"Physical cost function protocols (a.k.a. proof-of-work protocols) are deceptively simple: they convert watts to bits. When people utilize computing networks like the Bitcoin network, they take watts as their input and convert them into proofs-of-watts as their output, which are then metaphorically described as some type of abstract object. Lost in the metaphors, computer and software engineers aren’t taking the time to consider the major technical differences in the underlying physics, despite how observably different it is. Why do these major technical differences go undetected? The author hypothesizes that it could be because proof-of-work represents an unprecedented approach to computing that software engineers aren’t recognizing yet because they have effectively been trained by their industry best practices to ignore what’s happening under the hood of their software by abstracting it away."

- Jason Lowery