Ah! So That’s What Proof-Of-Work Is.
Blockchain’s concept, Proof-of-Work, can be easily understood using the game of Telephone and solving a Rubik's Cube.
Proof-Of-Work is at it’s most basic level computers all around the world sending messages to each other while working to solve really complex problems like a Rubik's Cube.
If you solve the Rubik's Cube, you get awarded crypto. To win the game of telephone, the first whispered message should not change.
Understanding this is more important than understanding 8th grade Algebra. In Algebra class, you didn’t get paid.
With Proof-Of-Work, you could get Bitcoin or Ethereum, for now.
Why should you care about Proof-Of-Work?
Nearly every system in the future will rely on methods using computers and algorithms. It may seem impossible today, but governments, law, real estate, schools, and banks of the future will be driven by the next evolution of Proof-Of-Work so we can maintain a balanced and fair society.
Even someone who lives in a country with a corrupt government or banking system with an internet connection can get rewarded cryptocurrency by validating transactions, making it an incredible system to get out of poverty.
While Proof-Of-Work was great for the last decade and for the first wave of decentralized networks, it no longer can continue if we are to expand the network for the hundreds of new blockchains and solve Climate Change.
Proof-Of-Work means we’re adding a massive amount of heat to the world because it takes a massive amount of electricity and time to solve these problems. This is the last thing we want for the next generation on Earth.
For now though, it’s solving corruption and rewards people like you for making blockchain a safe place without the need for centralized banks or government.
Explained Simply: The Game of Telephone & Rubik's Cubes as Proof-Of-Work
The game of telephone is a simple game where someone whispers a secret message to you and you whisper it to someone else. The other person whispers it to another person, and so on.
The last person compares the message to what the first person said. If they are the same, then everyone wins the game. The bigger the circle, the bigger the chance of losing.
What’s the problem?
Things get lost in translation. Nobody checks to make sure that your message stays the same.
In blockchain, Proof-of-Work makes it so losing the game would be extremely difficult. The more players that are involved, the harder it is to lose.
Every time a “secret” is whispered, everyone who heard the secret before ensures the secret hasn’t been changed. Each person would pass the message on, and then confirms with the other people playing that they got the same message.
Remember, Proof-Of-Work is a chain of blocks solving complex math problems. A group of people who we call Miners, sit in a circle like the game of telephone each is holding a Rubik's Cube.
Whichever Miner solves the Rubik's cube is awarded cryptocurrency. Once solved, that cube can’t be changed and the next Rubik’s cube begins to be solved.
Conclusion
What Proof-of-Work allows is for every computer in the blockchain to come to an agreement that all “Rubik's Cubes” (blocks) match at any time in the past or present.
Proof-Of-Work will likely be replaced on all new blockchains with less power intensive solutions like a combination of Proof-Of-Stake and Proof-Of-Authority.
You can earn cryptocurrency with a high end computer using Proof-Of-Work to solve these problems but you might want to look into Proof-Of-Stake and other methods since it’s the future of most blockchains and solves for Climate Change and speed while maintaining the trustless system.
Next time you hear someone mention Proof-Of-Work just imagine the game of telephone with each person in a circle holding a Rubik's Cube, if you’re sitting in that circle passing messages and solving those Cubes, you get rewarded crypto for helping keep the system open and decentralized.
Thank you for introducing me to Layer 3 ❤ flowcity.eth @garretthoyos twitter