Money Is A Time-Shift

Before we had money, we traded our goods and services. The goods were usually commodities like food and clothing. These were the things you had the skills to grow or produce. You traded these for the things you couldn't grow or produce.

The key to remember from our old barter system was the immediacy of the transaction. It happened in the NOW.

Then people got creative and devised a way to shift from the now to the future. By creating money, you could trade the good or service you had available now for something in the future.

Humans have the power of abstract thinking. We can think about the future with vivid imaginations. So, perhaps the creation of money was an inevitability of our evolution.

When we associate money with time - as well as space, for how does time not exist at a particular point in space? - we can truly appreciate the fullness of its abstraction.

Money as a time-shifter then takes on these qualities - and by extension so do your own professional skills:

• Is this "price" fair right now, or might it be more or less at some point in the future and will that make me look smart or stupid?
• How much pain am I in right now that I need to buy this to feel better?
• How much pleasure do I need right now to feel better?
• Will it really matter to me in the future what my peers think of me if I have this car/house/pair of shoes?
• Right now, after this rough week, after this fantastic week, do I deserve this night on the town?

The price of something is not simply a reflection of the cost of production. It also contains this abstract notion of time and how you want to shift it.

Look into your wallet and become a time traveler today...

By Kevin Rokosh