31–40 of 128 posts
Does this mean that the second block from a random point in time is, on average, 20 minutes away? Anyone know what the longest wait time on a block in recent history was? Final question -- do large mining operations network their miners so that they don't overlap their hashes. I'm thinking the overhead in doing that would probably be counter-productive given the massive problem space. But, if they were networked that…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is like a common core math problem. Poorly worded to the point of obscuring any real math talent that could be applied in finding a “correct” result, and instead we get to debate what the question means . A more interesting question, I think, is given a POW algorithm which adjusts difficultly to target a 10 minute block rate, and assuming network hash rate is constant and propagation is instant, what percentage…
Can you explain the multiple meanings you see in the question?
* If I choose a time uniformly what is the expected time it will take to mine that particular block.
The difference between them being that blocks that take a long time occupy more space on the timeline than shorter blocks and are therefore more likely to be chosen.
TLDR: Since blocks that take a long time to mine fill up more wall-clock time, if you pick an arbitrary instant of wall clock time, you're more likely to be in a "slow" block than a fast block. Specifically, you expect to wait 2x the average.
Still, kudos to the OP. That was a great attempt to be precise.
TLDR: Since blocks that take a long time to mine fill up more wall-clock time, if you pick an arbitrary instant of wall clock time, you're more likely to be in a "slow" block than a fast block. Specifically, you expect to wait 2x the average.
Thanks. Why can't all math teachers talk like that? I mean... I know you're clever and all, but if you were really clever you'd explain it in a way that's easy to understand. Still, kudos to the OP. That was a great attempt to be precise.
This is why I like block times of 2.5 minutes that Litecoin does. Rarely the block takes over 4 minutes. So even if it takes a couple of blocks, it's still within 10 minutes. Even 5 minutes a block would be better than bitcoin's 10. With bitcoin, if you put a reasonable fee, but your transaction doesn't make the next block, it can take more than an hour, which makes impractical certain transaction types like online s…
Stackexchange has a good discussion on the topic:
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1863/why-was-the...
TLDR: Since blocks that take a long time to mine fill up more wall-clock time, if you pick an arbitrary instant of wall clock time, you're more likely to be in a "slow" block than a fast block. Specifically, you expect to wait 2x the average.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks. Why can't all math teachers talk like that? I mean... I know you're clever and all, but if you were really clever you'd explain it in a way that's easy to understand. Still, kudos to the OP. That was a great attempt to be precise.
Understanding is one thing, explaining in layman or easy to undertand terms is another, and sometimes it takes a lot of effort.
The article on the "hitchhiker's paradox" that this links to made this much more clear to me (as well as being shorter): https://the8layers.com/2016/10/30/how-long-will-you-wait-hit...
This reminds me of headwinds in airplanes. You might think that on average, wind cancels out. Sometimes you have a tailwind, sometimes you have a headwind and over time it will all average out. This is not the case. On average, wind reduces your groundspeed. The short of it is you spend more time in a headwind, so you spend more time experiencing the bad than good. There's also the fact that even a direct crosswind s…
The article on the "hitchhiker's paradox" that this links to made this much more clear to me (as well as being shorter): https://the8layers.com/2016/10/30/how-long-will-you-wait-hit...
This reminds me of headwinds in airplanes. You might think that on average, wind cancels out. Sometimes you have a tailwind, sometimes you have a headwind and over time it will all average out. This is not the case. On average, wind reduces your groundspeed. The short of it is you spend more time in a headwind, so you spend more time experiencing the bad than good. There's also the fact that even a direct crosswind s…
An interesting related fact is that with equal distance traveled through headwinds and tailwinds a slower plane will be relatively more affected. From ~12% longer time with a wind speed 1/3rd plane speed down to ~1% with a wind speed 1/10th plane speed.