Non-Poll: How would you Explain Bitcoin to a 7 year old Child?

[BitcoinPorn]

With how in depth things can get with this magical coin, pretend you have to explain it as simply as possible to a child, do it.

Example on how I guess I would go about it - Can't be as simple as "Mommy leaves her computer running all day and that makes the numbers appear for you to eat lunch with those Amazon gift cards I bought from btcbuy".. but I guess something to explain at least one aspect of Bitcoin to a child where they could understand.

Please show your work with your answer, thanks.

[GeniuSxBoY]

Bitcoinporn + 7 year olds?


Don't you have a restraining order 

[BitcoinPorn]

Bitcoinporn + 7 year olds?


Don't you have a restraining order  

Without that porn that 7 year old would not exist

(inspiration)

[Anonymous]

Bitcoin is a money that runs on computers. Not only the governments' but everyone's. So, only the people get to decide how money is made.

[rethaw]

No you can't have that X-men doll, difficulty is increasing tomorrow!

[Alex Beckenham]

Bitcoin is a way for mummies and daddies to buy their funny sticks online.

[GeniuSxBoY]

"Mommy? Where do bitcoins come from?"

"Well son, when the right public key and the right private key mate, they produce a bitcoin. When society approves your relationship is legitimate, the bitcoin is confirmed by the bitcoin gods." 

[hawks5999]

Son, remember when I showed you that Gold coin and said "This is real money"?
Then I showed you that Dollar bill and said this is money that becomes worth less and less?
On Daddy's computer is some more real money. It's called bitcoin.

[Raoul Duke]

"Mommy? Where do bitcoins come from?"

"Well son, when the right public key and the right private key mate, they produce a bitcoin. When society approves your relationship is legitimate, the bitcoin is confirmed by the bitcoin gods." 

hahahahahaha

WINS!

[tymothy]

It's money that's stored in the computer. When daddy wants to pay someone, he sends the money through the Internet to the other person's pc. Then they get it and can spend it somewhere else!

[unbuttered_toast]

Can seven-year-olds grok abstract concepts yet, or does that come later? My temptation would be to say "Bitcoins are like dollars, except they only exist on computers, and can only be exchanged on the Internet." (Yeah, I know you could have a private key embedded in something hardware; I wouldn't be comfortable with that before I'd sent it to a new address ... and besides, we're talking to a seven-year-old. What do you want from me?)

[DrYe5]

Can seven-year-olds grok abstract concepts yet, or does that come later? My temptation would be to say "Bitcoins are like dollars, except they only exist on computers, and can only be exchanged on the Internet." (Yeah, I know you could have a private key embedded in something hardware; I wouldn't be comfortable with that before I'd sent it to a new address ... and besides, we're talking to a seven-year-old. What do you want from me?)

I'd shorten that to: "It's computer money."

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Jr: Daddy. What is that?

Dad: That's a bitcoin miner.

Jr. What is that?

Dad. It's a machine that mines money that can be used on the internet.

Jr. Can I play with it?

Dad. It's not a toy.

Jr. Can you buy games and stuff with the money you make?

Dad. Yes.

Jr. I need some more Lego blocks. Can you buy me some with all that money you are making?

Dad. I can't right now. I'm still being goxed.

One week later at school.

Teacher: Where did you get all those Lego blocks from?

Jr. My dad bought them from me with the money he makes in the basement. He is rich. You should see all the plants he has down there if you don't believe me.


Kids say the darndest things. Or do they?

[BrainBot]

Your underestimating 7 year olds.

[Alex Beckenham]

Your underestimating 7 year olds.

My underestimating 7 year olds?

[mpfrank]

This very conundrum arose for me in real life:  My 5-year-old son asked me what I was doing at my computer, and I said, "I'm mining Bitcoins."  He said, "What are Bitcoins?"  And I just said, "They're like money, but made of electrons!"  Of course, then he asked, "What are electrons?"  And so I said, "They're the particles that make up electricity."  This didn't help... "What are particles?"  "They're little teeny-tiny specks."  "What are specks?"  "Little dots."  At the end of it all, I think he was just confused.    However, another time when I told him my new graphics card was "a money-making machine," he seemed to accept that pretty easily.

[rethaw]

Try giving examples. For 'what are electrons?' you can show him what static electricity is with a cloth and some plastic. Make his hair stand on end or lift up some bits of paper. It won't explain bitcoin but it will get him excited and make him feel a little less confused!

[herzmeister]

I think the ipad generation of today (7 year olds) can very well understand things like bitcoin.

A much harder question would be how to explain bitcoin to 70 year olds. :->

[bitfreak!]

I think the ipad generation of today (7 year olds) can very well understand things like bitcoin.

A much harder question would be how to explain bitcoin to 70 year olds. :->

Indeed. I think you are fairly correct on that point. Young children don't need to know the technical aspects of Bitcoin anyway. Old people just see it as imaginary make believe money with no real value, not realizing that all their regular money exists on computers as serials and other numbers. Bitcoin could be printed to paper, it would simply require an intermediary to secure the funds and generate a unique note which can only be used redeemed once. But that is entirely wasteful and inefficient, instead you could just put the data onto a CD or onto a memory stick instead of onto paper. That way the physical device for containing and trading Bitcoins can be reused easily.

EDIT: Now that I think about it...that probably wouldn't work because you could easily make a copy of the note/data and redeem it quickly after trading it to someone else.   I'm sure this has been discussed a lot on here already...but there has to be a way to do it. I guess it would have all the same problems of money forgery, but it would be a lot easier since you don't have extremely complex notes that have hardcore oversight by banks and government.

[garyrowe]

Son: What are bitcoins, papa?
Me: Tokens of value, son.
Son: <blank stare>
Me: See this coin? You can give it to someone in exchange for something. But it's just a token. You've seen me pay by credit card, that was another token of value, a different one. Bitcoins are another token of value, but just easier to manage.
Son: Oh, I get it. It's an enhanced form of cryptocurrency that solves the double spend problem through the use of an open block chain. I imagine it'll use SHA256 or something to act as a proof of work so that transactions can be mathematically proved to be correct without the need for an overseeing middleman. And because they're just numbers then they can be stored on arbitrary media making them extremely portable.
Me: <blank stare>