I am interested in our human history. How we got here has been an intriguing question to me. Why did we act sometimes, even quite often, in such reckless and self destructive ways? Maybe because of surviving instinct and reproductive nature. Maybe, greed and fear are the reasons. Nobody knows.

Taking a look at things from a different angle gives us a chance to peak into a possible answer. Not always of course.

This month’s serendipitous encounter at mu local library was a book called “The History of Money: A Story of Humanity” (2024) by David McWilliams. The title was something that would give me a fresh look of our history from a different view. So I took it from shelf and started reading it. McWilliams took major historical events from a invention of money and its evolution. He explained our human history with persuasive and entertaining writing. The events covered included ancient money in the river of Babylon to medieval money, from revolutionary money to maritime money, and to modern money. Last episode was on cryptocurrency and his opinion.

If we follow the money history, we may be able to find a possible solution to the current world problems that we humans have created. Money is based on trust and it should serve the public as a tool to solve our human problems. It must be a social tool for us. Too optimistic? Maybe, Maybe not.