The Definition of Blockchain and Remembering the Unbounded Complexity of Anything
What is one of the top Medium trending topics or tags trending from year to year? Blockchain. Uhh, what is that? When I came across this topic I thought it might be some type of writing style or computer software lingo. Uh, but what is it really?
According to Wikipedia :
“blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of records (blocks) that are securely linked together via cryptographic hashes.[1][2][3][4] Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree, where data nodes are represented by leaves). The timestamp proves that the transaction data existed when the block was created.”
Uh, come again? I did not capture that. Let’s try this one:
A blockchain is “a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records, called blocks.” These blocks “are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.”
Okay, okay. I’m starting to build my own understanding. Blockchain could be compared to an online bank transaction record showing one’s account activity of debits, checks, deposits, and transfers in real-time. Perhaps it could also be like so many metatdata records hidden in the background of websites or platforms like Wikipedia detailing the time, location, and content of an edit or addition. It seems like these are all parts of blockchain technology, used now mainly for crytocurrency but also showing great potential for numerous other areas including gaming and standardized banking.
This would at least qualify as a start to understanding blockchain. As I research and study this topic, I am taken back to the season 2 episode of Star Trek Voyager I watched on Paramount+ today. The episode, titled Projections, starred the starship’s EMH(Emergency Medical Hologram, also coined in the show “Doctor”) experience a breakdown in his programming. Here are some of the most striking lines from the episode:
“We encountered a subspace anomaly and there was a radiation surge in the computer system.”
“The radiation surge caused my programme to malfunction and my codes and circuits began to degrade and yet, instead of detecting that threat to my programme, I experienced an elaborate delusion concerning the nature of my existence. Human or hologram. Person or projection. Why? Why would my programme focus on such an esoteric dilemma?”
What does blockform technology have to do with the science-fiction Star Trek universe? Nothing obvious comes to mind(although numerous deeper and indeed “esoteric” connections could probably be discovered by scholars or online writers). It is just that the definition of blockchain and the dialogue from the famous science fiction franchise both used such complex and even abstruse language and explanation.
In this futuristic age of smart technology devices, digital applications, and automation we all crave simple answers and quick resolutions to problems. However, we constantly find that nothing is ever that simple. Blockchain technology is not the only thing requiring the perusal of multiple resources to even begin building a solid understanding, it is hardly scraping the surface. Try navigating through articles expounding on the possible long-term complications of spinal fusion surgery or absorbing enough articles to understand the basic facets of a backdoor roth IRA. There can never be enough specialists from countless domains to assist us with the ever-evolving array of complex problems life brings each of us. And as answers to this Quora question reveal, most information is not even available through the internet. There is a level of unbounded complexity to any reality in the universe.
