Every Friday, I share other great content (with some added context) to dive into over the weekend.

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Shelling Out: The Origins of Money

Long read but really informative. Money is such a universal part of our life, but how did we get to now?

Nick Szabo wrote about this in 2002 and it sheds some light on the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

A novelty of the 20th century was the issue of fiat currencies by governments. ("Fiat" means not backed by any reserve commodity, as the gold- and silver-based currencies of previous centuries were). While generally excellent as a media of exchange, fiat currencies have proven to be very poor stores of value. Inflation has destroyed many a "nest egg". It is no coincidence that markets in rare objects and unique artwork – usually sharing the attributes of collectibles described above – have enjoyed a renaissance during the last century. One of our most advanced high-tech marketplaces, EBay, is centered around these objects of primordial economic qualities. The collectibles market is larger than ever, even if the fraction of our wealth invested in them is smaller than when they were crucial to evolutionary success. Collectibles both satisfy our instinctive urges and remain useful in their ancient role as a secure store of value.

Primitive money was not modern money as we know it. It took on some of the function modern money now performs, but its form was that of heirlooms, jewelry, and other collectibles. The use of these is so ancient that the desires to explore, collect, make, display, appraise, carefully store, and trade collectibles are human universals – to some extent instincts. This constellation of human desires might be called the collecting instinct. Searching for the raw materials, such as shells and teeth, and manufacturing of collectibles took up a considerable portion of many ancient humans' time, just as many modern humans expend substantial resources on these activities as hobbies. The results for our ancient forebears were the first secure forms of embodied value very different from concrete utility – and the forerunner of today's money.

Read more here.

Productivity Hack: Google Sheets - Group Rows and Columns

I didn’t know this was a thing until last week. You can make your rows and columns in google sheets collapsable with this somewhat hidden feature.

If you knew about this before and didn’t tell me, shame on you!

Learn more here.

P.S. Other things I discovered this week: Jamboard - Google

The ‘Invincible’ Season 1 Exit Survey

Amazon Prime Video did it again!

They delivered something that feels fresh and different in an oversaturated industry.

The superhero genre is tried and true thanks to the incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and everything that has come before and after it).

Invincible is yet another entry into this category but it’s so much fun! I really enjoyed the show and loved untangling the mystery of it all. The Ringer has a great rundown of the first season if you’ve already watched the show.

With a devastating twist in its premiere, Invincible burst onto the superhero scene with a boom. On Friday, the show went out on an equally high note, delivering a gruesome battle that had been building all season long. After taking a deep breath following the blood-soaked madness, members of The Ringer divulged their thoughts on the show’s first season.

**Warning** Spoilers ahead - read more here.

Leave today better than yesterday ✌️.