Blockchain: Solution to a 1,600-Year-Old Problem

Timeless Treasures...

Just like the Hagia Sophia that withstood the test of time.

Erected by the Byzantine Empire in 532, this architectural genius stood strong in the face of sackings by Christian Crusades in 1204, finally falling in the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1453. But even then, the Ottomans decided to preserve it. They converted it to a mosque we all can visit today.

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Contents:

1. The Thread of Time
2. Problem: 532 AD
3. Solution: 2007 AD
4. Future: Infinity and Beyond

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The Thread of Time

There is beauty in being connected to something bigger -- and there is no greater way than through time. With time, you connect not just with people, but generations of people who worked towards a common dream.

Similarly, blockchain had its humble beginnings, maybe as early as the Hagia Sophia.

Problem: 532 AD

The idea at the heart of blockchain is a decentralised system. One that does not rely on a central authority. As we have seen in the past, power in the hands of a few are susceptible to corruption.

One great desire of city folks is money, seen by the "Financial Independence Retire Early (F.I.R.E)" trend in Singapore. However, given the history of mass inflation (think: a bowl of noodles in Singapore used to cost 20 cents in 1960s, but 400 cents in 2020), there is no real guarantee of F.I.R.E. Perhaps, by implementing cyptocurrency (blockchain finance), this frees people's finances from the whims of the central authority, to live their true calling, rather than be tied down by the practicalities of life.

The fundamental of cryptocurrency is a distributed validation system for transactions. This means that rather than letting a central bank approve transactions, each transaction is sent to all crypto users and validated. It use timestamp and some variable data to make each new block immutable.

Thing is, how do you know that all your crypto users are trustworthy, and did not tamper with the validation algorithm to approve a faulty transaction? Or, if I take you back into the past, how do you know you can trust your generals in the Byzantium Army?

This, is the classical Byzantine Generals Problem. You have 4 generals leading troops on 4 sides of a city. You want them all to attack, but they must coordinate. If any 1 decides to retreat, you lose the rest of your army in a failed siege. But they can exchange messages between each other saying either attack / retreat.

Solution: 2007 AD

Formally formulated & solved in 1982, the solution is to have AT LEAST 2n+1 persons that are loyal, where n is the number of traitors. How this is applied to Bitcoin is that each transaction has to be validated with all users. However, counting the number of traitors is not the easiest task. But in general, the more users there are, the more reliable it is.

Real-life use cases:

1. DeBeers, verification of diamonds' source from non-conflict regions
2. Ticketmaster, smiting counterfeit tickets

Future: Infinity and Beyond

Going back to the central thesis on whether blockchain could improve human lives, I have my doubts, listed below:

• man-made solutions always cause new problems (we tend to be short-sighted), thus status quo might be okay, there will always be good and bad to any thing
• trust in technology over government (feels like the movies about AI making all the decisions). However, it could become pure logical, emotionless decisions
• algorithms chosen are man-made, how are we sure that isn't controlled by a few powerful individuals (and the same problem recurs)

I hope this primer has been an interesting read of what blockchain might and might not be able to do, and here's to everyone building a better world or self in 2023! 🎊

P.S Bonus Section

Writing this article really had me thinking about how we can better lives with Software Engineering. This led me to find Code in the Community (CITC), a community program supported by Google that teaches Python to low-family income children from 13 - 16. This seems like a great place to start, as Software Engineering pays really well and could change the kids and their families' financial lives! It seems their last run for 2022 just ended, and I'm currently inquiring about the details, but you can DM / hit me up on LinkedIn if you'd like to hear updates :)

Because the ones that are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do. - Steve Jobs