format_quote Originally Posted by
Tim_the_Plumber
If you write that you have no idea about maths. When you say you are a millionare I think you are not telling the truth.
Ok. Let's see if you have any math skills, since you have the temerity of judging other people on theirs. :shade:
As an example, let us establish that it is not hard for me to prove that I control the following bitcoin address:
https://blockchain.info/address/1FMz...v6WiDnBb38kuAP
For the message: Hello
A signature is: G9//wD67GIpQEsmAohXKmVK4v6eIegV9/AQEMQLJRewOcfHR8eiHaMXtoM/rZTsWevqjYIMYYScZWgyrjrOGGw4=
There are obviously an almost infinitely large number of signatures that can all be traced back to the same private key, and therefore bitcoin address.
Here you can verify that this signature is indeed valid:
verification.
Therefore, you know that I control this bitcoin address, and hence that I control the money that it contains. In other words, I would certainly be able to prove that I own a particular amount of money. I obviously have other assets too, besides bitcoin, but for those it would be much more difficult to establish value and prove ownership. Only for cryptocurrencies, it is trivial to do so. But then again, if you had a million dollar or more, you would know this! ;-)
Of course, I could move all my coins into one address and prove that I own them ...
There is, however, a warning against using private keys -- that also control money -- for signing.
Signing weakens Bitcoin security?
I need a better incentive. Seriously, why would I do that?
Furthermore, I may control much more money than I own. Therefore, I could easily deceive you, because the money is not mine. You would only know how much I would be able to steal from other people! ;-)
By the way, since you are so good at math, what is my public key?
format_quote Originally Posted by
Tim_the_Plumber
If you had any understanding of what a=b and (a-b)2 was you would not have posted it as it is zero. a-b (where b is the same as a) = 0. Zero squared is still nothing.
The deceptive statement is: a=b.
What does that mean "deceptive"? It obviously means that it is not true. So, these people believe that a=b, but in reality a is not equal to b. That is why it is called "deceptive".
How do you represent a difference, aka, the actual deception?
You could pick the expression a-b, but there is a problem with that. The deception represented by a-b and by b-a are equally large, but they have opposite signs. So, in order to get rid of the sign, what better function would you use to represent a difference?
A variance, of course: (a-b)²
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variance
The actual magnitude does not matter. You could also pick (a-b)²/4 as a measure for deception. or r*(a-b)² with r an arbitrary constant. Absolute values never mean anything anyway.
These people believe in the deceptive statement because they trust its source. However, it is the aggregate trust itself in a source that makes the source such an interesting target for subversion. The more people trust it, and the more they trust it, the more it is attractive to subvert it, and therefore, the more likely that it has been completely subverted already. That is why it is the belief itself in the deceptive statement that fuels the growth in the deception.
The religious corollary is that there is only one, single source that cannot be subverted: the One God. Everything else will just turn into a bigger lie, the more you believe it.
In fact, it gives the impression that it is our collective belief in the One God that powers the expansion of the universe. This is actually not inconsistent with the claim above, because claiming that the real world corresponds to the truth, is by definition just an arbitrary choice.