>Ethereum is a single core global virtual computer with much less power than a typical Raspberry Pi that is available to anyone with access to an internet All

>Ethereum is a single core global virtual computer with much less power than a typical Raspberry Pi that is available to anyone with access to an internet All analogies are incomplete and imperfect but I'd say a more accurate mental model would be something like this: Ethereum is like a global database _with_ stored procedures. With this analogy, the database component would map to the blockchain : https://ycharts.com/indicators/ethereum_chain_full_sync_data_size https://ycharts.com/indicators/ethereum_chain_full_sync_data... The stored procedure language would map to the Ethereum programming language Solidity. Computers worldwide run stored procedures to decide how to write the next block(s) in the database. (Consensus.) Embedded in the above is the collective psychology and incentives that attract humans to do the above activity. (aka Proof-of-Work). To see how simple explanations of Ethereum can leave out the mass psychology aspect, consider another example of an incomplete analogy: The Reddit Place experiment of 2017 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_(Reddit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_(Reddit) ) video of the pixels evolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnRCZK3KjUY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnRCZK3KjUY We could say that Reddit Place 1000x1000 art canvas is a worldwide "Adobe Photoshop" that runs slower than a 1990s 486 computer ... which is sort of true... but doesn't really explain the whole phenomenon.