Re:Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]
by posterboy on Sunday December 10, 2017 @02:37AM
(#15890425)
> "What if you were on a train moving really fast and two lightning bolts struck at the same time?"
I read one of Albert Einstein's popular science on the same topic and folded when a completely paradox statement was justified by saying, welp you'll surely agree on this.
Re:Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]
by mrschwabe on Saturday December 09, 2017 @04:44AM
(#15885053)
Difference is that Bitcoin actually works, Relativity on the other hand remains a theory.
Re:Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]
by 0x264 on Saturday December 09, 2017 @07:26AM
(#15885509)
Says the guy who probably uses the GPS (one of the most visible application of Relativity) on his phone every other day.
Like we don't already have enough problem with trolls on other sites, we now have them on HN. Sigh
Re:Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]
by cdancette on Saturday December 09, 2017 @05:07AM
(#15885108)
Relativity is hugely useful for scientists and make predicted with extreme accuracy.
So it's a theory, but one could say that it is much more useful than Bitcoin.
Btw, Bitcoin also works based on mathematical theories. If someone were to prove P = NP, Bitcoin doesn't work any more, because I can now steal all your money. The current belief is P != NP, that's why people trust bitcoin, and crypto in general. But it's still a theory.
Along similar lines (complex topics explained beautifully and simply by their creators), I recommend Relativity: The Special and General Theory[1] by the man himself. It's a great explanation of relativity without the need to have a strong math background. He explains it in the form of thought experiments, as only he could do. "What if you were in a cage in space with a rope tied to the top and it was being pulled upward by a giant at a constant acceleration (simulating gravity)? How would you perceive the world?" (Spoiler: This is gravity.) "What if you were on a spinning disk and had a ruler and tried to calculate pi?" "What if you were on a train moving really fast and two lightning bolts struck at the same time?"
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Special-General-Albert-Ein...