Topic: We should rename "miner" as "auditor". (Read 2581 times)

Speaking as an ex-Scientologist I'll comment on that. "Auditing" in a Scientology sense is pretty much unknown except to insiders, so if a Scientologist sees the word in general use he assumes it is being used in one of its regular English meanings and there is rarely any confusion. There *is* confusion of course when a cultie uses the word to a non-cultie who thinks it is being used in its regular sense. In other words, bitcoin miners becoming bitcoin auditors wouldn't make any difference with regard to the culties.

'miner' makes me feel like such an adventurer though...... and there are many......

You need to consider that if bitcoin is picked up by the general public, how it's actually produced will be rather irrelevant, as will the terms 'miner' or 'auditor' to the end user. They just want their latte...not all of them are going to have an ASIC rack in their closet...

On a side note, I rarely describe the process as 'mining', I always find myself referring to it as hashing...

This is a good suggestion.

The more I think about this the more I like the term auditing. Because it is tedious work that most people abhor, and that will make them recognise that it is hard damned work. lol

I've stated before that since the real point of "mining" is transaction processing, that "transaction processing" is what it should be called.

Scenarios:
1. if cornered into talking about mining or blockchain, just say "its one huge verification network for financial tx's"
2. if they say "isn't that a huge waste of electricity and computer work?"; just say "not compared to the waste of the banksters and financial system in place today which the blockchain replaces".
3. if they ask "can't the gov't shut it down?" just say "they can't".  never mind the 51% attack since thats a theoretical concept that is highly improbable if not impossible.
4. if cornered into talking about Satoshi just say "i've never met him but i know the head dev is from Princeton (i know, i know but the MSM loves this sh*t whether we do or not) and the rest of them are wicked smart."

This is actually a pretty good suggestion.

Thanks for you post.

Excuse me I'm not a native English speaker, and even before your post, I already feel that there must be something wrong with the word "audit" in English or U.S, which word is a highly respectable, expert-style conception in Chinese.

So maybe just everyone emphasize the useful part of miners' job to newbie, but not the gold-rush feelings.

what about not explaining anything ?
acting somewhat secretive, people need and want to know,
they will ask, and if they get brushed of, they will ask more...

imagine if ur friend saw u putting a bunch of money into ur pocket,
asks u about it, and u try to change subject
he will start stalking u
give info bit by bit

we are opportunistic monkeys, instinctively we know that good things are scarce,
no one will advertise if he found a gold nugget,
and we all (bitcoiners) act just contrary to evolution processes,
survival instinct is to explore if u suspect that something is good,
that is what separated us from other monkeys...

bury some coins in ur backyard,
critical mass has been achieved , sit back, enjoy the ride... 

we are in the "when" zone now, not "if" anymore

Or why not just "transaction processing"... It loses the negative connotation of auditing and is simply what it is. Process transactions into data packets appended to a distributed log.

Not that www.transactionprocessingaccidents.com would be any better.

Audit has a negative connotation for most people (at least those who live in the US).  The average person will equate "audit" with the IRS.  It's probably a more accurate description than miner but if you're trying to appeal to the masses, probably not the best choice of words.

Guys this just WONT work for me.  bitcoinauditingaccidents.com would sound like a joke.

That's called good marketing, no really, i am serous

If we have so much "not to mention", we should rethink about the whole PR strategy.

And I think Vladimir is the guy who give us a suggestion to use 14 "easy" steps to keep wallet safe, but never urge and even oppose the developing team to make a default encrypted wallet.

The IT geeks will understand the exciting aspect of the boring conception of auditing immediately, but it's hard for average people understand why are you miners should be get paid 300 bitcoins per hour collectively with so much waste of energy...

It's not a problem of whether mention it or not, people who try to get the concept of bitcoin will do their own research, and the words of mining just show up.  Some guys just ask, are you just search for the medicine of curing AIDS or looking for E.T.? why you should get paid? If miners are mining gold, OK, gold is useful to people. but you're mining strings of numbers, is this a fraud? a pyramid scheme? a ponzi game...

we all know that if people get the first impression bad, it will be very hard in a very long time to adjust it.

We really need a "Son, what is a bitcoin?" website. Like www.weusecoins.com, but with a really really simple video and a really really simple description meant for people who don't care about mining and just want to know what a bitcoin is.

from Vladimir:

@cypherdoc, you just wrote bitcoin PR manual.

Quote
1.  don't talk about mining.  its confusing.
2.  don't talk about the blockchain.  its even more confusing.
3.  say that bitcoin is "digital gold".  that'll definitely make them sit up.
4.  say that only a fixed number will be issued and then NO MORE.
5.  say that since its digital it can be instantaneously transported across borders w/o detection.  they'll immediately realize the implications of this.
6.  don't say anything about "cryptocurrency" or "cryptography".  this makes it sound like bitcoin is trying to hide something along the likes of Silk Road and other illegal activities.
7.  say that bitcoins are secured by "advanced mathematical algorithms" that prevent counterfeiting.  sounds impressive.
8.  try to avoid saying anything about Satoshi since an unknown character brings to mind a shady type character or hidden agenda.
9.  do explain that the decentralized or "spread out" nature of bitcoin makes it indestructable to gov't or Fed intervention.    they'll like that.
10.  when they ask what its denominated in say that bitcoin is a currency unto itself and "floats" in value against other fiat currencies like the USD but bitcoin is in fact NOT a fiat currency.  you might mention that you think that bitcoin will become the gold std against which all other currencies will be measured.
11. i wouldn't recommend newbies go to forum.bitcoin.org especially with all the trolls we've been getting there recently.  the best place for them to go to learn about bitcoin is bitcoin.org which explains all the facts and has references.

I'll restate your points and will add some

Don't mention:
- mining
- blockchain
- crypto (unless it goes into technical details and you are asked how it is implemented)
- satoshi
- forum
- specific exchanges and businesses (unless you've been paid for that, maybe)

Do say:
- "digital gold"
- there never will be more than 21 million of bitcoin in existance
- bitcoin is secured by "advanced mathematical algorithms"
- "no government can repeal laws of mathematics"
- decentralized with no single entity to be shut-down or pressured, just like bittorrent
- quick and low cost payments over internet,
- can be easily and covertly transported over national borders
- negligible transaction fees
- "Disruptive disintermediation" (if audience seems to have above average IQ)
- pseudonymous and potentially anonymous transactions
- accounts cannot be "frozen"
- can make donations to wikileaks etc
- easier to store and transport than gold
- it is just like gold which you can teleport to anyone on the planet
- bitcon.org
- valued below 1$ in Spring 2011, valued at dollars now.
- traded on a number of independent exchanges, which set up valuation against fiat currencies.
- potential low cost replacement of interbank settlement networks such as SWIFT

feel free to add to these lists

@all, do not freaking even think to speak to media before reading this.  Wink

Well, you are mining for bitcoins! You don't have to use geek words. The less you explain about how bitcoins work, the more people will understand it.

I got your point, but I agree with NF6X: auditing sounds really boring. Mining may not be exactly what we do, but people don't care for what we really do. Mining is just a metaphor for "we find bitcoins like people find gold".

I guess that's how open source and macro collaboration work. And we didn't find that much words who were mentioned by people that want to be changed in this forum, which makes you so impatient.

Imagine the monumental waste of effort and resources if we had to change every word in the language every time one person found it offensive / old timey / antiquated / or just wanted to sound useful by coming up with an idea