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Introduction

Greetings, dear friends. I guess we all are strong and healthy? I wish to participate in this course lectured by @yousafharoonkhan. I have gone through the lecture and have acquired a greater knowledge on Decentralization and also Centralization. Now I wish to write base on my understanding about Decentralization, the merits and demerits of Decentralization, features of a Decentralized system, Areas of Fire life a Decentralized Blockchain can be helpful.

QUESTIONS
•DEFINE DECENTRALIZATION.

•DESCRIBE THE ADVANTAGES *AND"

•DISADVANTAGES OF A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM.

•IN WHAT AREA OF LIFE CAN A DECENTRALIZED BLOCKCHAIN BE HELPFUL? (write in own words).

DEFINE DECENTRALIZATION
Decentralization is the dispersion of activities in an organization among members of that organization. Decentralization is a process where we don't have a single authority in charge or in control. Decentralization is also a process where all organizational activities are delegated among members instead of having one central authority control the activities.
It simply means that everyone is free in their decision making.

Decentralization involves the transfer of authority to all members; here everyone has the right to decision making and also has all the information needed, there is no central body that makes decision or control and regulate the affairs of others.

A contradictory system of Decentralization is called Centralization. Centralization is a system where a single body controls the affairs of all. It is a system where power and authority is vested on one central body.
Example: A bank runs in a centralized system, where one has to go through rigorous processes to send and receive fiat. Social media platforms like facebook, twitter, etc. runs in a centralized system.

The beauty of a Decentralized system is that is assures freedom, transparency,secure transaction. Visualize where thousand and one computers are used to run a transaction, what do you think will happen? you will notice the fastness of such transaction. Each computer serves as a server, and if any computer breaks down, it will not affect the whole system.

All the computers connected to this system are called nodes

STEEMIT is an example of a Decentralized platform where no authority or single body is in charge of any user's account. Every user on steemit runs their account the way they wish. Steemit users can send or receive funds without the authorization of the steemit board.

FEATURES OF A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM
•Transactions is peer-to-peer. There is pure absence of a third-party.

•Network is shared across different nodes. There is no such thing as Central server.

• No breakdown of one computer affects others.

ADVANTAGES OF A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM

EASY AND FAST TRANSACTION: Transferring steem from Mr A to Mr B happens within seconds. It does not require a third-party. It is strictly a peer-to-peer transaction.

Unlike a bank that when money (fiat) is transferred to Mr B from Mr A, Mr B waits for the bank to recieve the money(as a third party)and then the bank decides when to send alert to Mr B and when Mr B gets laert to at least confirm that the transaction was successful before making head way to the bank to also undergo another strenuous process.

TRANSPARENCY: Every transaction made on a Decentralized system is an open source, where nothing is hidden. Anyone can view a transaction history where you see the time , date and day that transaction was carried out.
Transactions are not hidden on a Blockchain, that's why every system user feels secure.

PRIVACY IS GUARANTEED: There is no central authority that has access to users account or keys in a Decentralized system. Every account user, enjoys high level of privacy in a decentralized system. You choose to access your account at will.

LESS RISK OF HACK:A Decentralized system deals with different nodes and each nodes(computer) serves as a server. It doesn't have a central server thus, hacking becomes difficult in a Decentralized system.
I believe that hacking is easier in a Centralized system where all data and account keys are in a central server.

DISADVANTAGES OF A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM
TRANSACTIONS ARE NOT REVERSIBLE
Any transaction made on a Decentralized system is tamper proof. It can lead to lose of funds. Example; If I want to transfer 100 steem to someone and mistakenly, I send it to a wrong address, the whole 100steem is gone. It cannot be retrieved.

HIGH VOLATILITY
A Decentralized system leads to volatility in price.This is because Cryptocurrencies are the main activitiesbon it at the moment.The price of a crypto can rise and fall over 10% or more in a day which could lead to loses for day traders.

AREAS WHERE A DECENTRALIZED BLOCKCHAIN WOULD BE HELPFUL

POLITICAL AFFAIRS; A Decentralized Blockchain would be helpful especially in election processes. We always have cases of election rigging here in Nigeria, which I believe that with a Decentralized blockchain, we can have a free and fair election.

Imagine a case where some people will vote and some will not,, sometimes we hear that some ballot boxes are missing...
If a Decentralized blockchain is embraced, then the votes can be casted in a Blockchain and no one can ever tamper with the results.

EDUCATION;A Decentralized Blockchain would be beneficial in the sense that it will make visible details of every school child, starting from kindergarten. Most times, people go into certificate forgery, where one wants to answer a graduate, meanwhile, he/she did not attain the kindergarten.

I think with this innovation, every fake certificate will no longer exist because everyone's academic qualification is visible on a Blockchain.

HEALTH; A Decentralized Blockchain would go a long way to help out in this sector. I think it will be easy for a doctor or a nurse to dictate a patient's ailment and make informed decisions about how to administer medications to the patient. This can also be applicable in any part of the world where the doctor does not need to check the patient's file or wait for file to arrive his office before administering medications to the Patient. I think it will also help to save life faster.

•BIRTH AND DEATH RECORD
This is another area where i think Decentralization would be put into good use.Most times we see civil servants falsify their real age inorder to get certain benefits.We see footballers reduce their age so that they can play in certain competitions or to attract higher transfer fees.If Decentralization is applied,it would be difficult for any one to change his birth date because the birth date is immutable on the blockchain.Same as death too,some family members falsify the death certificate of their loved ones just to gain certain benefit from the government.

CONCLUSION
A Decentralized system is one which allows every user to have their freedom. It does not require authorization from a third-party to carry out transaction. Every transaction made on a Decentralized system is transparent there by leaving every user on trust.

It's fastness in transferring funds does not require any third party because it deals with different nodes to carry out transactions.

If this system would be adopted world wide, it will reduce a lot of problems for everyone.