HEALTH AND WELLBEING.

At What Cost? 

In his book Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harrari, alerts one to the notion that money like time, is an imaginary concept. Prior to the industrial revolution, time did not exist, arising as a means of ensuring workers were punctual and productive. Similarly money did not exist until the derived from the need to find a medium to make fair exchange between goods.

Yet in spite of being a ‘ psychological construct’ (Harari, 2015) paradoxically money is known to impact upon wellbeing with felt physical ramifications. How it is possible to reconcile the disparity that money is both imaginary and plausibly tangible? It brings to the surface the deeper and uncomfortable questions of privilege and circumstance, status and power, need versus desire. Yet ultimately the question of money, is one about value. Value is a subjective appraisal of what brings meaning to our lives, and begs an opportunity to pause and reflect on what it is that truly makes our life meaningful?

References and Further Reading:

Popova Maria, How to Worry Less About Money: Financial Planning Lessons from Goethe. The Margalian. Accessed Online 10. Feb. 2024 https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/05/13/how-to-worry-less-about-money/

Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens : a Brief History of Humankind. New York: Harper Perennial, 2015. Pgs 193-209.

Feb 10 2024