If you are reading this, then you probably have internet access which is a good start, and you also need a brief overview of what the blockchain is all about. The only thing you need to do right now is to have a change of mindset about this new technology.
The blockchain is one of the greatest discovery credited to man in the 21st century, Its discovery has brought about a great turn around in the interactions of humans worldwide as many people get to discover the loaded package the blockchain comes with obviously with a better life.
The various applications of blockchain cuts across all works of life, financial services, Tech, Media and Telecommunications, governance, Healthcare, Insurance, Arts and Recreation, etc, just think about any sector with humans involvement, then you can be rest assured that blockchain could be applicable to help make life easy and better.
Sadly, out of the estimated world population of about 7.5 billion people as at 2017, the world has not come to terms with the need to embrace this new technology because of some certain doubts and probably personal idiosyncrasies.
The present situation maybe by poor understanding of the blockchain technology by humans in application to their daily lives.
The trend of late adoption did not start today, a cursory look at Facebook( A social media platform that helps connect people together) founded in February 2004 would reveal that when it started, many people did not embrace the concept. But as Dec 2018, Facebook could boast of about 2.3 billion monthly active users (that is about 1/3 of the world population is signed up on the Facebook platform! ) and guess what? many people are still adopting it on a daily basis.
The main reason why people are still skeptical about adoption is that they do not really understand the purpose and application of blockchain technology in their daily lives. There is a saying that is you don’t understand the use of something, then abuse, misuse or even disuse is inevitable.
In this write-up, I will try to explain in lay terms the concept of blockchain and try to shed more lights on how the blockchain could apply in various sectors of life
Whether we like it or not, the blockchain has come to stay and it's not going anyway in the distant future. Change is very healthy and if we do not embrace change, we eventually become victims of change.
WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN ALL ABOUT?
If you have a slight idea of record keeping, then it would be easier to understand the concept. The blockchain is simply a record of every transaction made by humans on it by its users that cannot be falsified! This looks pretty easy right?.
Now Let's look at a more comprehensive definition of the blockchain…
The blockchain is a decentralized database that is immutable and readily accessible to the public, generated by activities of humans and non-humans (bot,) with an inbuilt reward system to incentivize the data collection.
Oops..! Let me pause and let you process that sentence gradually.
As a new user of the blockchain, these terms may sound a little complex to fathom, but with dedication and time, I can assure you that it would be a piece of cake.
Before that time comes, Let me help break down these terms, so you could be carried along.
DECENTRALIZED
As humans, we always want to be in control of everything around us, we want to be in authority always. This innate human act usually brings a form of a monopoly of power and creates room for centralization. The concept of decentralization aims to restore power back to the people! (everybody).
You may choose to look at the decentralization concept as a form of democracy where the people make the laws for themselves and these laws are binding on them.
IMMUTABLE
The concept of immutability is quite easy to understand, it simply means anything recorded cannot be altered or falsified. This is quite interesting as it could help to restore the issues of trust and help prevent disputes relating to the originality of a data generated.
ACCESSIBLE
You would agree that data generated by most companies or organization is not usually made available to the public. This database is only made accessible to the individuals in the echelons of power who make the decisions for that body. The blockchain is quite different as it makes generated data available to the general public( Isn't that amazing?).
This database could be accessed by any individual that has an internet connection without having to cross any hurdles to access these data.
REWARD SYSTEM
The blockchain is built on a peer to peer model where rewards are distributed according to the activities of humans on it. On a daily basis, humans interact with each other as mirrored by the real world, during the process of interaction, trading occurs (exchange of goods and services), hence the need for a currency!
The blockchain has its own form of digital currency for trading on it called BITCOIN. This digital currency has a fixed supply and is not influenced by any particular group of an individual hence making it a valuable means of storage of money.
CONCLUSION
Understanding the definition of blockchain forms a pivot into understanding how you can apply the blockchain in your daily lives. Imagine living a life where nobody controls your daily activities, you decide who you want to interact with and do business with and have it at the back of your mind that you can always keep track of the transactions you made without it being altered. Wouldn’t that be so cool?
By the time many people understand this and adopt this new technology, then it would create room for humans to maximize their true potentials. Already, there are so many people impacting lives with the help of the blockchain. It's never late to change your mindset about blockchain else you may be left behind just like others who doubted the potentials of facebook.
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POINTS TO NOTE
• Change is inevitable.
• Change is healthy.
• Change your views and learn about blockchain
• Blockchain has come to stay.
• If you can't be an agent of change, Don’t be a victim of change.
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If you feel I missed out any important vital points in understanding the blockchain, feel free to add it in the comment section.
Thanks for reading…