3 ms·

Unfortunately it's simply not something that can be explained easily and clearly. Imagine trying to explain the Internet to someone who has never seen a compute

Unfortunately it's simply not something that can be explained easily and clearly. Imagine trying to explain the Internet to someone who has never seen a computer. This is actually a sign that something innovative is happening, because it can't be explained in terms of something that already exists.

SilasX 9y ago
I hear that on every topic and have never found it justified. A high level explanation can illustrate the general structure of what you're explaining and then you can paint in details as necessary. It's always possible to find an "in between". When I wrote understandingbitcoin.us, I explained it as a global ledger with mutiple versions floating around where everyone agrees to trust the version (out of the valid ones) with the most proven work invested in it. That provides the overall structure and allows me to dive into: - How you sign transactions (public key crypto basics) - How you know how much work has been invested in something (the guessing game and the crypto version with hashes and nonces) - Why people invest work in it all (mining and transaction fees). - Why people agree to follow these rules at all (dynamics that encourage people to follow vs reject a protocol and what effects that has for the network) (I would like to see something similar for ethereum.) If I were explaining the internet to someone in your example, I would explain what functions computers can perform, then introduce the concept of them communicating with each other and what that allows, and the flesh out the details of how the communication happens in a distributed way. (The linked page also doesn't provide that kind of explanation.)
- RexetBlell 9y ago
  This is probably the best relatively quick explanation: https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4 https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4
  - SilasX 9y ago
    For me, a "relatively quick explanation" is one that I can read in five minutes, skipping around easily if I already understand part of it, and which points me to the appropriate concepts that I can research for deeper understanding. Not one where I have to watch a 3 minute ad and a 23 minute video of someone reading off slides.
- DennisP 9y ago
  All of that is the same on Ethereum. But where Bitcoin has a table with "userid,balance" and a stored procedure that lets you move some of your balance to any other user, on Ethereum you have developer rights. Aside from the core ledger, you can make your own tables, and your own stored procedures that anyone else can use. This isn't a precise analogy for various reasons. Bitcoin has the UTXO model (though Ethereum actually does have userid/balance), and Ethereum is more like an object database than SQL.

SilasX 9y ago

I hear that on every topic and have never found it justified. A high level explanation can illustrate the general structure of what you're explaining and then you can paint in details as necessary. It's always possible to find an "in between". When I wrote understandingbitcoin.us, I explained it as a global ledger with mutiple versions floating around where everyone agrees to trust the version (out of the valid ones) with the most proven work invested in it. That provides the overall structure and allows me to dive into: - How you sign transactions (public key crypto basics) - How you know how much work has been invested in something (the guessing game and the crypto version with hashes and nonces) - Why people invest work in it all (mining and transaction fees). - Why people agree to follow these rules at all (dynamics that encourage people to follow vs reject a protocol and what effects that has for the network) (I would like to see something similar for ethereum.) If I were explaining the internet to someone in your example, I would explain what functions computers can perform, then introduce the concept of them communicating with each other and what that allows, and the flesh out the details of how the communication happens in a distributed way. (The linked page also doesn't provide that kind of explanation.)

RexetBlell 9y ago
This is probably the best relatively quick explanation: https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4 https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4
- SilasX 9y ago
  For me, a "relatively quick explanation" is one that I can read in five minutes, skipping around easily if I already understand part of it, and which points me to the appropriate concepts that I can research for deeper understanding. Not one where I have to watch a 3 minute ad and a 23 minute video of someone reading off slides.
DennisP 9y ago
All of that is the same on Ethereum. But where Bitcoin has a table with "userid,balance" and a stored procedure that lets you move some of your balance to any other user, on Ethereum you have developer rights. Aside from the core ledger, you can make your own tables, and your own stored procedures that anyone else can use. This isn't a precise analogy for various reasons. Bitcoin has the UTXO model (though Ethereum actually does have userid/balance), and Ethereum is more like an object database than SQL.