Instant Genius

The hidden ways money has shaped human civilisation


Listen Later

If most of us were asked what we thought was meant by the word ‘technology’ chances are the first thing that would come to mind are inventions such as cars, medicine and computers.

But economist and author David McWilliams would argue these are all physical technologies and that there’s also a whole world of social technologies out there that have shaped human progress in a similarly profound way that most of us are largely unaware of. Chief amongst these, he says, is the invention of money.

In this episode, we speak to David about his latest book Money – A Story of Humanity. He tells us how the very reason that money has any value at all is based on our collective belief and trust in it as a concept, how money was much more deeply involved in turning points in human history than first meets the eye, and we need to see our relationship with money as an evolutionary process that progresses much like natural selection.

To get the exclusive gift box from Shokz, order via this link: ⁠https://bit.ly/4kFt10l⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Instant GeniusBy Our Media

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

65 ratings


More shows like Instant Genius

View all
The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,802 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

419 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

111 Listeners

Health Check by BBC World Service

Health Check

89 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

342 Listeners

Inside Health by BBC Radio 4

Inside Health

98 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

892 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

968 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

356 Listeners

All in the Mind by BBC Radio 4

All in the Mind

63 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

404 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

762 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

474 Listeners

The world, the universe and us by New Scientist

The world, the universe and us

107 Listeners

What's Up Docs? by BBC Radio 4

What's Up Docs?

96 Listeners