this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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I wouldn't consider blockchain "simple". Especially when the alternative truly is simple, where the system is based on a "single" source of truth.
"blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of records (blocks) that are securely linked together via cryptographic hashes."
It is pretty simple. Blockchain is record keeping with cryptographic metadata as a form of discerning its place in the blockchain ledger/history.
The integrity verification is up to the creator of the blockchain or community, which is separate from what the blockchain is and acts as a supplementary system. In fact, blockchain can have a "single source of truth" because it depends on who controls most of the verification stake. such as having over 50% of the "mining" capacity coming a single entity will allow that entity to be the single source of truth. There is a risk that a decentralized network can become centralized. Fortunately, blockchains like Bitcoin and ethereum have a large enough pool of decentralized verification "miners" that keep the system from falling into a centralized entity. I remember when Bitcoin first started becoming popular, there were mining pools that were growing large enough that there could be a single centralized mining network that will control it.
You are correct that there is a complexity, but it is not the blockchain itself that is complex. It is the verification we attach to it when it comes to large-scale decentralization efforts.