3 ms·
Proof of work = waste electricity. Basically, we are incentivizing people to waste electricity. The proof of work is basically proving you wasted electricity d
by RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
Proof of work = waste electricity.
Basically, we are incentivizing people to waste electricity. The proof of work is basically proving you wasted electricity doing something useless.
While I appreciate the goals behind this, I think proof of work is unethical in our current energy situation.
- pikrzyszto 3y agoOther captchas also waste (your and captchas' provider) electricity. For example reCaptcha requires tons of resources to track your moves to ensuring you're "not a robot". Sure, the data is also used to serve you ads but resources are still wasted.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y agoBut as efficiency improves, the electricity usage goes down. With proof of work, as efficiency increases, the work increases to keep on wasting the same electricity. If electricity prices drop, the work increases to waste more electricity to keep the attack expensive enough.
- manmal 3y agoDo you think this needs more electricity than the whole recaptcha cloud? I seriously doubt it. My laptop would waste something like 0.006 watt hours per proof (0.5 seconds at 40 watt). Also, per the default setting, the proof complexity is lowered to almost zero when the server is at normal load.
- sn0wleppard 3y agoobviously not because no-one's using it yet - how much energy do you think it would waste if it completely replaced recaptcha?
- manmal 3y agoMy guess is that mcaptcha reduces energy consumption by an order of magnitude when compared with recaptcha. But could be wrong of course. It also saves human productivity.
- fruitreunion1 3y agoWhen the alternative is sacrificing privacy or anonymity, I think it's at least useful, even if not ideal given the current energy situation.
- codetrotter 3y ago> proof of work is unethical in our current energy situation Stop generating electricity using coal etc. Generate electricity only from: - Solar - Wind - Hydro - Nuclear And other non-fossil sources. Using fossil sources for electricity is unethical, full stop. Doesn’t matter if you are using the electricity for PoW, or for baking cookies or for feeding kittens, or what-have-you. Fossil energy is the problem. Not PoW.
- speedgoose 3y agoI would say they are both a problem.
- xigoi 3y agoYes, so as long as coal is going used to generats electricity, wasting electricity is unethical.
- kaba0 3y agoThe cost of this kind of proof of work is several orders of magnitude smaller than crypto's, so frankly, it is a drop in an ocean. Do you use your phone on minimum brightness at all times? If not, you are also wasting electricity..
- dontupvoteme 3y agoPrivacy is worth the cost.