Sam Magner on Nostr: Good question. The way I think of it is that we are proving it to the physical ...

Good question. The way I think of it is that we are proving it to the physical universe. For instance, ignoring bitcoin for a moment. Going back to first principles and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Humans began with the necessity of finding clean water and a food source. Without putting in that proof of work, they died. They did not prove it to anyone aside from the laws of nature that govern our world. Find water, drink it or die. That’s the basis of proof of work, in my opinion. Advance up the hierarchy and Bitcoin became a protocol that represents monetary value through proof of work. Ie any 1 BTC in the protocol has had the exact equivalent amount of work done to produce it. In this case we are proving out to the others participating in the network.