The State Machine is an important concept and very useful too, but not easily grasped, especially the consequences of not following State Machine protocol. I wonder how many of these self-taught computer geniuses out there actually know about it.
The State Machine is an important concept and very useful too, but not easily grasped, especially the consequences of not following State Machine protocol. I wonder how many of these self-taught computer geniuses out there actually know about it.
There's lots of CS about this... but in my experience one just has to dive in and do it, build the state machines needed. I find myself relearning the lessons time and time again. I'm not sure why, but state machines just don't seem easily amenable to the mind. Maybe in 10 years someone will come up with the invention that makes it easy ... here's hoping!
I see State Machines as being an artifact of modern times. Like Turing Machines, the Internet and Blockchains, State Machines were natural phenomenon (laws of nature) waiting to be discovered by man. Who knows what other powerful ideas lurk ou there for the creative individual to discover and develop? I find it comforting to know that there may be thousands or millions of potential Satoshi Yakamotos who exist or will be born in the future.
What an interesting point of view brother.
Oswald Spengler, my favorite philosopher, who authored "The Decline of the West", argumented about humans beings having to be "in shape" or "in good form", in order to grasp ideas and oppotunities that are preexistent, but need an ideal vessel to express them. You captured his thinking in a very elegant way. And even more, your thoughts give me even more hope on the greatness of human future on this planet:
"Who knows what other powerful ideas lurk ou there for the creative individual to discover and develop? I find it comforting to know that there may be thousands or millions of potential Satoshi Yakamotos who exist or will be born in the future."
"
Thanks for the upvote and intelligent comment. $.20 isn't much, but when steem hits $100 you could treat yourself to a steak dinner;)
On the topic of great ideas, I think there is an element of an idea having it's "time". Using bitcoin as an example, microprocessors, distributed computers, ledgers and cryptography have all been around for decades. However, when someone thought to put them all together, they got Bitcoin.
I think one "vessel" is the need to solve a problem. Proof of Stake was a meaningless concept 10 years ago, because there were no blockchains hence no Proof of Work algorithms. In this era of blockchains, Proof of Work is a tedious, expensive process and it is now easier to envision how Proof of Stake can be an improvement.
Taking it a step further, there are even a handful of true visionaries whose ideas bordered on magic in their time; Tesla, Edison and Jules Verne
I spend a lot of time searching for the next great idea and it was rewarding to be appreciated for my quest.