

How to explain zero-knowledge protocols to your children (1998) [pdf] - ColinWright
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mkowalcz/628.pdf

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bmn_
I love this. It could be one of the stories the [Young Lady's Illustrated
Primer might tell Princess
Nell]([http://enwp.org/The_Diamond_Age](http://enwp.org/The_Diamond_Age)) when
she ventures forth from Castle Turing.

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Eiriksmal
The finest book I've ever read. Perhaps by the time my 2-year-old is ~13, a
nano-scale machinebook will exist that can teach the both of us about zero-
knowledge protocols. I understand, at the surface level, how it works, but am
far too dense to see how such a system could exist in, say, computer
authentication.

~~~
atmosx
Hm, is it that good??? I've read only 2 NS novels and really loved them
(Cryptonomicon & SnowCrash).

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gknoy
The Diamond Age is my favorite, by far, of the work of his that I've read
(including the two you mentioned). It's very very good. I like the way he
imagines a world where everyone can print whatever they need from The Feed
(nanomachines + materials), and yet it's so different from the techno-utopias
we have seen before where such is possible.

Most importantly, I really liked the characters (just like I did in Snow
Crash). It's interesting in that there doesn't seem to be an antagonist,
really -- it's more about the journey of the young lady. It's a neat fairy
tale.

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r00fus
I never really noticed the "no antagonist" until you just mentioned it - I
find that's a sign of maturity in a literary work - a story can be riveting by
just seeing different people/organizations in contention with their own aims -
not the simplistic good vs. evil trope.

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anirudhan
Can someone give some background on zero knowledge protocols and how this pdf
relates to the protocol?

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bnegreve
A good definition from the PDF:

 _He wanted, in fact, to show that it is possible to convince without
revealing, and so without unveiling his secret._

Or from wikipedia [1]:

 _In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof or zero-knowledge protocol is a
method by which one party (the prover) can prove to another party (the
verifier) that a given statement is true, without conveying any information
apart from the fact that the statement is indeed true._

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-
knowledge_proof](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof)

~~~
ecesena
I think the privacy component is also important (somehow hidden in "without
unveiling his secret", but not so clear imo). When Alice proves her knowledge
to Bob, no external party would "believe in the proof", as A & B might have
colluded.

