There are some things that are real simply because we all agree they’re real—things whose existence depends not on any objective reality, nor on any individual’s subjective reality, but rather on our collective belief in them. By this logic, money, for example, exists only because all of us agree it does. Initially this might sound odd—surely money is just money, not some sort of mass belief system—but here’s the rub: when we all cease to believe in these realities, they cease to be real. If you and everyone else stop believing, all of a sudden, that a particular piece of paper is worth $10,
...more
