For a beginner who is just starting out on Hive and has not been a part of any crypto platforms previously, learning about the various blockchain concepts can be really intimidating.

Recently on the Hive India Discord Server, a friend of mine named @himotherapy asked a question.

"Wow!"

"Now, How do I explain blockchain concepts like Resource Credits and Mana to a 5 year old kid?"

I didn't reply immediately as I knew I had to simplify this to help her understand.

I chewed on this thought for a while.

In my mind, I knew that I had to somehow look for an analogy that a kid could relate to.

What else can be more relatable for a kid than cartoons, right?

As a 90’s kid, I grew up watching cartoons like Flintstones, Johnny Bravo, Scooby Doo , Swat cats, Dragon Ball Z and Bayblade.

If I had to just single out the most popular one, it would easily be Pokemon because all of us loved the idea of a boy traveling the world to catch and train these cute little monsters. It was a concept that pretty much all of us bought and lived.

I used the word lived on purpose as a lot of us literally lived virtually as Pokemon Masters through series of games that were released by Nintendo for Game boys, PC's and even Mobile Phones after the recent launch of Pokemon Go.

All of us 90's kids got out to the streets and started walking around to catch a Charizard , Bulbasaur , Chikorita ect after the arrival of Pokemon Go.

It was madness!
My Parents were so worried to see me go out for walks looking at my phone all the time.
They thought I was in a serious relationship or something. Haha.
One of my friends who is an Architect went from being obese to fit after playing this game.
Pokemon surely influenced us all, but it also changed my friends life for good ;)

Hence I couldn’t think of anything better than Pokemon to explain these concepts.

So Himo, Imagine you're a Pokemon

Let's take the most popular one.

Pikachu.

Believe you're a Pikachu.

Pikachu, I choose you.

BPM throws a Pokeball

Pikachu Pops out

Let's start with Mana

Pikachu’s special attack is thunder.

A move which creates an electric whirlpool on top of an enemy, from which a lot of lightning is launched to eventually char its foe.

However, there is a limitation.
It can't use this thunder infinite times a day as it requires a lot of energy.
Pikachu’s energy is very finite.

The first time it uses this move, it's at a 100% efficiency.
Its efficiency reduces to 98% when it uses the same move for the second time in a day.
This efficiency reduces by 2% everytime it uses this move.
When Pikachu uses thunder for the 10th time in the same day, It's only 80% efficient.
This efficiency rate increases at the same time by 2% every 2 hours and 24mins.
So in 24 hours, this efficiency can recharge by 20%.

Hence it's best if Pikachu uses thunder 10 times per day.
Beyond which it still can use thunder, but it wont be as efficient.
So it rests for 24hrs and recharges its energy for the next day.

This energy efficiency percentage is equivalent to Mana on Hive.
We have limitations to voting effectively like Pikachu has limitations to use its special move, Thunder.

Now for the Resource Credits.

This is the minimum amount of hold items like berries and potion that Pikachu has to hold to keep itself stable to perform various attacks like quick attack, thunder, thunder bolt and agility.

This minimum amount is 15 berries and potions.

Just holding 15 berries and potion, doesn’t mean that you can use these moves infinitely. Continuous usage of these move can cause a temporary paralysis which prevents Pikachu from using its moves for sometime.

Here, we also have a limitation factor and the stability regenerates by only 22% a day.

However during such state of Paralysis , you can give Pikachu more berries and potions to get some immediate relief.

These Berries and Potions are equivalent to Hive Power in the Hive Blockchain

The various moves are represented by activities like:

Thunder Attack = Voting
Thunder Bolt Attack = Commenting
Quick Attack = Powering Up
Agility Attack = Hive Transfers

So the more Hive you have staked as Hive Power, the more of these activities you can perform.

That means a user with 100 Hive Power will be able to vote and comment continuously for a longer time than a user with 15 Hive Power.

Even if you don’t have Hive power of your own, I am sure someone from the Hive Discord Server will be happy to help you with a delegation just to get you started.

If you wish to learn more about Resource Credits, here is an awesome article by @shortsegments that will tell you everything you need to know.

BPM points the Pokeball at Pikachu and says

"Pikachu Return."

Pikachu goes back into the Pokeball

Final Thoughts

I initially thought I should just reply to Himo on Hive India Discord Server, but then I realised that there must be so many other 90's kid like her on Hive, who are just starting out and are trying to figure out these concepts.

That's why I decided to make this a blog so that such newbies can benefit.

Also at the same time, I must admit that I was skeptic when I started writing this blog as this is the 1st time I am attempting to explain crypto concepts. There's a high probability that I can go wrong.

So if this is case, I would request you to point the mistake I made in the comments below without any hesitation.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Liked this article? Feel free to comment and reblog.

_{Cartoon Art by @turtledance24}

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