Explain · Serious version
Redstone in Minecraft in terms of household electrics
Redstone in Minecraft operates as a simple electrical circuit where a power source transmits a signal to a mechanism through a conducting material.
Redstone dust is effectively the copper wiring running behind your living room skirting boards, provided that your wiring was installed by a toddler with a penchant for glowing red glitter. You place the dust on blocks to create a path, much like trailing an extension lead from the kitchen cupboard to the garden because you decided the patio really needed a disco light. A lever or pressure plate acts as your light switch, sending a pulse of current that causes a piston to shove a block, or a door to swing open, assuming you have not accidentally wired the whole thing into a feedback loop that causes your entire front porch to vibrate into the afterlife.
The signal only travels fifteen blocks before the power fades, necessitating a repeater to boost the voltage. Think of the repeater as a glorified junction box that keeps the current alive, or perhaps a very tired electrician who occasionally stops for a nap before sending the signal on its way. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, you can stack these components to build logic gates, turning a pile of red powder into a rudimentary computer capable of solving equations or, more likely, trapping your friends in a small wooden box until they log off in a huff.
Where the analogy breaks downRedstone ignores the laws of electrical resistance and never risks causing a house fire when you overload the circuit with logic gates.