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Topic: A block-size survey - page 2. (Read 3946 times)

member
Activity: 67
Merit: 11
March 20, 2016, 05:08:08 PM
#9
It certainly seems to have nothing to do with technical discussion.

That's right.

And so you decided to post this in the "Technical Discussion" forum for which reason?

Given your scrutiny, the "that's right" was maybe written too hastily. I just wanted to confirm that I do not intend to start a new technical discussion on a topic discussed many times before. Instead, I intended to find out more about the psychology and motivations behind that technical discussion. Given the available choices, the "development & technical discussion" still seemed like the best fit. Would you have preferred the general section?
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
March 20, 2016, 04:14:32 PM
#8
Maybe I was expecting too much of the poll.

It certainly seems to have nothing to do with technical discussion.

That's right.


And so you decided to post this in the "Technical Discussion" forum for which reason?
member
Activity: 67
Merit: 11
March 20, 2016, 03:58:04 PM
#7
when have you planned to share with us the results?

Tomorrow evening.
member
Activity: 67
Merit: 11
March 20, 2016, 03:53:41 PM
#6
I have created a quick survey about the block-size limit and would love to hear your answers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18JfNC21Jo1adTI6YNxiFrw4BXRAbI4LrdWx2hFbWSJY/viewform

Consider the question from the survey:
Quote
In 10 years, Bitcoin will be
a peer-to-peer electronic cash system
a peer-to-peer electronic settlement system
a store of wealth (digital gold)
obsolete

What is "Bitcoin" being referred to there?  Is it referring to the Bitcoin Currency? Or the P2P network? or the blockchain itself? current Bitcoin companies?


Obviously, this is a gross - but intentional - simplification. The question aims at finding out whether you see the Bitcoin system as something that is mainly used for everyday transactions (a cash system and probably the original vision by Satoshi), is mainly used for bulk settlement of transaction with everyday transactions happening off-chain (e.g. through the Lightning network), or if you think the digital gold use case will dominate. As you have correctly noticed, these scenarios can coexist to a certain degree. The goal of this question was never technical accuracy, but to capture a sentiment. For example, I would guess that you would probably feel most comfortable choosing the settlement answer, if any.

Quote
What is a "settlement system" which is exclusive with"cash system"?  The definition of a settlement system is a system that delivers money in exchange for the fulfillment of a contract.
See above. In banking, a settlement system usually is a system to periodically update a coarse-grained ledger with the an aggregate of finer-grained transactions. This is similar to concepts like the Lightning network that uses on-chain transactions to settle aggregates of many smaller transactions.

Quote
There is a common misunderstanding of what settlement means-- to suggest that its somehow not for personal use, and also suggesting that these options are exclusive. They aren't.
No, they are not exclusive. But usually, settlement networks are designed to be used for settling an net aggregate of transactions. This implies that it is too expensive or otherwise too inconvenient to send every single transaction directly to the settlement network. If that was not the case, there would be no point in using an upper layer. Insofar, these use-cases are somewhat exclusive.

Quote
Quote
Blocks are like penises: the bigger the better.

Maybe I was expecting too much of the poll.

It certainly seems to have nothing to do with technical discussion.

That's right. The aim of the poll was to find out more about the psychology behind this technical discussion, and not hard technical facts themselves. The reasoning behind the last question was to have a neutral, a small block, and a big block tagline. In any case, the answers are as expected: those who favor bigger blocks tend to find the admittedly crude tagline you quoted funny, while those who believe that the proper technique on top (e.g. Lightning) trumps plain size find it rather tasteless.

In case you are familiar with Scott Adams' hilarious blog (See http://blog.dilbert.com/post/136950092871/why-would-a-man-vote-for-hillary-clinton), this can also be seen as an identity-play. Instead of using reason for persuasion, an association between big-blockers and their anatomy is planted into every reader's brain. If Scott Adams is right, this will work much better than any argument based on reason.
legendary
Activity: 1204
Merit: 1000
March 20, 2016, 03:40:58 PM
#5
I have created a quick survey about the block-size limit and would love to hear your answers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18JfNC21Jo1adTI6YNxiFrw4BXRAbI4LrdWx2hFbWSJY/viewform

Just completed the survey, I left blank the answer to this question Technical Achievements because none of them fits me, when have you planned to share with us the results?
legendary
Activity: 3906
Merit: 6249
Decentralization Maximalist
March 20, 2016, 03:36:09 PM
#4
Quote
Blocks are like penises: the bigger the better.

Maybe I was expecting too much of the poll.

It certainly seems to have nothing to do with technical discussion.

I thought the same when I read this. Are you kidding me/us?

Well, I've completed the poll anyway. And my main answer is (citing Bill Gates, or not): "20 MB ought to be enough for anyone". (It must not be short-term, but mid-term I think it's a good value)
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
March 20, 2016, 03:10:19 PM
#3
Quote from: Hermel
Blocks are like penises: the bigger the better.

As spoken by the President of the Bitcoin Association of Switzerland. Disassociate. That would be my advice (or at least find a spokesman with some kind of credible output)
staff
Activity: 4284
Merit: 8808
March 20, 2016, 12:52:18 PM
#2
I have created a quick survey about the block-size limit and would love to hear your answers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18JfNC21Jo1adTI6YNxiFrw4BXRAbI4LrdWx2hFbWSJY/viewform

Consider the question from the survey:
Quote
In 10 years, Bitcoin will be
a peer-to-peer electronic cash system
a peer-to-peer electronic settlement system
a store of wealth (digital gold)
obsolete

What is "Bitcoin" being referred to there?  Is it referring to the Bitcoin Currency? Or the P2P network? or the blockchain itself? current Bitcoin companies?

What is a "settlement system" which is exclusive with"cash system"?  The definition of a settlement system is a system that delivers money in exchange for the fulfillment of a contract. This is the technical definition of the Bitcoin blockchain. What is a "cash system"?-- The bitcoin currency is cash (although cash with some fungibility problems); if it weren't the blockchain couldn't be a settlement system (since it wouldn't be a system that delivered money for fulfillment of agreements); and none of these two are incompatible with Bitcoin being a store of wealth.

There is a common misunderstanding of what settlement means-- to suggest that its somehow not for personal use, and also suggesting that these options are exclusive. They aren't. And one of them, except "a store of wealth", even speak that strongly to the blocksize:

One could have a "peer-to-peer electronic cash/settlement system" that was highly regulated, censored, and had a politically determined and/or unstable monetary policy. But it's hard to imagine something that would be a good "store of wealth (digital gold)" that wasn't a strongly autonomous and permissionless bearer instrument with a strongly fixed monetary policy (criteria which might implicate the block size in both directions).

Quote
Blocks are like penises: the bigger the better.

Maybe I was expecting too much of the poll.

It certainly seems to have nothing to do with technical discussion.
member
Activity: 67
Merit: 11
March 20, 2016, 07:22:57 AM
#1
[Edit: the survey is closed and the results here: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.14275503]

I have created a quick survey about the block-size limit and would love to hear your answers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18JfNC21Jo1adTI6YNxiFrw4BXRAbI4LrdWx2hFbWSJY/viewform
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