Words on Blockchain - some beginner's thoughts
At the weekend I felt the urge to know a bit more about blockchain, so I did some googling. I wanted to get beyond the impression I got back in the summer, which was more or less that blockchain was so revolutionary, so outstandingly technically innovative, that it would enable you to connect to the internet without a computer.
I found this meaty quote:
Given that bitcoin and blockchain is at the crossroads of game theory, cryptography, data networking, and monetary theory, a proper understanding of the subject is in fact quite rare.
Pregnant with meaning, from http://www.coindesk.com/2017-will-prove-blockchain-bad-idea/
Eventually I noticed, English teacher that I am, that the author had made a typo: bitcoin AND blockchain IS. That's a plural, right? It should be are, surely?
But then I read the comments to the article and read someone dismissively calling the writer a bitcoin maximalist, to whom bitcoin and the blockchain were more or less the same thing, or at least they should be, and all the hype about altcoins and stuff was just that, hype. I had learned a little, about the human aspects of this software.
A small branch
As part of my googling around I started to see language that seemed vaguely familiar: I searched for
git as a blockchain
and this was not a wildly uninformed search, people had thought and written about just this.
And this is what I think I learnt:
Although in many ways git is similar to a blockchain, it is not a blockchain, and certainly not The Blockchain, because in git branching is a Good Thing, but in a blockchain it is a Bad Thing, if not a Very Bad Thing.
This is interesting, to me, because it is again more about the language, the control of the definition, than the software itself.
Back to the quote.
Another point was that blockchain is about monetary theory. This point needs expanding: we often hear that cryptocurrencies are challenging the control of the banks and their fiat, but what about the control of the narrative? Saying that the value of a currency is a function of its scarcity is straight from the textbooks of monetarism, isn't that so? It doesn't have to be the case.
Here's an article from Evonomics http://evonomics.com/moneysupply/ Rapid growth in money supply does not cause inflation. This is not theory-based, but evidence-based. It's an interesting site.
So that's my beginnings of trying the think about a blockchain. One question I am left with is wouldn't it be a good idea if we could do:
--> steem blame
I'm sure it would stop a lot of arguing.
I hear you Dude;D~
I wrote a short piece, in my own very convoluted way, about my thoughts on Bitcoin and the Blockchain. Check it out;D~
https://steemit.com/til/@franks/til-fantastic-magical-blockchain-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-updated
I still don't have much of a clue about the whole blockchain concept. I'm basically a content writer who accidentally stumbled upon Steemit through a (non promotional) post on a friend's Facebook wall. I'm grateful to him for reducing my Facebook usage by about 75%, since then! Prior to that? My knowledge was "yeah, I've heard of Bitcoin and blockchain-- seems extremely techy."
Operation - @berniesanders - Negative Rep. Account
Dear Users,
I came back live because the abuse listed below is immoral. I will make something clear to all. I am not a bot, I use no auto codes, I do all manually, and I'm very good at everything I do, and put my hands on. You all sit around entertaining and supporting this evil person @berniesanders . You see how he does accounts in negative and treats them less than human. You see the way he bashes and abuses this blockchain and others. Those who support this immoral user who is a legend in his own mind and has won nothing, are now subject to the same tactics used before, with some new added since we want to go to another level of treating people unequal. I will come and fuck up every post painting it with truth and turning viewers and potential payers away, including new users. After all, I too am an artist. I see good people being misled, and clueless following as well. Post like this only aggravate situations, they never help. It's never good to go talking like that about others. So if you're as evil as he is, I'm coming for you. Now I made a promise to a friend to lay these accounts down for the benefit of a lot of things, and a lot of people. So, I now will show the world who is responsible for my quick return. @berniesanders is an immoral, evil, simple minded, heartless with his ways, human being. You want to fix a real life or blockchain problem, Take his ass out, and let the blockchain flourish. Take out the real trash. My flags and spam messages trying to have an equal voice never made me less than any of you. And we all well know, we see my messages as I go 1 by 1. So my friends, since this tyrannical person wants to continue to abuse others, I will remain on the server with all accounts live until @berniesanders is in the -negative reputation. I want him to know what it is like to be attacked into silence. We will see how he spams then to be heard. That is now the only cure for this virus created by abuse on humanity. Have a good day, keep smart ~ This Is A Call To Take Out The Real Trash ~ @berniesanders
Source:
https://steemit.com/abuse/@iloveupvotes/berniesanders-abuse-snapshot-s-compilation-loading
To those that disagree, flag away at me. It does not matter. Even at -100 I will have a voice.
These accounts used to fight are expendable and disposable. Only Fix Listed Above.
Sincerely, @iLoveUpvotes ~
Webwide (a.k.a.) EatinCrayons ~
These Messages & Flags Will Cease In Entirety When @berniesanders Account Is In The -Negative Reputation. Let Him Now Reap What He Has Sowed.
A Long the way I talk some shit yeah. Don't attack people if you don't want a bad reaction.