Homework on Consensus - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#6189

  1. It is very difficult for a user to lie about a transaction because a claim can be verified through the larger network.

  2. A central database will use a set of credentials or a set of determining factors as well as possibly relying on a manual process outside of the database.

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#6190

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus in blockchain simply means every computer with a copy of the blockchain agree on every transaction for it to be successful. So, every ‘Truth’ is based on verifiable facts by all the computers on the network.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Truth in a central database relies more on trusting the organisation that own/control the database. However, ‘trustlessness’ is a key feature in blockchain as truth is not dependent on trust, but on different parties coming to an agreement after verification - consensus.

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#6191 
What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth? 
    Because all transactions are verified by all the nodes of the blockchain to agree that the transaction is correct and valid, or at least + then 51% :-)  and that's the truth!. The truth is what the network validates.

How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database? 
    Because is centraized in 1 only entity that can adopt and save the information it decides, there's no consensus mechanism with the community. So the truth is decided by that only instance.
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#6192
  1. All nodes must reach an agreement (consensus) on whether the information or transaction is valid. There is an incentive to tell the truth.
  2. Anyone can enter information that has not been verified, no incentive to be truthful.
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#6193

  1. It means that the determination is built on several parties (networks) making a collective agreement on a verified decision.

  2. Todays databases are determined by one sole party, where blockchain eliminates that and ensures the trust of the newtwork to verify all decisions

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#6194
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?

Blockchain nodes are intencivised to tell the truth, which mean they will reach a consensus quickly.

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

A central database is centralised: There is only one authority that adds records or changes these, making it susceptible to failure or hacking or bribes.

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#6195

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Whatever the network agrees is true and commits to the blockchain, becomes truth. The protocole is built in such a way that everyone is incentivized to figure out and commit to the network, the truth. Those incentives are what makes blockchain, and bitcoin, different from other financial systems, where gaming the truth can be a real incentive. So when a transaction comes in, if the miners are in agreement, it will become the truth for the network. Finally, accidents happen. Because of the distributed nature of the blockchain, you prevent loss of data. As an example, the floods in China, a few years back, meant nothing for Bitcoin, the crypto happily trotted on as many other miners were in a position to validate data and kept a copy of the ledger.

  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    A normal database can be written, re-written, erased etc… as long as the user performing the action has the rights to perform the action.
    So you need to trust the organization holding the data and that every single user behaves well and doesn’t make mistakes in order to trust the data. That is virtually impossible. Finally, accessing the data can a nightmare as it is not public and because each database has its own structure.

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#6196

A1. Majority in a group cannot lie if all are being incentivized for saying the truth.
A2. There are no external entities to verify.

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#6197
  • What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Distributed and immutable nature of the system alows the members (nodes) of the network to matematically verifiy the validity of every transaction and by consensum mechanisam add the new transaction on to the blockchain. They are financialy incentivised to behave honestly in this process.

*How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
In the current centrilised systems the truth is determined by the central authority of the system which makes it vulrnable to manipulations.

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#6198

1 consensus is in the form of a decentralised network of individuals who can communicate to each other in a way that makes everything verifiable. it is difficult to cheat with a consensus model

2 in a central database there is no trustless information sharing, it is easy to cheat and to manipulate the results

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#6199

  1. Because you do not have to trust others with consensus, you can verify the truth by all the nodes checking the truthfulness of each transaction.

  2. In a central database, the truth is decided by one company or entity with all the answers.

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#6200
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Consensus is reached through validation agreement between nodes, no human interference is possible so the truth will always prevail
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    Human interference is possible, causing an access point for errors and greed
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#6201

Homework on Consensus - Questions

  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determine the truth?
    Operations with blockchain are verified by all nodes. Truth is verified in decentralized way as nodes have to agree to validate the transaction. Network participants earn money by supporting the rules.
  2. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
    In a central database the owner determines if something in this base is truthful.
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#6202
  1. Nodes and miners are financially incentivized to tell the truth and expose untruths. Transactions are added to the blockchain only when all nodes agree that the transaction is true.
  2. Truth in a central database can only be determined by having the data and supporting documentation(receipts) manually audited by a third party.
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#6203
  1. What does it mean when we say that in blockchain, consensus determines the truth?
  • Consensus determines the truth because every piece of information is verified by the entire blockchain network. This eliminates the need to trust anyone. Every transaction is verified by the blockchain network that comes to a consensus. The truth is establish by the majority in a democratic way. And the majority is incentivized to say the truth because they obtain financial rewards by doing so. In fact, lying in a blockchain can be penalized financially.
  1. How is this different from how truth is determined in a central database?
  • In a central database the truth is determine by whatever power is controlling the database. That can be a single human or a single organization. A single human or a single organization will prioritize their own interests and they may even cheat without being penalized.
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#6204
  1. Truth is determined collectively over a network of nodes
  2. It is trustless and decentralized, no single authority can intervene
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#6205

  1. Consensus can only be achieved when everyone agrees on a new entry into the blockchain. So if this new entry has been verified and confirmed by every node in the network, it has to be true and makes sense.

  2. in a central database only a few people or even only one person can decide which data will be included into the database. This leaves big opprtunities for corruption, manipulation or simply wrong data by mistake.

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#6206

Homework on Consensus - Questions and Answers

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

Consensus in Blockchain determines the truth because all computers (nodes) need to agree on the transaction. There are several parties involved in making the decision and therefore it is not open to interpretation. Decentralisation is important for building trustlessness. Th computers and incentivised to learn the truth.

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

In a central database you rely on trust. Humans can not be trusted. Simple.

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#6207

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

The truth is determined by the consensus of all the nodes and participants in the network accepting and confirming that a transaction or entry into that given blockchain is valid.

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

The truth cannot be determined in a central database as there is no way to verify the data, information or transactions as it is a single company, person or entity that is supplying the information that is in that database unlike in a blockchain where there is a network of computers based on a decentralized trustless system where all decisions of confirmation of the fact is determined by several parties that are in involved that agree that it is valid and thus it is added to that said blockchain.

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#6208
  1. Generally speaking, because all the user are connected to the network by the validation/verification algorithm inside the Block chain technology. User that contribute to the validation process through the blockchain receive a reward
  2. Because there isn’t a validation algorithm in a normal database. Every data can be copied or cheated and every user have to trust other user. While in the block chain tecnology, through the verify/validation process every user can verify all the datas
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