The revolution of money
When I first heard about Bitcoin, I thought it was just an electronic currency similar to Q coins. So I didn't delve into it either. Of course, it can be considered that I missed a great opportunity. Then in 16 years, I learned about some of the characteristics of Bitcoin from different channels and found that it was not a traditional electronic currency.
So what is the difference between Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, and traditional electronic money? Why is it revolutionary?
Our existing currency, even if it is completely electronic, only stores a string of numbers from you, and your bank account is nothing more than a string of numbers. Without oversight and trust constraints, your account balance can be easily manipulated. After all, they are just a string of numbers. Reproducible, deletable, tamperable.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are different. Your own coins can only be used by those who have the keys to them, so as long as you don't leak the keys to the coins, no one has the opportunity to use your money. When we say we own cryptocurrency, what you have is no longer a number, but a one The computer program that is running.
In the past, in order to facilitate carrying, we changed from the earliest gold, silver and copper to paper money, and then the paper money became electronic, these are only physical changes, and to cryptocurrencies, its fundamental nature has changed, he has become a running computer program. It is also because it is a running program that it is not replicable.
Cooperation and competition
The process of civilization is often accompanied by these two things, the first thing is to keep quarrelling, because we have to convince each other, some sages think that they understand the truth of the world, and then begin to convince the masses. The second thing is to keep fighting, and when you can't convince each other, you can only rely on fighting.
We usually have a question, are people really selfish and survive? Isn't it human nature to cooperate?
Many biologists, zoologists, when studying species, have found that tickling and grooming each other are very important social cooperation behaviors that have survived millions of years of biological evolution. This shows that human beings have a basis for cooperation.
But Robert Axero of the University of Michigan did two experiments that very cruelly tell us that in real life, the best choice of each side is often the betrayal of each other. Human profiteering makes cooperation fragile.
Historically, cooperation has not been non-existent, but it has often been fragile.
To achieve cooperation, we first need to reach a consensus, and consensus is the knowledge that everyone agrees on.
Take an example. We drivers, under the guidance of coaches, teachers and the shaping of society, know the basic rules of driving: first, don't hit others, second, don't be hit by others, which can be said to be the common knowledge of all drivers. But we all have such knowledge and have such expectations, but there will be no traffic accidents in this world? Of course not.
Because we can't guarantee that everyone can implement this consensus. In the past, cooperation between people was often based on such a fragile foundation. Therefore, cooperation is difficult to last for a long time.
Revolutionization of blockchain
Now that the blockchain revolution is coming, blockchain is the mechanism that truly changes trust. This enables two strangers to reach trust on the Internet once without a trusted third party.
It is these characteristics of blockchain that enable us to reach consensus, with the power of technology, firm and unbiased execution.
Therefore, a far-reaching significance of the blockchain revolution is that humans can finally start cooperation with peace of mind.
By changing such production relations, we will further improve the production efficiency of our society.