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Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

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Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#41

The problem that proof-of-work blockchain solves is widely misunderstood. It uses proof-of-work to establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique. Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem and for that reason it is a significant advance in technology. I wouldn't call it crappy, it's actually quite brilliant. For a detailed description see this: https:…

It’s very interesting as a matter of pure technology. I’m just not sure it’s that useful as a banking system.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#42

The problem that proof-of-work blockchain solves is widely misunderstood. It uses proof-of-work to establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique. Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem and for that reason it is a significant advance in technology. I wouldn't call it crappy, it's actually quite brilliant. For a detailed description see this: https:…

> It uses proof-of-work to establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique.

Did we really?

BTC vs BCH, Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic. Sigwitx2.

These hardforks technically break established consensus and rely upon social means (hey everyone: switch algorithms right now!!) to stay in order. At the end of the day, it seems to me that the "blockchain" is only as strong as the community's resolve to work together.

As far as I can tell, Bitcoin is turning into a governance structure. The current power players are the devs, who most people trust (and I see no reason not to trust them). And the social structure is organized on Github and forums.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#43
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all. I think you are specifically talking about Bitcoin (Proof of Work)

What live implementations are using POS (Poof of Stake)? It's all academic and likely to be only marginally faster without a lot of risky optimizations.

Nano/Raiblocks. Mainnet has been pushed to 300tx/s - theoretical max is 7000tx/s - Wallets available for all platforms.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#44
post #6

One thing is sure, if you're hanging on to the past you'll always lose in the end. That's not to say blockchain is the be all and end all, but constantly hunting for arguments why something will never work , is not only terribly boring, but IMO the most counterproductive way to look at anything.

This is a clear example of survivor bias; there have been plenty of things that people thought were the future that turned out to be false, and the people who ‘hung on to the past’ and didn’t adopt those things won out in the end.

Betamax, 3D TVs, laserdiscs, segways, new coke, etc.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#46
I think he is absolutely right about his dystopian view on smart contracts managing stuff but forgets about that one trusted party we're trying to avoid the most here, that costs us the most money and that we need the least in real life: Banks. That's what we neet the blockchain for.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#47

"Instead of relying on trust or regulation, in the blockchain world, individuals are on-purpose responsible for their own security precautions. And if the software they use is malicious or buggy, they should have read the software more carefully." This is also one of the aspects of "the blockchain" that I struggle with. I don't think normal people want this or should be expected to do this effectively. And once you o…

I think that putting some responsibility for security on the user is a good idea. All too often users are lax with security and don't realise the impact that has, say when their credentials are used to access a system illegally because they used the password "password", or poor security on their own PC sees it become part of a botnet. If you don't take security seriously when dealing with cryptocurrency then you can be taught a very personal and expensive lesson in no time at all.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#48

The problem that proof-of-work blockchain solves is widely misunderstood. It uses proof-of-work to establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique. Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem and for that reason it is a significant advance in technology. I wouldn't call it crappy, it's actually quite brilliant. For a detailed description see this: https:…

It’s very interesting as a matter of pure technology. I’m just not sure it’s that useful as a banking system.

Have to try it to find out. That's what we are doing right now.

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#49

The problem that proof-of-work blockchain solves is widely misunderstood. It uses proof-of-work to establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique. Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem and for that reason it is a significant advance in technology. I wouldn't call it crappy, it's actually quite brilliant. For a detailed description see this: https:…

> Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem what was the problem that this solved, exactly?

To "establish consensus over points in time which are universally unique"

Re: Systems built on trust, norms, and institutions function better than blockchain

#50
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Prior to the publication of Satoshi's paper we did not have a solution to this problem what was the problem that this solved, exactly?

there's literally a link in the comment. Show some effort please..

Imagine a few different personas, such as investment banker, retail store owner, and soccer mom. Then complete the following sentence: I need a decentralized time ordered log so that I can ...
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