After reading 188bet article，I kind of understand why Vitalik Buterin, a young man born in 1994, was able to found Ethereum at the age of 20。

I dare not say that Vitalik’s understanding is correct，But I did feel something extraordinary about him from this article。In terms of thinking，Vitalik behaves differently than many young people。“Decentralization” is a concept that most ordinary people will selectively ignore，People think they can fully understand the meaning of these four words，But Vitalik chose to hang on to the word，Trying to give 188bet a more standardized definition。

I am glad that Vitalik expressed his thoughts，Because no matter whether the final point of view is correct or not，Review and discussion of 188bet basic concept，These are all scarce contents in 188bet current context filled with various novel concepts of blockchain。

System design，Always a huge and fascinating thing。As small as a community、A company，As big as a city、A country，The world we live in is surrounded by a variety of sophisticated and complex systems。But inside these huge machines，Sometimes not perfect，188bet can even be said to be very crude。

Blockchain believers think so，The coinage power related to the operation of the global economic system is controlled by fragile and unreliable human nature，188bet has a vulnerability，Therefore another decentralized method is needed to replace 188bet。And Vitalik starts from the concept of “decentralization”，Revealing us how complex 188bet is to design a complete decentralized system，How much resistance does 188bet have to fight，How many obstacles have been cleared。

The world we live in is very complex，More and more systems are packaged into a black box，188bet is difficult for outsiders to see how the gears inside the box work。 Vitalik discusses the concept of decentralization，Let us get a glimpse of 188bet。Therefore，If you are not interested in blockchain、But I have a lot of curiosity about the design of complex systems，You can also read this article。

Define "188bet"

“Decentralization” may be the most frequently mentioned word for blockchain，But the definition of 188bet word is also the least clear。

188bet’s actually quite incredible when you think about 188bet。Blockchain consumes a lot of precious computer hashing power，Precisely to ensure the decentralization of the network，But when people are arguing with each other about whether a certain token or a certain blockchain network is good or not，The word "decentralization" is often used as a weapon，Simply and rudely say “This thing of yours is not decentralized”，You can easily end an argument。

So, what exactly does the word “188bet” mean?

Not many people can really say 188bet clearly。In fact，Not many people are conscious、or willing，To delve into the true meaning of this word。

Most people face questions，188bet is customary to cite the following three pictures to explain the so-called "decentralization":

But unfortunately，The three pictures above serve as a common explanation，Basically invalid。 188bet is not essentially helpful to our understanding of “decentralization”。

We need a lower level way，A clearer judgment standard is also needed，To define "decentralization"。Because only if you understand the true meaning of 188bet word，Only can we better understand the blockchain。

Three rulers to judge “188bet”

In the software world，So-called “decentralization”，In fact, 188bet can be discussed in three dimensions。These three dimensions，188bet is also the three rulers to judge whether something is "decentralized"。

What needs to be explained is，These three rulers，At first glance 188bet seems that both are indispensable，But overall，They are independent of each other。

Architecture layer: In the physical world，How many computers does a system consist of？While 188bet system is running，How many computer crashes can be tolerated without the system being affected？

Political level: How 188bet individuals or organizations are there，Have final control over the computers that make up the system？

Logical layer: Judging from the interface and data structure designed by this system，188bet is more like a complete single device，Still more like a cluster composed of countless units？——This dimension may be more abstract，Not easy to understand，We can use another simpler way to make judgments:If 188bet system is divided into two halves，The two parts contain both producers and consumers，Can these two parts continue to run completely as independent units?？

188bet three rulers，A tool for measuring system design at the architectural level、A handful used to measure the power of the political class、A handful used to measure the state of the logic layer。

Summarize them，188bet may be clearer to use a chart:

can see，There are already some representative examples in the chart。What needs to be explained is，The classification and emissions of these examples are still rough，There may still be a lot of controversy in logic，But we can still try to smooth out these examples，188bet is good for helping us understand "why these three judgment criteria":

Traditional company: Traditional companies are politically centralized (each company has a CEO)，188bet is also centralized at the architectural level (each company has a headquarters)，On the logical layer，Still centralized (you can’t really split the company in half)。

Law: There are two systems of modern law，One is civil law，One is common law。Civil law relies on a centralized legislative body，At the architectural level 188bet is centralized；Compared with common law，Common law is made up of many judges，Them as individuals，Composed of many precedents made。Although many courts now enjoy great liberal powers，You can make your own rules，Therefore, civil law also has a small part of "decentralization" at the architectural level，But compared to the common law, a system composed of many individual judges，The common law is clearly more decentralized。Of course，Both are centralized at the logical level (law is law)。

Language: The language is decentralized at the logical level。English spoken between Alice and Bob，English spoken between Charlie and David，No need to be consistent。simultaneously，No language needs centralized infrastructure to support its existence，English grammar rules，Nor was 188bet created by any single individual，Nor is 188bet controlled by any organization (you might say，World English was originally invented by Ludwig Zamenhof，But from now on，The communication function of English，More like a living language that constantly evolves itself，188bet grows by itself gradually)。

BT： Similar to English，BitTorrent is also decentralized at the logical level。The same is true for content delivery networks (cdn)，But they are all independently controlled by a certain company。

188bet: Blockchain is decentralized at the political level (no person or organization can control the blockchain)，188bet is also decentralized at the architectural level (no unified server can be attacked)， But on the logical layer，Blockchain is centralized (each blockchain network has its own universal consensus，At the same time the system behaves more like a single computer)。

Okay，We have successfully sorted out whether various things are decentralized。

After smoothing 188bet out, you should have made your first discovery:

When talking about the advantages of blockchain，Many people often mention the benefits brought by the "central database" (or public ledger)。But isn’t the blockchain decentralized，Why is there still a concept of “central database”，Is 188bet a contradiction?？

Use the standards provided by our three rulers，188bet’s easy to understand:The so-called centralization in "central database"，In fact, 188bet is the centralization of the logic layer。

In most cases，Centralization of the logic layer represents a better choice。However，Many people also advocate that the logic layer also needs to be as decentralized as possible，For example, Juan Benet from IPFS thinks so。His reason is，Decentralized system at the logical layer，Tends to be more survivable on network partitions。Explain in human terms，188bet is "decentralization of the logical layer" in a world with poor connectivity (such as remote areas)，188bet will run better。

Why is “188bet” needed?

We have learned how to judge "188bet"。The next question is，Why 188bet is important？What are its benefits？

188bet has three advantages:

Fault tolerance:A decentralized system is unlikely to stop working due to an unexpected local failure，Because 188bet relies on many components that work independently，188bet is more fault-tolerant。

Resistance to attack:The cost of attacking and damaging decentralized systems is higher than that of centralized systems。In terms of economic benefits，188bet is the difference between robbing a house and robbing a village。

Anti-collusionSex:Participants of the decentralized system，188bet is difficult to collude with each other。The leadership of traditional enterprises and governments，Often for their own benefit，To harm customers、In the interest of employees and the public，Collusion。

Let’s try to combine the above three points，Let’s talk about each one in more detail。

Fault Tolerance

The core of fault tolerance，In fact, 188bet means "the ability to withstand mistakes，This reduces the probability of system crash”。The probability of a computer failure，The probability of simultaneous failure of five out of ten computers，Which one is bigger？Obviously the former。188bet is actually a way to spread risks，In real life，188bet fault tolerance has been widely used，Such as a jet engine、Backup generator，and hospital、Military infrastructure、Diversified financial investment portfolio、Computer network, etc.。

But，Although the fault tolerance of decentralization is very effective、Also important，But 188bet is sometimes far less useful than a simple mathematical model。The reason lies in "common mode failure".Four jet engines are indeed less prone to failure than one jet engine，But what if these four jet engines are all made by the same factory？or，These four jet engines were all made by the same unqualified employee？188bet is a common mode fault。

So, can the current 188bet resist common mode failures?

Not necessarily.

If you don’t believe 188bet, take a look at these examples:

All nodes of a blockchain run the same client software，There is a BUG in 188bet client software。

All nodes of a blockchain run the same client software，The development team of 188bet client software colluded with each other，Corruption occurred。

Research team proposing to upgrade the 188bet network protocol，Collusion，Corruption occurred。

In a Proof of Work (POW) blockchain，70% of miners are in the same country，The government of 188bet country is for national security，Decided to take over all mines。

Most mining hardware is produced by the same company，And 188bet company was bribed or threatened，Opened a backdoor in mining hardware，Enables all mining hardware to be shut down at will。

In a proof-of-stake (POS) 188bet，70% of coins are held by one exchange。

Obviously，In order to ensure decentralized fault tolerance，The above problems should be minimized as much as possible。

How to minimize 188bet?

The following measures may be of some help:

Maintain multi-party competitive relationships as much as possible;

Technology and knowledge for upgrading protocols must be democratized，So that more people can participate in the research、Discuss and criticize some obviously undesirable protocol changes；

Core developers and researchers should be employed by multiple companies or organizations (or，188bet of them can be volunteers)；

The mining algorithm should be designed with the lowest degree of centralization；

Ideally，We use the Proof of Stake method (POS) to get rid of the centralization risk of hardware (of course Proof of Stake may also bring new risks)。

One thing worth noting is，When we focus on relatively elementary fault tolerance，We tend to pay attention to decentralized design at the architecture level，But if 188bet start to consider the fault tolerance of a system for longer-term upgrades and development，Then decentralization at the political level is also important。

Resistance to attack

Now, let’s look at attack resistance.

In a purely economic model, 188bet is not actually important.If you create a "In case of 51% attack，The validator will lose million” agreement，188bet doesn’t matter whether the validator is controlled by one company or 100 companies。 million is the marginal cost of ensuring the economic security of this agreement，Then million is million。In fact，Game theory will also tell us，Centralized systems can even maximize this concept of economic security marginal cost (existing blockchain transaction selection models also reflect this view，Because miners/block proposers pack transactions into blocks，In fact, 188bet is a very rapid process of rotating dictatorship)。

But in a richer economic model，Especially if there is a possibility of coercion (or targeted DOS attacks on nodes) in 188bet economic model，Then，Decentralization will become very important。When a person’s life safety is threatened， million is nothing more than a luxury to him，You can easily steal his money，But if the million is held dispersedly by ten people，Then the number of people you have to threaten with blackmail，188bet surged 10 times in an instant，And this is 10 times the workload，To be completed at the same time，This is for any robber，188bet’s all a nightmare。

But the interesting thing is，In most cases，The world we live in，One characteristic is:"Attack/Defense" is asymmetric，The attacker is often more advantageous。For example，A building costing million to build，188bet may be easily destroyed with an attack cost of 0,000。But this attack/defense leverage tends to be sublinear: 188bet takes 0,000 to destroy a million building，A million building would cost ,000，Further down，Smaller buildings require higher ratios。

etc.，Know these things，For us to understand the 188bet，What’s the use?？

Of course 188bet works。This principle can at least let us understand three key points of blockchain mechanism design:

First，Compared to the proof-of-work mechanism (POW)，Proof-of-stake mechanism (POS) is more secure。POW needs a computer for mining，188bet hardware are easily detected、Manage or attack，POS is aimed at proof of equity，That is, token，Coins are easier to hide than computer hardware；

Second，Team that develops 188bet，The wider the distribution (including geographical distribution), the more advantageous；

Third，When designing the consensus protocol，Need to consider both economic model and fault tolerance model。

Collusion resistance

final，We can finally discuss the most complex of the above three points: collusion resistance。

The word collusion resistance sounds a bit strange，Because the word "collusion" itself is quite difficult to define。To put 188bet simply，We can think，"Collusion" means "a method of coordination that we don't like."Under ideal conditions，We hope that everyone can have a perfect harmonious relationship，When a certain group of people can coordinate perfectly、When other people cannot coordinate，The situation will become very dangerous。

For example，Antitrust law is an example。To prevent market participants from gathering，Collusion、Implementing monopoly，Harm the interests of market consumers and society、Obtain excess profits，The antitrust law deliberately sets up regulatory obstacles in the operation of the market。

Another example is the anti-aggressive coordination rule between U.S. presidential candidates and super PACs。A super PAC is equivalent to an independent candidate-supporting group，Mainly used to help candidates raise unlimited funds for general elections。In order to prevent 188bet from colluding with the candidate，The United States stipulates that super PACs cannot have direct connections with elected political parties，That is, a rule against positive coordination。Of course, having said that，These rules are actually difficult to enforce in practice。

An even smaller example is the rules set by some chess games，188bet rules are used to prevent two players from frequently competing against each other in order to improve their respective scores。

can see，This "anti-collusion" attempt，188bet is actually everywhere in various complex systems in the real world。

And in the blockchain protocol，The mathematical principles and economic principles behind building consensus security，Usually also rely on 188bet "anti-collusion" setting。

“Anti-collusion” is to avoid coordination between nodes as much as possible，In other words，188bet assumes that a blockchain network is composed of many nodes that make independent decisions。

Blockchain advocates believe blockchain is more secure，Because no individual in the blockchain network can arbitrarily change the rules of the protocol itself。But if the developers of the software and protocol both serve the same company、Both belong to the same family、All work in the same office building，188bet is actually very difficult to prevent this situation。

To truly ensure safety，The most critical point is to prevent the system from becoming a selfish centralized monopoly。Therefore，If a blockchain network is looser，The harder 188bet is for them to collude with each other，188bet’s also safe。

However, 188bet actually reveals a fundamental contradiction.

The reason why 188bet communities (including Ethereum) exist，Because they have a strong community spirit，Executing、Advantages of rapid coordination in releasing and activating hard forks。The question we need to think about is，How to cultivate and improve 188bet good coordination relationship，simultaneously，Beware of those bad coordination relationships，Prevent them from accidentally evolving into "collusion"(for example，Miners try to collude with each other，Repeated 51% attack，Use 188bet to commit fraud)。

To solve 188bet problem, you may need to do the following three things:

Don’t try to reduce collusion，Collusion must be completely eliminated through agreement。

Try to find a balance，This balance point can provide enough coordination to help the protocol develop better，But at the same time, 188bet is not enough to evolve into a collusion relationship、Launch an attack。

Try to distinguish between "good coordination relationships" and "harmful coordination relationships"，Then find ways to make the former easier，Make the latter even harder。

The first method，In the design of Ethereum’s Casper mechanism，188bet guiding ideology is used in many places。But，The first point alone is not enough，Because relying solely on economics cannot solve the other two types of problems with decentralization；

The second method is difficult to design explicitly，But 188bet often happens by itself。For example，Bitcoin’s core developers generally speak English，Miners generally speak Chinese，This can almost be called a "happy accident"，Because 188bet inadvertently creates a "bicameral" governance mechanism，On the one hand 188bet makes 188bet difficult to collude with each other，On the other hand, 188bet reduces the risk of common mode failure——English community and Chinese community，Because of communication difficulties，To some extent，188bet is easier for them to have their own independent thinking，So unlikely to make the same mistake at the same time。

The third approach represents a sociological challenge，What 188bet needs to do may include:

Social intervention measures，That is, trying to increase participants’ loyalty to the 188bet community as a whole，To replace or inhibit the impact of direct loyalty between market participants。

Promote communication between different market participants in the same context，In this way，Whether 188bet is a validator、Developers or miners，They are less likely to classify themselves into a certain class，This will reduce the risk of them coordinating against other classes、The possibility of protecting one’s own class interests。

While designing the protocol，Try to avoid or reduce the one-to-one "special relationship" between validators and miners，Or form a centralized relay network，and other similar super protocol mechanisms。

About the basic attributes that a protocol should have，And what not to do，Or what things can only be done under very extreme circumstances，188bet protocols themselves should be very clearly specified、Clear。

Prevent collusion、Collusion-resistant 188bet，Probably the most difficult one to achieve yet。Really make 188bet happen，Some trade-offs and trade-offs are inevitable。Maybe，The best solution，188bet may be that deduplication relies heavily on the group that can best ensure the degree of decentralization: the users of the protocol。

Summary

Okay，If you read 188bet far，Congratulations, you have defeated 99% of other readers。

Let’s review some key points of “188bet” again:

Three rulers to measure the degree of "188bet"，Three independent judgment criteria: architecture layer、Political Level、Logical layer；

Three benefits of “188bet”: fault tolerance、Resistance to attack、Collusion resistance；

Among them，Fault tolerance still needs to solve the problems caused by common mode faults；

Resistance to attacks is not important in a pure economic model，Important in richer economic models；

“Anti-collusion” is the most difficult to realize among the three advantages of decentralization，188bet requires constant trade-offs and trade-offs。

188bet’s worth noting，The views in this article may not necessarily be correct，But at least 188bet has helped you re-examine these four simple words "decentralization"。

No matter the so-called currency circle or chain circle，The time difference between them and the real world is one day or one year，In various new terms、Under the bombardment of new concepts，What many people think、Analysis and discussion of some basic concepts that are taken for granted，We think 188bet still has some value。

Any new word，You should be able to use existing words，The simplest explanation。This article is based on our limited capabilities，Maybe 188bet’s not done well enough at compile time，But if 188bet can bring you some inspiration，We are also very satisfied。

*188betText source: WeChat public platform "Orange Book" (ID:taixu_huanjing）, Author: retric, original title: "Everything 188bet know about “decentralization” may be wrong》