Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional stories - How to decipher blockchain in the easiest way?

How to decipher blockchain in the easiest way?

Everyone hears the word blockchain every day these days, so what is blockchain? "Distributed, difficult to tamper with, consistent storage" and other explanations are too technical and dry. I'm here to popularize the popular science: blockchain is mainly to solve the trust problem between individuals who do not trust each other.

To give you a common example: say Lao Li and Lao Wang a village, Lao Li recently a little tight, want to borrow some money from Lao Wang. The old king, worried about borrowing the old Lee after he reneged on how to do, so find the "respected" village chief, but think about it, the village chief is not trustworthy, before the village chief also stole someone else's home groundnut ah! The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty.

The blockchain method is: Lao Wang borrowed 1,000 yuan to Lao Li, and then used the loud speaker in the village shouted "I Lao Wang borrowed 1,000 yuan Lao Li, everyone hurry to record," so everyone in the village recorded in their own home account book, discreetly kept up. This is good, Lao Li can no longer rely on the village, even if there are not trustworthy people, that is still a lot of good people ah, Lao Li can not find all the people in the village to secretly erase their own borrowed money records. In this way, the blockchain solves the trust problem between Wang and Li, who don't trust each other.

Before the blockchain, how did we solve the trust problem between individuals who didn't trust each other? It's easy to find "respected" witnesses that both individuals trust, such as the mayor in the story, or an Alipay payment gateway between buyers and sellers, or a notary public, etc. However, it's possible that such "witnesses" may not be the same as those in the story. However, these "witnesses" may not always be honest, so the blockchain simply lets everyone act as a witness.

Wang is relieved, but Li has a headache! Li had to wait for the village people to record before he could get the money lent to him, and there is no one in the family who is slow. So at present the blockchain is still a certain distance from the application, the efficiency problem needs to be greatly improved to be able to.

Think back, you usually how to deal with others: a beautiful clothes, you can pick a good in the physical store, confirmed that the other side of the clothes quality is good, the other side to confirm that your money is real money, then we face-to-face one hand to pay one hand to take goods.

If we are separated by a hundred thousand and eighty thousand miles, neither know nor trust each other or want to trade? Then we have to have a third party we all trust, that is, to reach the so-called **** knowledge mechanism. For example: you can Taobao through the third party to witness the completion of the transaction, the money first to Alipay - Alipay payment to let the seller delivery - seller delivery - you confirm receipt of goods --Alipay then gives the money to the seller.

But what if this centralized institution is evil, and Papa Ma tears up the books, doesn't recognize that you gave money, or joins forces with the seller to cheat you out of your money?

Or the government lent you a million dollars, and finally returned the money to you by overissuing it, and the million dollars shrunk to 10,000, and you suffered the loss of inflation, so what do you do?

Is there any third party that is not controlled by any government or organization, that can complete the arbitration openly and transparently, that is not tampered with when it is recorded, and that has no risk of running away?

Don't worry, our protagonist blockchain technology to solve is such a problem - the transaction between you can be witnessed by all the people in this blockchain system, everyone's small ledger will record your transactions. B if you deny receiving A's money, or A said that he borrowed 300 dollars, will be passers-by! A B C D questioned. How exactly is this done?

1) The system gives everyone a small ledger, so that everyone has the right to keep track of their accounts, which we call distributed bookkeeping.

2) In order to encourage people to help others keep score, the system code is set to Bitcoin so that the token reward to the bookkeeper, in order to prevent a bunch of people to keep score of the blocked, but also will be set to a limited number of tokens, a B, B, C, D need to be calculated through the system's prescribed mechanism, the fastest and best to get the right to keep score, after the record through the system to broadcast to all people, all the people copied a copy of the same book, this process of getting rewarded by calculating is the best. This process of obtaining rewards through the calculation is called mining, bookkeeping passers-by A, B, C and D are miners.

3) One day, the initial record of the transaction of the A Game Over, but the book still exists in other people's books, A and B who want to deny can not. We call a direct peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction that is written in code on how to arbitrate and distribute without the need for a centralized organization such as a bank, government, or corporation to act as a third-party witness (decentralization), decentralization.

4) The system packages multiple transactions into blocks, which are linked in chronological order to become a final manual ledger, which is blockchain technology

In fact, the blockchain is simply understood as a ledger, but it is the most superficial interpretation, and each of its features is broken down, and there are many, many areas of application.

Now the traditional financial industry, brokerage firms, investment institutions are running into the field, the Internet of Things, games, storage, copyright, anti-counterfeiting, credit, payment, prediction market (gambling and so on), community and many other areas have begun to explore the application of blockchain.

The Internet has made it possible to connect everything, but can blockchain make it possible to connect everything?

I use the natural transportation of heaven and earth to explain the blockchain:

All science, philosophy, morality? Heaven and earth are all encompassed. Any thing, any culture is related to the Taoization of heaven and earth.

Blockchain naturally cannot escape the law of heaven and earth's transportation: i.e., Shun Ran, Sui Ran, Infinity, and Impermanence.

It is this strange stone, whose surface overall data transportation, first, the whole toward the formless and unimaginative. Two, the lines and points keep a law: that is, the way of impermanence. That is to say that they each line, each point, the pursuit of not a closed goal and a limited purpose. This way we can understand: a painter to paint a chicken, there is a purpose, there is the end of the phase, while the strange stone, when nature created, there is no end of the phase. So the phase is not closed, and the line and point data are not closed. The technology of block connection is this way of heavenly transportation. Impermanent transportation is formless and never ending. (Uncenteredness, that is, formlessness, form is not closed, structure is not closed, thought is not closed? As "stone" work on the line).

Shandong Qufu Confucius Spirit Stone Museum

Hello everyone, I'm PiPi, I'm here to use a few small examples of life to give you an explanation of what is called blockchain?

Decentralized, non-tampering level, distributed storage, with encrypted information as the link address of the data block chain system, called blockchain

This thing is supposed to be a lot of high-tech composite products, can not be simple, and then again simple is a big paragraph, and may not be able to say

Blockchain (Blockchain) strict definition refers to the block chain through the cryptography based on the design of the ****. Cryptography-based *** knowledge mechanism designed in a peer-to-peer network of multiple nodes *** with the maintenance of a continuously growing, timestamped and orderly record of data blocks constructed by the chain list ledger distributed database technology. The technical program allows any number of nodes participating in the system, the system for a period of time all the information exchanged by cryptographic algorithms to calculate and record the data to a data block (block), and generate the fingerprints of the data block for linking (chain) the next data block and verification, all participating nodes of the system to *** with the determination of the record is true or not.

Blockchain is a technology solution similar to NoSQL (non-relational databases), not a specific technology, and can be implemented in many programming languages and architectures. There are many ways to implement blockchain, including POW (Proof of Work), POS (Proof of Stake), DPOS (Delegate Proof of Stake), and so on.

The concept of blockchain was first introduced in the paper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, by the individual (or group) calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin can therefore be viewed as the first application of the blockchain in the field of financial payments.

A layman's explanation

No matter how big a system or how small a website is, there is usually a database behind it. Who maintains this database? In general, who is responsible for operating the network or system, then who will be maintained. If it is WeChat database is certainly Tencent team maintenance, Taobao database is Ali's team in the maintenance. People must think that this way is natural, but blockchain technology is not so.

If we imagine the database as a ledger: Alipay, for example, is a very typical ledger, and any change in the data is bookkeeping type. Database maintenance we can think of as very simple bookkeeping. In the blockchain world as well, everyone in the blockchain system has the opportunity to participate in bookkeeping. The system will select the fastest and best bookkeeper for a certain period of time, which may be ten seconds or ten minutes, and this person will keep the books, and he will record the changes of the database and the books during this period of time in a block, which can be thought of as a page of paper, and the system, after confirming that it is correctly recorded, will link the fingerprints of the past books to this piece of paper, and then put them on the block of paper. After confirming that the record is correct, the system will link (chain) the data fingerprints of the past ledger to this piece of paper, and then send this piece of paper to all the other people in the whole system. Then week after week, the system will look for the next fast and good bookkeeper, and everyone else in the system will get a copy of the entire book. This also means that everyone in the system has the exact same ledger, a technology that we call Blockchain, also known as distributed ledger technology.

Since each person (computer) has an identical ledger, and each person (computer) has exactly equal rights, the whole system will not collapse if a single person (computer) loses contact or goes down. Since there is an identical ledger, it means that all the data is open and transparent, and everyone can see exactly what numbers have changed on each account. The very interesting feature of it is that the data in it cannot be tampered with. This is because the system automatically compares them and will consider the account with the highest number of the same to be the real one, and a small number of accounts that do not have the same number as others to be the false ones. In this case, it doesn't make any sense for anyone to tamper with their ledger, because unless you can tamper with most of the nodes inside the entire system. It might be easy to do if there are only five or ten nodes in the whole system, but if there are tens or even hundreds of thousands of nodes, and they're spread all over the Internet, it's unlikely that someone can tamper with such a large blockchain unless they have control over most of the computers in the world.

Elements

Combined with the definition of blockchain, we believe that it must have the following four elements to be called a public blockchain technology, and if it only has the first 3 elements, we will consider it a private blockchain technology (private chain).

1, peer-to-peer peer-to-peer network (power reciprocity, physical peer-to-peer connection)

2, verifiable data structure (verifiable PKC system, non-tamperable database)

3, distributed *** knowledge mechanism (solve the problem of Byzantine generals, solve the problem of double payment)

4, Nash equilibrium game design (cooperation is an evolutionarily stable strategy)

Characteristics

Combined with the definition that defines blockchain, blockchain will realistically come up with four main characteristics: decentralized (Decentralized), de-trusted (Trustless), collectively maintained (Collectively maintained), and reliable database (Reliable Database ). And from the four characteristics will lead to another two characteristics: open source (Open Source), privacy protection (Anonymity). If a system does not have these characteristics, it cannot be considered an application based on blockchain technology.

Decentralized: the entire network has no centralized hardware or management institutions, the rights and obligations between any nodes are equal, and the damage or loss of any node will not affect the operation of the entire system. Therefore, it can also be considered that the blockchain system has excellent robustness.

Trustless: Each node participating in the system does not need to trust each other to exchange data, the operating rules of the system are open and transparent, and all the data content is also public, so in the system's specified range of rules and within the timeframe, nodes can not and can not deceive other nodes.

Collectively maintain: The data blocks in the system are maintained by all the nodes in the system that have the function of maintenance, and these nodes have the function of maintenance, and anyone can participate in them.

Reliable Database: The entire system will be subdivided into databases so that each participating node has access to a copy of the complete database. Unless it is possible to control more than 51% of the nodes in the entire system at the same time, changes to the database on a single node are invalid and cannot affect the content of the data on other nodes. Therefore, the more nodes and computing power that are involved in a system, the more secure the data is in that system.

Open Source: Since the rules of operation of the entire system must be open and transparent, the entire system must be open source for the program.

Anonymity: Since nodes and nodes do not need to trust each other, there is no need to disclose the identity of nodes and nodes, and the privacy of each participating node in the system is protected.

One of the significance of blockchain: solving the problem of Byzantine generals

The core problem that blockchain solves is not digital currency, but how to establish a trust ecosystem to meet the needs of economic activities in an asymmetric and uncertain information environment. "ecosystem. This problem is called the "Byzantine general problem", also can be called "Byzantine fault tolerance" or "two armies problem", this is a distributed system of information machine interaction when faced with the difficult problem, that is, in the entire network of the information machine interaction. This is the challenge of creating a *** knowledge base for secure information interaction in a distributed system without fear of data tampering when no node in the entire network can trust the other party with whom it is communicating. Blockchain uses an algorithmic proof-of-concept mechanism to secure the entire network, with the help of which all nodes in the entire system can automatically and securely exchange data in a de-trusted environment. See Bitcoin and the Problem of the Byzantine General for a more detailed introduction.

Blockchain significance two: realize the transnational value transfer

At the beginning of the birth of the Internet, the earliest core to solve the problem of information manufacturing and transmission, we can quickly generate and copy the information through the Internet to every corner of the world with the network, but it is not yet able to solve the transfer of value and credit transfer. By value transfer, we mean the precise transfer of a certain amount of value from one address to another in a way that everyone in the network can recognize and acknowledge, and we must make sure that when the value is transferred, the original address reduces the amount transferred, and the new address increases the amount of value transferred. The value can be a monetary asset, a physical asset or a virtual asset (including securities, financial derivatives, etc.). The result of this operation must be recognized by all parties involved, and the result cannot be manipulated by any one party.

There are a variety of financial systems on the Internet today, as well as many payment systems provided by government banks or third parties, but it still relies on a centralized solution. The so-called centralized solution is to put all the value transfer calculations in a central server (cluster) through a certain company or government credit as an endorsement, and even though all the calculations are also done automatically by the program, it is necessary to trust this centralized person or institution. In fact the solution through a centralized credit endorsement can only limit the credit to a certain institution, region or country. This shows that there is this fundamental problem that must be solved, and that is credit. So the core issue of value transfer is transnational credit *** knowledge.

In such a complex global system, it is very difficult to establish a global credit *** knowledge system out of thin air, due to the political, economic and cultural situation of each country is different, for the two countries of the enterprise and the government to completely trust each other is almost impossible to do, which means that no matter whether it is to the individual or the enterprise government's credit to endorse the value of the cross-border exchange, even if it can be completed, there is a huge amount of time and money, but also a lot of time and money. This means that even if the exchange of value between countries can be accomplished, it will have huge time and economic costs. However, in the long history of mankind, no matter how different the religions, politics, and cultures of each country are, the only thing that has been able to achieve **** knowledge is mathematics (basic science). Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that mathematics (algorithms) is the greatest common denominator of global civilization and the basis for global mankind to acquire the most **** knowledge. If we use mathematical algorithms (programs) as an endorsement, all the rules are based on an open and transparent mathematical algorithm (program), which is able to allow all the different political and cultural backgrounds of the population to obtain **** literacy.

The Future

The Internet will enable ever closer interactions across the globe, and with that comes a huge trust gap. Currently existing mainstream database technology architecture are private and centralized, on this architecture is never able to solve the problem of value transfer and mutual trust. So blockchain technology is likely to become the next generation of database architecture. Through decentralized technology, it will be able to complete the huge progress of mathematical (algorithmic) endorsement and global mutual trust on the basis of big data.

Blockchain technology as a specific distributed access to data technology, it is through the network of multiple nodes involved in the calculation of open **** the same involved in the calculation and recording of data, and each other to verify the validity of their information (anti-counterfeiting). From this point of view, blockchain technology is also a specific database technology. The Internet has just entered the era of big data, but from the current point of view, big data is still at a very basic stage. But when it enters the blockchain database stage, it will enter the real era of big data with strong trust backing. All of the data in it gains impenetrable quality that no one has the ability or need to question.

Perhaps we are now on top of a major tipping point - the early stages of a major turnaround almost identical to the profound changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. More surprises may lie ahead of us than just the exponential, digital and combinatorial advancement and transformation of new technologies. In the next 24 months, the planet will grow more computer power and record more data than all of history combined. In the last 24 months, this increase in value may have exceeded 1,000 times. This digitized data and information is still growing faster than Moore's Law. Blockchain technology will not only be used in the financial payment field, but will be extended to all current applications, such as decentralized microblogging, WeChat, searching, renting an apartment, and even taxi software may appear. Because blockchain will allow humans to collaborate on a large scale in a geographically unrestricted, de-trusted way.

Blockchain is a technology that generates many applications based on this technology, including all industry businesses related to data and information, and Bitcoin is one of the most well-known applications. The common explanation for blockchain is that if you buy a lipstick online, first find the desired product and seller to place an order, first give the money to the intermediary platform, wait for the seller to ship the buyer to confirm receipt, the intermediary platform and then transfer the money to the seller, because of the trust problem between the buyer and seller rely on the intermediary platform, and the blockchain as a decentralized distributed ledger database, it is focusing on the removal of this intermediary platform but at the same time, it also solves the trust problem. solving the trust problem. In the blockchain, each person has his own ledger, which is used to record everything that happens. If there is a seller's behavior of taking money and not delivering goods in a transaction, this record will exist permanently and cannot be modified, and there is no need to exchange information with each other. The world of the blockchain will choose to record the fastest and highest quality of that person's ledger at the same time node for copying, sending, and stringing, and then finally the more and more thickly stacked to form the block.

When we talk about virtual currencies, we often can't get away from the concept of blockchain, so the blockchain in the end is a god thing?

Blockchain is an underlying technology, essentially a decentralized distributed ledger database. It sounds like it's very high-end and out of reach, but it's actually quite easy to understand.

For example, if you want to buy goods on Taobao, the first thing you need to do is to open Taobao, find the goods you want, and place an order to pay the money to Taobao as the intermediary of the transaction. The first thing that you need to do is to find the goods you want and pay the money to Taobao as the intermediary of the transaction. This is just a transaction between me and the seller, but there is an additional "center", namely Taobao.

During the course of the transaction, the "center" has unlimited power, and can even change the bill at will. As a result, the "center" often needs a strong backend to back it up.

So, a man named Satoshi Nakamoto wanted to kill this center of infinite power, and he wanted to create a decentralized system in which everyone was the center and had the power to keep track of the money. So he created Bitcoin.

In Bitcoin's system, everyone has a small ledger to record every transaction that occurs. A transaction is only valid if it is confirmed by a majority of people. If the seller doesn't ship the goods, then everyone's little ledger records the event so that he has nowhere to go.

At this point you may wonder why it's called a blockchain when it's just a public ledger. This involves a *** knowledge problem, the blockchain system is a system of many "centers", the entire blockchain belongs to all the individuals involved in the bookkeeping. This creates a new problem, a system must have order in order to exist in the long run. If the bookkeepers can do whatever they want regardless of the cost, then it is possible to buy a cell phone and receive a Tesla.

So Satoshi Nakamoto invented a ****-aware approach called PoW. This way to increase the cost of bookkeeping, so that it can not easily evil. PoW through the cryptographic way to require the bookkeeper needs to compete for computing power to obtain the right to book, the first calculation of the results of the bookkeeper can be obtained by a number of transactions packaged from the block of the right to book, and at the same time to obtain a certain amount of tokens as a reward. This is commonly known as "mining".

Since the bookkeeper has recorded a block containing a number of transactions, the system needs to be organized and sorted, and it is not possible to have a large number of blocks distributed haphazardly in the system. So there is a need to link all the blocks in chronological order first and last link link up, at this point, the blockchain was born. The core of the blockchain is technology.