From d11ace7dfcdd4c9c4a88ee44f16db5c49a2f2d20 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: counterweight
- But I understand people are busy and would rather do other stuff than dive into it. For those, this is - the usual metaphor I give away. I'm sharing it here (1) in case it helps other fellow orange pillers in - doing the Lord's work, and (2) to make sure I say something completely opposite to that terrible "miners - solve highly complex mathematical problems" that sloppy journalists from big media gift to us so we can - confirm they don't understand a thing about what they are reporting. + But I understand people are busy and would rather do other stuff than dive into it. For the busy ones, + this is the usual metaphor I give away. I'm sharing it here (1) in case it helps other fellow orange + pillers in doing the Lord's work, and (2) to make sure I say something completely opposite to that + terrible "miners solve highly complex mathematical problems" that sloppy journalists from big media gift + to us so we can confirm they don't understand jackshit about what they are reporting.
So, what is mining then? @@ -52,12 +52,12 @@ the last hole of the puzzle.
- What could you do to finish the puzzle? Oh well, the only obvius and tedious thing: you need to go check - the pieces one by one. Pull piece, check hole. Fits? Bingo. Doesn't? Move on to the next. It would be - boring and tedious, but it would surely work. You might get lucky and pull the right piece early, or you - might have to work a lot more.
+ What could you do to finish the puzzle? Oh well, the only obvious and tedious thing: you need to go + check the pieces one by one. Pull piece, check hole. Fits? Bingo. Doesn't? Move on to the next. It would + be boring and tedious, but it would surely work. You might get lucky and pull the right piece early, or + you might have to work a lot more.- Eventually, you will find the missing piece, and the puzzle will be complete. Anyone can see that the + Eventually, you would find the missing piece, and the puzzle will be complete. Anyone could see that the piece is the right one (verifying is easy), even if finding it was a nightmare of work (mining is hard).
@@ -67,10 +67,14 @@ disappointed when the journalists and snake oil salesmen talk about the "complex mathematical problems" that miners solve.
++ So, those impressive Bitcoin miners you might see on TV news and documentaries: they are just dumb + "ima-try-this-number-out" machines. They are specialized equipment, for a very simple and mundane task. +
In case you're curious, and in order to help you further understand, here are some corresponding - analogues between real mining and - the puzzle metaphor. If you don't understand things, don't worry, just remember the puzzle story: + analogues between real mining and the puzzle metaphor. If you don't understand things, don't worry, just + remember the puzzle story: