The Blockchain Of Life - A Philosophical Rambling

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Each and every second, we decide on stuff. Most of the time, unconsciously, but we take decisions every single second.

These decisions are shaping our future.

For instance, if I choose not to show up to work today, this decision will generate consequences. Maybe I will skip on tasks and come sort of what I have to do at the end of the month, hence, I will get a smaller paycheck. Or maybe I will discover something so important about my work, that will make my life so much easier, allowing me to do more in less time, hence, I will get a bigger paycheck. I might get laid off, or I might get a promotion. Either way, there will be consequences.

Now, here comes the mind blowing part.

Once the effects of these consequences get real, I cannot change the outcome. I cannot go back and change my choice, thus creating a different outcome. Once I'm laid off, I'm laid off. Once I'm promoted, I'll stay promoted. There might be other decisions that will continue to influence my life, but they will be after the consequences of my choice to not show up for work produced effects.

Sounds familiar? Not yet? Ok, I'll write it down in plain English.

Once a transaction has been published in the blockchain, you can't change it.

Now you get it?

I know it sounds obvious for us, who are pretty much blockchain afficionados, but only because we accustomed our minds to this concept for quite a while. We find it natural. That's the way it is: once published, it can't be reversed.

But the traditional way of creating and storing transactions, from a technical point of view, wasn't like this all the time. Transactions were traditionally kept in relational databases, where every row of every table could be modified (provided you have enough privileges for that). In a blockchain, no matter how many privileges you have, you cannot change the past, or you will generate a hard fork.

In other words, the history you try to create from that moment on, will be different from the history generated from the general consensus.

Each blockchain (I'm talking about real ones, not about scams) is actually a common reality shared by all the people involved in that blockchain. It may not be obvious to us (because we're still confused about the hype and about the potential financial ROI) but for the first time in known history, we're mimicking reality in a consensus generated activity. The way we organize ourselves around these blockchains is so powerful and so viral, because it's pretty much like life itself.

I would dare to say that this is even more powerful because it creates a layer of shared, identical memories. I may have a choice today and I may experience its consequences, but my hardware and software, as a human being, is inherently limited. So at some point I will forget I did this. Or my mind will create an alternate representation (alternative facts?) and it will transform the decision to comply with my current expectations. In other words, even if the actual effects of my decisions are not changeable, my mind can trick me into believing something else.

But that's not possible with the blockchain. The effects of our shared consensus will stay in the blockchain for ever (or for as long as that blockchain will be operational).

Everybody will share the same consequence.

Once we agree on something, it stays like this. And it will stay like this for as long as we will have that common memory.

In all honesty, it never dawned upon me that we're creating such a powerful metaphor with this apparently strange and geeky activity, and I may be rambling a lot.

Thoughts?

image source - Pixabay

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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If you're new to Steemit, you may find these articles relevant (that's also part of my witness activity to support new members of the platform):

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• How Can I Mine Steem And What CPU / GPU Power Do I Need For That?