In this article I will be using the Ethereum blockchain as an example.
Last night, when I was watching Stargate-Continuum I got the idea of writing this analogy with ethereum and the movie Back to The Future.
Time is unidirectional, meaning it flows in one direction. So is the blockchain. If you place them side by side they would seem to flow in the same direction. While seconds go by as you read this, the blockchain advances incrementally.
So if you check your watch right now it will give you the time. Let’s say for the Ethereum blockchain we are at block 1989305 and its 22:18 EST. Now say if you wait until its 22:30 you would realize 12 minutes have gone by, and chances are the blockchain would have advanced to the next few blocks. Now let’s say that in the movie "Back to The Future 2", Marty McFly purchased the 1950-2000 World Sports Almanac. Doing so, McFly causes a disruption in the flow of time. And as a consequence the time line splits.
Marty triggers a change in the future. In a similar way this is what a fork in the blockchain looks like. This video is for clarity. (*Note: The part where Biff goes back in time causing the split in time is irrelevant. This example is only for the sake of illustration)
Ok, Now with that explaination out of the way. Check out these diagrams, this will show the similarity between the two.
See it? So essentially in Back to The Future 2 the two time lines are a result from Biff’s involvement with himself in 1955. Figuratively speaking the DAO hack would be viewed as the equivalent. The DAO hack disrupted Ethereum’s blockchain, and as a result there was a hard fork and ETC (Ethereum Classic) was born.
But because its Hollywood everything goes back to normal in the end. But the real world isn’t Hollywood, this is the real world so it’s different because its permanent. I apologize if my grammar isn’t perfect I am not really good at writing. I just figured I would share this with the STEEMIT community.
I encourage you input. Thank you for reading this. :-) Happy STEEMing