Bitcoin Forum

What's an easy way to explain bitcoins, the blockchain and mining to people that aren't so tech literate

You start by looking at all your posts and see that you post single sentence worthless comments
designed to increase your post count for your yobit signature campaign.

See this thread for your reference: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1375023.msg13988232#msg13988232 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1375023.msg13988232#msg13988232)

I try telling them its like banks use electronic transactions for money transfers,etc, bitcoin allows for people to invest by mining like shareholders and keep the cycle going, similar to banks-using atm's can cost money, this case the miners.........not the bank, profit. Nowadays the world is about electronic banking, its just part of it. (although some don't like looking at it that way, its related to fiat prices)

You can say that bitcoin lets you move money around the world like Western Union, but cheaper and quicker; it lets you make purchases electronically like Paypal or credit cards without the middle man; and it lets you hold/store money without a bank.

Would just like to point out the next two posts after mine were yobit sig posters, must be a coincidence, right?

Saved for the record:  https://web.archive.org/web/20160224175722/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1375824.msg13996680 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160224175722/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1375824.msg13996680)

I don't care if they were yobit sig posters, atleast I got a useful answer from them

Yes, at least you wrote a useful answer for them.

Best way is to use comparisons with things that they already understand. Easiest way to explain.

I posted to give an answer, are you trying to imply something about me ?

Magic internet pirate money.

I think that the better you can do to explain it, is finding an store where you can pay with bitcoins, and show them that bitcoin is money because you can buy products with it. People use debit or credit cards and don't know how they work, they now that its money because they can shop with it, if they see that with a mobile app they can use a bitcoin wallet to buy a product they will understand that bitcoin is money.

I feel doing such a try is very difficult. Basically there are a huge number of people who are educated but does't have interest towards technology.
To make such people is not that easy. Initially an interest has to be generated within them. If that happens the rest is not a big deal.

Bitcoin is isolate from the gov. and idiocratie.


When Wallstreet and gov. crash and do nothing to help people ... Bitcoin does.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img908/9426/H3ygMn.gif

The best way to teach non tech people about bitcoin is about the same used to teach people who don't know how to read and count using money.
If they understand it like true money, they get quite fast

I think you can perhaps explain it using the illustration of old gold mining. People looked for gold with their hash and get some money. Then they could spend it. Computers do the same... they "hash" for certain info/chains that could be used as money.

The only way would be to demonstrate it right in front of their eyes so they could experience it first hand since talking them through it, won't make any difference (at all since I'm in a family that their less techy as a whole and have tried everything which didn't worked that much). You could also download some YouTube videos and let them watch it so they get the introduction somehow (it worked a little bit on my case).

Dont bother.

Their life is hard enough as it is.

If they are not illiterate enough to use google to search these terms you are discussing then don't bother.

It's online money without a bank. The people using bitcoin sell and buy it, and that's how it keeps alive. That's how i explained it to my friends, and they got hold of the idea pretty quick.

just say bitcoin is a digital currency, you cant touch it but you can spend it,

if explain mining just explain, every transaction there will be cents dropping to floor, mining job is to collect that cents

I also said to my friends that bitcoin is such as e-money. We get it online and we can exchange it into fiat money so we can spend it, but they're still confused

If they're still confused, then it's impossible. I tried to do that too in a cashier when the person before me tried to payed with a credit card. It took 20 minutes and about 2 calls to the bank to have the transaction processed and during that time it piqued his interest bu can't understand it. They just don't get how crypto works.

I don't think it's right to explain bitcoin mining to people who are not tech-literate. It's like explaining how 'magical money' grows in your computer then you harvest it after a week or a month and poof you get cash out of thin air.

It will take great efforts to explain tech-illiterate people as they don't want to learn something new, and majority of people don't have faith in new technology so it would be a great challenge to explain them.

Simple way is to teach them that it is also like any other  currency, the currency which will be used widely in future. If they know about them before, it will be better for them when bitcoins will be the main currency everywhere.
If possible ask them to google Bitcoin and get more information on it and wallets etc.

recently I came across a friend who doesn't even know how to create a folder and organize files on a PC, and she just called me asking about bitcoin. I was half way in shock. People with no knowledge of PC and internet also are interested to know about bitcoins and its difficult to explain them. But I try my level best to bring them into bitcoin ecosystem.

explain bitcoin,tell to them that bitcoins is crypto currency,currency that have no physical shape,simply "money from internet"
explain to them that mining is like mining gold on the ground,but its mining bitcoin from computer,algorithm solving.

someone who is not literate or lay on the technology will be very difficult to explain about bitcoin, they do not necessarily know about the internet. so I do not advise to invite it to join with bitcoin, it is better to find someone who already know about the Internet, it will be easier

 and mostly they are the younger generation, it is very easy to explain when they have atleast an idea on basics about computer and internet, elderly people seems like they are not interested anymore in any new technology,  :)