A better description of "blockchain": mechanical clock
Original title: "blockchains-and-the-evolution-of-mechanical-time"
Author: Tony Little
Translation & proofreading: ;Min Min& A Jian
When those with a business background ask you "what is a blockchain", you might as well point to your watch. To understand blockchain, people often draw an analogy to the Internet - but I think it's best said that blockchain is the next stage in the evolution of mechanical clocks.
The clock is to time, just like the blockchain is to data! Before getting into that, let’s take a look at what mechanical clocks bring to the economy, and how blockchain can propel mechanical clocks to the next level.
Fundamentally, a clock is an intermediary that allows everyone to agree on an increment of time. We trust the clock. Imagine what human life was like before we could measure time in a reliable way. Before the invention of clocks, the most reliable markers of time that nature gave us were the rooster, the highest point of the day for the sun, and sunset. Each sign will change according to the position and viewpoint of people.
The mechanical clock opened up new ways for us to manage trade, freeing us from geography, production and transportation, and fundamentally changing the way we do business .
As long as the participants share the same clock, they all agree that the same source of information broadcasts to them changes in time, for example, the entry into force and termination of business contracts date, or the date of shipment and arrival of the goods. Ultimately, shared clocks could enable global economic collaboration. When the clock was first born, who could have imagined what new markets it would create?
Blockchain is also an intermediary that allows distrustful participants to reach consensus on data. Before the blockchain was invented, data silos, expensive and unreliable interfaces, and asymmetric data organization models together formed the most reliable database. But the content and structure of the sources people trust varies, and so does the "truth" they derive.
Blockchain promises to open up new ways of doing business and trade and fundamentally change markets. If participants share the same blockchain, it means that they recognize the same data source that cannot be tampered with, which can greatly reduce the cost of verification (asset relationship), that is, verifying who holds the asset or whether it meets specific contract conditions cost. The blockchain provides a digital view of the past that all participants can quickly view at a fraction of the cost, without asking what "version" other participants in the network see. Now, everyone is thinking hard about what new markets blockchain can bring.
A mechanical clock does not store past data, it only represents the present. Blockchain does not represent the present, but aggregates data from the past. In order for the state of a certain data to be recognized by a chain, it is necessary to go through a consensus process of postponing data writing (this is like in a conference room, a group of auditors are reviewing multiple ledgers, and then creating a master ledger) , however, once the data is written, each participant can verify whether the past data has been tampered with through complex mathematical formulas (cryptography). Like a well-functioning blockchain, mechanical clocks are actually highly decentralized (i.e., there are many people providing accurate time; in addition, people also run their own timers).
Another point that may confuse blockchain beginners Yes, the difference between public and private chains. The difference between the two mainly lies in the restrictions on network participants, which is also similar to mechanical clocks.
An open (permission-free/public) network is open to all and uses cryptocurrency as a reward to incentivize those involved in keeping the network secure. Ironically, the less participants trust each other, the more secure the data will be, as each participant works to ensure that there are no "bad actors" in the network. With a mechanical clock, trust is easily established among the participants, since the final arbiter of truth is the designer of the master clock, approved by all participants. If you're running late for an important meeting, you'll feel the organizational power created around a mechanical clock.
Closed (permissioned) networks are somewhat embarrassing and more usable these days. Imagine if you created your own "time" construct and tried to get a group of people to use it. Since the common practice is to use traditional business contracts to "artificially establish trust" between participants, if these contracts are not written in correct code and put on the network so that all participants can understand the relationship, they cannot be compared with traditional business contracts. Competition creates friction. Those trying to create a more centralized blockchain model often find that blockchain is not that useful because of privacy concerns (eg, in healthcare) unless they can create the right set of incentives. Again, the same goes for mechanical clocks, and if you can't agree on the current time cheaply, it might be cheaper to hire an intermediary to inform everyone of the meeting time (imagine those who ride fast horses to and from kingdoms to send Messenger of invitations to the prom).
Just like someone who wears a watch occasionally checks the time with the master clock, I believe people will refer to a large, trusted blockchain in the future to improve The level of trust, even if it's just a fingerprint (hash) of data that is regularly uploaded by a private chain to a public network (such as Ethereum) (also contributes to the level of trust).
So, when you think about how to describe a blockchain, give me a try. Remember to wear a watch.
If you have any ideas, welcome to share with me.
Many thanks to Will and Conrad for their contributions to this article.
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