I Learned a Mind-Blowing New Definition of Money. Here It Is

01 Feb 2025 #misc

Money means different things for different people.

For some people, money is:

• A skill to master
• A symbol of status
• A ticket to freedom
• An exchange of value
• A game with levels to conquer
• What we trade in exchange for time
• A story we’ve been telling as a society
• A differentiator between classes
• A multiplier of our values
• A mindset to practice
• A social convention
• The root of all evil

But, these days, watching Devon Eriksen, an engineer turned fiction writer, in an interview on YouTube, I learned a new definition of money.

He said:

“Money is a measure of f*cks given.”

If you want more money you have to make people give a f-ck about you. And if you say you don’t want money, you’re saying you don’t want people to give a f-ck about you.

Devon’s analogy dates back to our time as hunters and gatherers, when there was no concept of money as we know it today.

In those days, if you were a hunter, you cared (or gave a f-ck to follow the analogy) about the guy who polished rocks to make spears. And you two exchanged money in the form of products and value. Spears for meat or anything else. Caring meant exchange and exchange meant money.

Today we don’t trade goods or services, we have pieces of paper and figures on a screen. Create something people care about and let money roll in.