There was this short video that made rounds on Linkedin the other day.
The interviewer was asking folks at a conference “How would you explain Blockchain to your grandma?” and had some fun with their answers, most people struggling, some jokes, etc. I think it’s a cool question to ambush people with.
It also perfectly fits my series about translating technobabble to human language. So I should go ahead and latch onto this, creating an awesome explanation.
… actually, no.
And I don’t mean to imply grandmothers don’t understand human language or whatever.
Let me be a douchebag and answer the above question with a question: how much did people learn about mobile phones by reading or listening about them?
I don’t have any numbers for you, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a sizable enough to care.
Now, of course we had phrases like “it’s like a normal dial phone, but you can carry it anywhere”
You can have the same or similar for Blockchain – “it’s like a normal ledger, but you can’t manipulate it”
But these explanations, ads, etc wasn’t what got over 50% of human population using smartphones in less than a generation. Daily use did that. Utility.
Ability to touch, see and fiddle around with these things. Eventually this even became a need, because when everyone uses a phone it’s that much harder to skip out on it.
This actually goes back to the Socratic dialogue: you have to always engage the other person in your communication. Otherwise it’s one-sided and worthless. Talking at other people isn’t gonna cut it, gotta talk with them. Practice and utility bombshells when it comes to engagement.
So, how would I explain Blockchain to grandma? Whip out my phone and show her how to get us a pizza.
Cheers,
Alex
P.S: Speaking of helping people with communication, I’ve updated my book a bit and rewrote some parts. Go here to check it out if you are not subscribed yet.