The Key Principle That Makes Blockchain So Interesting
If you’re scared that I am going to bombard you with a bunch of technical jargon, just because it is ‘Blockchain’, don’t be.
In fact I want to discuss something very fundamental. It is a principle that has driven many aspects of our society for centuries in mostly good ways.
From Kingdoms to Democracy
From ancient times most societies evolved in such a way, that there existed a powerful ruler under whom the rest of the kingdom flourished.The ruler’s small group of advisors helped him make policies and laws that would influence the life of people in his kingdom. The people mostly had to obey and life would work out for them. People’s grievances would be heard by the ruler’s courtroom and depending on the laws and policies an appropriate solution would be provided. The authoritarian nature of most rulers meant any kind of objection was directly equated to disrespect and disobedience. So even voices against injustice were many a times muffled down.
But as you can witness for yourself, today we have a completely different life. We choose the people who would make policies and laws to govern our society. We choose the policies that we think are best for our future. We also freely object when the government makes decisions that we don’t agree with.
This is a big change and an important one. It is known as ‘democratisation’. Over a long period of time, humanity as a whole understood that governing inclusively makes for a happier and satisfied society. It also ensured that the people could stand up to injustice. And so each one of us started to participate in the functioning of the government (by voting and electing representatives that can voice our opinions).
What does this have to do with Blockchain? — Everything .
Another key concept very similar to ‘democratisation’ is ‘decentralisation’. It is the key principle behind Blockchain.
In any system, when you move power, authority and responsibility down from one central point of contact (person/organisation) to the rest of the participants in the system it’s called ‘decentralisation’.
Blockchain began with the very aim of decentralising the process of transferring money from one person to another, in the process cutting away the need for a central financial entity (like a bank). Banks have always played the role of a central authority and middleman in all our financial transactions and we have almost taken this for granted. We assume that their existence in any transaction is ‘required’, in the process overlooking a number of drawbacks, like the commissions they eat away from our every transaction, their almost monopoly status, authority and more.
It is a perfect example of a centralised system similar to the kingdom rule we talked about earlier where we have to suck up to the policies and rules they set.
But as history can vouch for us, when societies feel stifled they find ways and move towards decentralisation.
The exciting idea is that blockchain technology carries the concept of decentralisation so close to its core, that not only can it be used to decentralise the banking sector but everything else that is stifling under the pressure of centralised authorities.
I’m a co-founder of Clerro — a publishing platform for educators to explain intellectually compelling topics from math, science, art, history, philosophy, etc — away from news, opinion, personal stories and marketing speak.
