From The Telephone To The Blockchain: Understanding The Power Of Analogy

If you have read any number of my past articles then you will know that one of my favourite story telling devices is the use of analogy.

Quite simply put, an analogy is a situation whereby you compare a familiar action or event, with one that is unknown. For example you might say to someone that doing a particular action is like riding a bike. By saying this you are conveying to the person that the new action they are about to undertake, is one that is simple and once practised will not be forgotten.

When first looked at, it seems that analogy is just an interesting story telling device. A way of conveying information in an engaging and entertaining way. However analogy is more important than that. In fact the use of analogy is intrinsically linked to the development of the human race.

Let us find out exactly how and why this is the case. First though, let's take a look at the history of analogy using another one of my favourite devices, the thought experiment.

An Analogous History Of Humankind

Imagine for a second that you are the inventor of the telephone and you are trying to explain to a potential investor in your product exactly what the telephone is.

Of course you could simply say that it is a device used to speaking with people over great distances.

Now don't forget that the year is 1875 and there is nothing around that even closely resembles the telephone. The main means of communication are letter writing, and the telegraph, which is a device that communicates meaning using Morse code.

The danger of using your plain and simple example is that the investor might not see the benefit of your telephone over the existing methods of communication. He might wonder why anyone would need a telephone when they can simply go to the telegraph office or write a letter.

If instead you told your investor that, the telephone will be like having a portable telegraph machine that you can control with your voice. The investor might then begin to see the benefits of having such a device. He himself has sent many a telegraph and immediately understands the benefits of using one.

You could even go further and tell him that speaking into your machine is exactly like dictating a message to the telegraph operator. Except now you won't have to wait for a reply as you'll be speaking directly to the recipient.

Now he can see why someone would want a voice-controlled telegraph machine, because not everyone knows Morse code. He can also see that it would save time by having one in your house. Satisfied that you're onto something, he gives you the money to invest.

Whilst this may seem a bit of a trivial thought experiment to you, especially as we are talking about an invention that has been around for more than 140 years. The fact is Antonio Meuci developed the first basic telephone in 1848, and later in 1854 the French inventor Charles Bourseul also devised a phone.

However it wasn't until 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell submitted his patent to the U.S. patent office, that the invention began to gain traction. Bell managed to attract large sums of investment to make his idea a reality.

Just a couple of years later there were over 48,000 phones in existence, and by 1905 there were 2.2 million devices worldwide.

The Function Of Analogy

It can be argued that the main function of analogy is to help us glimpse the future, in that a good analogy brings a familiar feel to an unknown quantity.

For example, if I say to you that learning to code is like climbing a mountain in a blizzard in your underwear, without proper equipment.

You are immediately imagining your future as a novice software developer to be difficult and uncomfortable.

However if I say to you that learning to code is like learning how to use Lego bricks. At first you just use the simple ones to create basic structures. After creating many basic structures, you start to learn about how to use the more complex bricks to build more sophisticated structures.

After hearing this your perception of coding might still be that it is difficult. However you are now left with the impression that it is in fact quite easy to pick up at first, and that it is a slow methodical and totally learnable process (of course if you're not familiar with Lego, then I'd have to use some other building blocks that you were familiar with).

The fact is both of these analogies could be classed as correct. However one will perhaps get you into coding, and the other will have you running for the hills!

So analogy helps us see the future, and the better the analogy the more accurate our imagined future will be.

Take for instance some of the things said about the telephone in the early 19th century.

The telephone will,

help further democracy;

lead to additional advances in networked communications;

allow social decentralisation, resulting in a movement out of cities and more flexible work arrangements;

alter the ways in which wars are fought.

increase contact between peoples of all nations and thus fostering world peace.

increase crime and aid criminals

someday lead to an advanced form of the transmission of intelligence.

If you look at these various predictions, some of them are spot on, others not so much. For instance did the telephone help further democracy? Perhaps in some kind of oblique way, but that is not really altogether obvious.

What about alter ways in which wars are fought? Hmmm, I suppose.

Has the telephone increased crime, or brought about world peace? Methinks not.

When you read these statements, you can easily imagine who had been given a bad analogy. You can also tell the people who were given an almost correct analogy of what the telephone was.

The only statement in there that seems to have been borne out of a good analogy would be the last one. In fact that statement is so spot on, I imagine that the analogy they were given was probably close to the talking telegraph one that I gave above.

"We do not see that this device will be ever capable of sending recognizable speech over a distance of several miles. Messer Hubbard and Bell want to install one of their 'telephone devices' in every city.

The idea is idiotic on the face of it. Furthermore, why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the United States?

Mr. G.G. Hubbard's fanciful predictions, while they sound rosy, are based on wild-eyed imagination and lack of understanding of the technical and economic facts of the situation, and a posture of ignoring the obvious limitations of his device, which is hardly more than a toy ... This device is inherently of no use to us. We do not recommend its purchase."

- 1876 Report on usefulness of the telephone by Western Union Investigation Committee

Hmm, it would seem this was written after reading a proposal devoid of any analogy at all. Therefore the writers' of this report did not have any way of familiarising the new and strange concept.

Future Think

So what does this all mean to you, a global citizen living in the 21st century?

To be honest it means the same as it did in 1848, or even in 1440 (year printing press was invented). It basically means that when you are trying to pass on concepts to people who are not aware of them. Or even to those who are confused about a new idea or technology, you should think carefully about the analogies you use.

Why? Well because if you are explaining a concept to someone, it means you care enough about it that you want that person to get it.

Getting your analogy wrong may delay that person getting into (or avoiding) whatever you're trying to explain to them.

For instance, I remember being told that a computer was like a big calculator, and later still a word processor. At the time both of those things were useless analogies for my young mind. If I needed a calculator then I had one already, and couldn't possibly think of a calculation that it couldn't do. Then later I had no idea what the processing of words entailed.

It was only years later when I discovered that you could play games on a computer, that my interest was piqued.

Later still I remember someone trying to explain email to me. I can't recall the exact analogy they used, something about electronic letters I believe. However I do remember saying that I couldn't fathom why anybody would ever want an email address, and how if it was to replace the postal service, was anyone meant to send a parcel via email?! (LOL).

Fast forward to circa 2009/2010, and somebody told me that Bitcoin was like internet money. Whilst this may convey the base meaning of Bitcoin, it is not a very good analogy to use. This is for the simple fact that when hearing this I, like many others thought; well why do I need internet money; and what's the difference between that and real cash?

The Analogous Blockchain

Many people reading this are enthusiastic about cryptocurrency and the potential of the blockchain. You have probably already had conversations whereby you tried to explain Bitcoin, Steem, Ether or any one or more of a number of different cryptos.

My advice to you would be, before you have another one of those conversations, try and find a suitable analogy or set of analogies to illustrate your points.

Remember it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Different analogies will work with different people, it will depend on their own cultural points of reference. It is your job as the conveyor of information to work out what those points of reference are, and how to fit them into your analogies.

By doing so, whether you are talking about the Steem blockchain, a new business idea, or a design for a piece of art. You will be able to cement your idea in the head of the person or people you are talking to.

Not only that, you will learn more about the subject yourself, helping you to better understand it now and in the future.

Which one of the Bitcoin and blockchain analogies below (if any) do you think best serve the purpose of explaining the technology to someone who doesn't understand it? Also which ones do you think do it a great disservice?

"Bitcoin is the most important invention in the history of the world since the Internet."

“Whereas most technologies tend to automate workers on the periphery doing menial tasks, blockchains automate away the center. Instead of putting the taxi driver out of a job, blockchain puts Uber out of a job and lets the taxi drivers work with the customer directly.”

“Bitcoin will do to banks what email did to the postal industry.”

“Bitcoin is a technological tour de force.”

“It’s gold for nerds.”

“There are 3 eras of currency: Commodity based, politically based, and now, math based.”

“Virgin Galactic is a bold entrepreneurial technology. It’s driving a revolution. And bitcoin is doing just the same when it comes to inventing a new currency.”

Sources & Further Reading

1870s - 1940s Telephone - Elon University

Antonio Meuci - Wiki

23 Fascinating Bitcoin And Blockchain Quotes Everyone Should Read - Forbes, Bernard Marr

DO YOU HAVE ANY EXAMPLES OF GOOD AND BAD ANALOGIES? PERHAPS YOU HAVE BEEN ENLIGHTENED ABOUT A NEW CONCEPT WHEN SOMEBODY USED A BRILLIANT ANALOGY? OR MAYBE YOU HAVE BEEN TOTALLY CONFUSED BY A BAD ONE?

ALSO WHICH BITCOIN ANALOGIES DO YOU THINK ARE THE BEST ONES AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE? CAN YOU COME UP WITH BETTER ONES?

AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Title image: Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

Cryptogee