Re: Turing complete language vs non-Turing complete (Ethereum vs Bitcoin)
consider that, under the proposed model of ethereum,
Yes, when I first read their stuff I found it terrifying. Each address is like a little computer, with local state, exchanging messages with other addresses, all within the block-chain. Nice academically, but seeming like a horrendously inefficient way to do computation. It made me think of trying to compute with 1-dimensional finite state automata, or Conway's Game of Life. I get the appeal but I don't think it's practical. ya it does somewhat conjure up the Wolfram works doesn't it?
the basic problem is this: entropy(σ-state) = O(∞).
where σ-state is Ethereum's expanded UTXO concept. in english: the application state has infinite information in it. In addition they lack a useful economic model that offers an incentive for nodes to either store, manage and compute sigma. They've got their wires crossed concerning PoW concepts and the work it takes to compute σ. In bitcoin entropy(σ-state) = O(num accounts) (just eyeballing that). Although gmaxwell has made some progress in understanding how this works: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/User:Gmaxwell/alt_ideas
-bm