BWJ 010: Why Does Money Exist? And more...
This week: A deep dive edition; Getting to the core of what it means to be human.
Why Does Money Exist?
Getting to the core of what it means to be human.
Introduction
This week I am changing things up a little, as I believe this story, is worthy of focusing the entire newsletter on. I had an interaction that strikes to the core of what Bitcoin is all about, and my analysis highlights some important themes, which I am excited to share today.
On posing the simple question “Why does money exist?”, my notifications tab became a sea of blue, as Bitcoin twitter sparked into life. I’ve curated the top 10 responses below:
All of these responses answer the question in their own way, as there is a multi-faceted discussion to be had, around this crucial subject. It stuck me that there were three themes that are important to highlight:
1 - Be inquisitive
Recently a friend said to me: “Jake don’t reason with people, such as giving your explanation for a viewpoint, ask them questions”. Inspired, I fired off this tweet, which as you can see garnered a remarkable reaction.
It reflects people’s desire to test themselves, utilising their intellect, to portray their view on the world. Of course all these opinions are just that, opinions, but they are formed through each persons individual study; all driven by their natural curiosity.
If we didn’t ask questions then where would society be today? Perhaps we would still be bartering with each other? Being inquisitive is an ingredient that human progress requires, an attribute every Bitcoiner has in abundance, and a characteristic paramount when taking on foundational societal topics: “Why does money exist?”
2 - Collaborate often
The word that sprung to mind most on reading people’s responses was collaboration, an instinctive attribute of humans, which is laced throughout this story. Money is a collaboration tool. Bitcoin is a collaboration tool. Bitcoiners are a collaboration…
In fact, all the responses to my initial tweet are a fantastic example of people collaborating, coming together to achieve a wider goal of shared knowledge. Money is a technology, a tool that enables us to work more effectively together, stronger as a community than as individuals.
Without doubt rich discussions such as these draw me deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole, accelerating valued connections with friends around the globe, all of whom I would be happy to assist in return. A nice reminder to collaborate, and collaborate often, you never know where it might take you.
3 - Utilise context
Bitcoin first and foremost is a new form of money, which even the most ardent of supporters admit, takes time to get your head around. It is however an important learning curve, which we must accomplish, in order for the true beauty of Bitcoin to reveal itself.
Over time we have had many different types of money at our disposal, all with different characteristics, which Bitcoin has morphed into a perfected version for the digital age. Without the context of historical forms of money, and it’s evolution, we would not be able to appreciate the innovation we see in front of us today.
Amusingly I’ve spent many many hours as a Business School Alumni studying how to make money, but never did we consider what money actually is, so anyone feeling overwhelmed by this subject fear not. By simple reframing of the discussion, we have much we can learn, all of which is within the reach of anyone with some self-education.
Conclusion
Bitcoin enables discussion that get’s right to the core of what it means to be human, drawing on instinctive characteristics we all share, giving us a common ground to progress together.
The tweets I received in response to my questions “Why does money exist”, do an ample job of answering the question, so thank you to all those who assisted.
Lastly, as a ‘note-to-self’ in a sense, we should listen to our friends suggestions more often!
Highly recommend:
Listen: “Bitcoin Mining in Oilfield” with Ryan Leachman and John Vallis
Read: “Bitcoin is Time” by Gigi
Watch: “Why Decentralised Technology Matters for Freedom” by Alex Gladstein
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