The Obsession of the Modern World | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

In a society filled with human innovation, one invention stands out above them all: the one that has become the obsession of the modern world—money. Money was not just an intervention; it was a mental revolution and created a system of trust. An elaborate tie binds us all together; it connected the world, sending merchants across continents in search of far-off riches. Exchange was the engine that drove the progress of civilization, and money was the fuel.

It allowed us to specialize, turning hunters into blacksmiths, artists, soldiers, and kings. Money is what made the world modern.

We have taken it to dizzying levels of complexity, from gold coins to bits of information stored in the cloud. The history of money is the history of us; every coin, stone, and shell a symbol of what we have valued, who we have served, and how our cultures evolved. It has become a language that all humans speak.

This is the story of how money made us modern, how it opened the globe and spread ideologies, transforming the ancient world into a complex civilization of merchants, mercenaries, industrialists, and billionaires. This is Origins.