentivized to be truthful and follow the rules of the ledger, whereas a central database can be manipulated by an entity easily where they could be altering numbers to fill a bias or goal that is self-serving.
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#586

  1. Consensus determine what will be written in the ledger, so it is what will be anchored for ever. Every computer, or miner in the network will agree to this entry. This is what we call truth.

  2. In a central database, only one actor can enter the truth in it, so it is kind of like a dictator saying this is the truth, and everybody else should believe him on his words.

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#587

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

All the parties in the network are incentivized to tell the truth, which in turn results in an objective and more accurate decision/outcome.

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

In a central database there is no consensus. There is trust. You are forced to trust/believe that the other party is stating the truth. The process of reaching the decision/outcome becomes more subjective than objective .

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#588
  • What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?

Truth is determined through a process of validation, which occurs within the network of systems that verify transactions, establishing “truth” within the chain of transactions.

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

Considering a central database, “truth” is in the eye of the beholder. in most cases, an audit system is manual, and it is likely the audit process is flawed when trying to establish truth. in contrast, a trustless database, like blockchain, has built in processes that can’t be changed, to establish truth.

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#589
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Answer: Decentralized computers independently verify the validity of data to determine whether it is true.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Answer: A centralized database consensus is determined by a single or fewer parties than a decentralized blockchain.
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#590

  1. Means a procedure on the blockchain which all parties of the network reach a common agreement which distributes trust among the peers of the network.

  2. The blockchain database is a public ledger validated in a sequence of blocks providing trust through transparency by recording the transaction in a secure way to exchange value .
    Compared to a central database that still requires an administrator to control the database which is open to manipulation and fraud.

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#591

This means that the blockchain is together responsible for the truth and prevents error or lies in the system.
2.
In the central database you have to trust someone who enters the data. It may happen that you make an accidental or deliberate mistake that you are unaware of. Such a situation cannot happen with consensus.

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#592

Q1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
A. What is meant by the ‘truth’ is what gets added to the blockchain. This, is determined by a collective approval of rejection from other parties on the chain. Once a certain addition (e.g. transaction) gets approved by a number of other parties (who are incentivised to say the truth), it gets added to the blockchain and as such is now considered as part of the ‘truth’ and as part of the chain.

Q2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
A. In a central database, information can be added or removed by individual parties who may have access to the database, without agreement, confirmation of others or even proof of the data being accurate or true.
As such, trust can be compromised.

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#593

  1. In Blockchain every node of the network most verify and validated if a new entry on the ledger is true or not, so the consensus determines the truth removing trust and substituted it for the consensus between all the network participants, giving financial incentives to participants for their honesty.

  2. In a central database the information is controlled by a central authority and can be easily manipulated and anyone with privilege access can change the data inputs on that databases. Contrarily to Blockchain, in central databases the truth is determined by those who control it.

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#594

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    -A block is only added to the chain when the whole network has reached consensus about this block. This means that the whole network ‘agrees’ with the block or transaction and therefore it is considered as the truth.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    -A central database does not need permission from everyone in order to add information. One entity can just add data to the database even when others don’t agree. So in this case the single entity determines the truth all by itself.

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#595
  1. In blockchain when we say “consensus determine the truth” means that data which is vying for provenance on the block chain has been verified by many third unbiased parties (nodes). The nodes agree on the truthfulness. They have achieved consensus. The nodes are financially incentivised to find truth .
    2.This is different in how truth is determined in a central database because there is no trust involved. The verifying parties have no vested interest in the consequences of the data. There only interest they have is that the data is true. Where centralized databases could have vested interests in the outcome of the data…therefore be vulnerable to be effected by the outcome of the data, which could make them susceptible for having motivation to change the data in favor of their desired outcome. The accountability protocols could be corrupted. There has to be an element of trust in these type of data bases.
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#596

1.Consensus means that the mayority of the network confirms the truth.

  1. in a single database their is only one individual confirming the truth.
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#597
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Because all nodes on the blockchain will be applying the same rules or processes
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In centralized data structure (database), you have to trust the owner or who have the authority on that data.
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#598

  1. Consensus determines the truth because the notes on the network have come to an agreement on what the truth is through incentives that encourage honesty.

  2. In a central database, truth is determined by the central authority who oversees the database.

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#599

  1. The blockchain incentives others involved to verify the truth.

  2. This is done through provenance. Provenance combines the account layer with the transaction layer. Normal databases do not do this.

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#600

  1. Many nodes control the information. if they agree the information is right or not right thats the truth.

  2. In central data bases one entity determine the truth. This entity have to be trust. Its a huge point of failure.

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#601

  1. It means that members of the network verify a transaction and agree upon what is true, because everybody is incentivised to play by the rules.

  2. A central database is centralised, which means that it is not possible to verify if a transaction is legit or not, and you only have a few members agreeing on what is true.

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#602

1 - It means that the truth does not rely on a single source of information, but on many. The more witnesses you have in court, the more their statements are verified and can become the foundation for a sentence.

2 - In a central database there is just one source of information and we have to decide whether that source is trustworthy or not. Large amounts of trust are needed in a centralized economy.

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