Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S1W3 – Blockchain through the concepts by @iamchukwudi

The world of cryptocurrencies is filled up with so many interesting terms and concepts. It is easy to get lost, and I believe, there is a place for a broad-scale formal education setting, where people can learn more about crypto. But that aside, My crypto terminology of choice is the "Proof-of-Brain" concept. This is a very interesting concept that was born at a later stage of cryptocurrency and blockchain evolution. In this post, we will be exploring deeply, the Proof of Brain Concept.

Concept of "Proof-of-Brain - PoBr"

As they say, the devil is in the details, and so is the proof of brain concept almost self-explanatory through the term itself.
Proof of Brain is a concept introduced by the Steem blockchain that enables the distribution of rewards to users who contribute intellectually to the token-based community like Steemit.

The Proof-of-Brain concept is a concept that encompasses a basic idea of most token-based communities, the more value an individual is able to add to the community intellectually through the production and sharing of quality content and engagements, the more rewards they earn for their cognitive (brain) efforts.

The whole concept is built around the distribution of rewards through a large reward pool to individuals who add value and maintain value to the communities, thus helping to attract new users, while also retaining existing users.

In the Proof-of-Brain concept, two commonly used terminologies are "authorship and curation". Authorship shows who is adding value who basically could be the writer of a post, or a person engaging in the community through their quality comments. Curation is the process of judging value by individuals commonly referred to as curators, in practice, all community members in a Proof-of-Brain system are curators, as they judge the worth of the content being shared by the authors, and indicate their stand/verdict through a downvote for disapproval or upvote for approval.

Proof-of-Brain is a very intelligent concept introduced into the world of cryptocurrencies and associated with blockchain technology. We could easily conclude it is some form of consensus mechanism such as Proof-of-Burn (mining) and Proof-of-Stake (staking). But unlike the two-mentioned 'proofs', which require some level of algorithmic tasks, the Proof-of-Brain concept is unique as it relies solely on human input.

Proof-of-Brain - Important?

^{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}

Proof-of-Brain is one of the most important concepts in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Because of the Proof-of-Brain concept, most persons who otherwise would not have had access to cryptocurrencies and benefitted from the good that comes with them are now crypto enthusiasts.

Unlike other options available to users to enable them to gain access to the world of cryptocurrencies which most times require high computational inputs or very high financial commitment, the Proof-of-Brain concept opens up the world of crypto to something we all have - "Our Brains". So, it is hard to see anyone complain about anything. As long as you can think and can write, you have got no barrier to your access.

Blockchain Existence vs Proof-of-Brain Concept | Alternate Term to Proof-of-Brain

^{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}

Can the Blockchain do Without Proof-of-Brain?

The answer to this question is a YES and a NO. Let's look at both perspectives.

YES. The fact is that the blockchain design is not hinged in any way on the Proof-of-Brain concept, it was not part of the original design and currently, no part of its design depends on the Proof-of-Brain concept.

NO. Blockchain technology is ever-evolving, and with its evolution comes the Proof-of-Brain concept. With the Steem blockchain birthing this concept and making it a thing since 2015, it has become one of the most reliable and future-proof crypto/blockchain development and has since been adopted by numerous other projects in principle. So, at this stage, Proof-of-Brain is a vital concept in the blockchain world that cannot easily be phased out. Unlike Proof-of-Burn which harms the environment, Proof-of-Brain does not pose any threat to humans or the environment in any way.

Similar/Alternatives to Proof-of-Brain

Currently, there is no evidence of a similar or alternative term that best describes the Proof-of-Brain concept or its underlying principle. The Proof-of-Brain concept is so novel and unique that there is no close rival terminology.

The uniqueness of the Proof-of-Brain concept is that it cannot be easily misunderstood or confused with other consensus mechanisms on the blockchain. There are no related terms, at least, to the best of my knowledge.

Improving the "Proof-of-Brain" Concept

The nomenclature of this concept - Proof-of-Brain - needs no improvement as it is, though synonyms such as Proof-of-Intellect or Proof-of-Wisdom could be nice.

However, the place I feel the Proof-of-Brain concept needs to be improved upon is on its "knowledge base". What do I mean? Trying to research this term leaves you with very few resources to fall back on.

There are not enough online resources detailing the Proof-of-Brain concept, especially when compared to other "Proofs'. So, more outward-facing content to improve the understanding of the Proof-of-Brain concept is encouraged especially, among all Steemit authors.

Final Words

Proof-of-Brain is indeed an interesting blockchain concept. Through this post, I am sure I have been able to guide you to explore blockchain through its concepts, and the Proof-of-Brain concept is indeed worth considering.

Thanks for your time.