8.2 Analogy with the money
The earliest evaluations and transfers of ownership were carried out through the bartering of goods. Similar to Expert Orientation, barter is a relational process between participants. It facilitates exchange when a universally recognized form of money does not yet exist or when the monetary system is compromised. A more advanced form of barter involved the use of exchangeable promissory notes—for instance, a farmer might sign a note promising to give a shoemaker a portion of his harvest once it was gathered, in exchange for shoes.
Over time, a more general form of money emerged when human communities agreed upon a storable, valuable physical substance (such as shells, pearls, or silver coins) and established unit-based representations of its value.
Eventually, money was declared no longer dependent on a fixed quantity of its last material standard (gold). Since then, it has functioned as an autonomous phenomenon—akin to quantifiable trust.
Money reached the pinnacle of autonomy when its creation became fully decentralized and denationalized, as seen in the case of cryptocurrencies.
The invention of money has distanced modern man from nature. The native man obtains his food directly from nature by hunting or gathering plants. By contrast, modern man needs both nature and money in order to survive.
