The State Of Digicunia
April 2017 Editorial
written by John
https://www.ink2quill.com/

With all the changes taking place in the world there is so much to to discuss for the storytellers looking for topics that will help with their World building. How about the topic of business, trade and the economy of the world you are trying to build? More precisely how about the topic of money? That is the physical representation of tradeable goods in a society or group. Throughout the ages it has taken many forms, from seashells, to stones of all types, metals of all types and even paper and clothe. Now how´s that for a world building topic? Some would say that it´s obvious but I would have to disagree. I would go even further and say that it is often overlooked or something that has to be gleaned from between the lines of a story.

So what do´I have to say about money in our society that could help the worldbuilder? Well let´s start by taking a look at our society and the changes we´re experiencing. In the 20th Century we had the dominance of paper and metal, as forms of money. Some of the most popular and influencial moneys in the 20 Century were of course the US dollar, European Euro and the Chinese Yuan, Renmindi. Gold and silver are still considered tradeable, precious metals while precious stones like jade are not so much used as money around the world, though they are still very valuable.

That was the 20th Century and at least the begining of the 21st Century. But things are changing in the financial world. Money is changing, morphing into a far more influential and ubiquitous part of all our lives. Some say that we are seeing the emergence of digital money. Something I call `digicunia´. This new money is quickly becoming a pilar of the emerging edifice called  information. I suspect that under this edifice of information will be money (digicunia) and an individual´s health. This new kind of money will continue to grant us access to the things in society we want and need but it will, without a doubt, become more invasive in all our lives. For possibly the first time in our lives we will be adjusting our lives around the information collected from us, about us and that inforamtion will be collected and evaluated by software, algorithms and a more roboticized system. Yes I said it. We will be managed, as individuals, by robots. At least that is what I see, for better or for worse.

But that is not even the topic I want to bring up, as interesting as it is. I submit that digicunia does not completely fit the definition of money. Sure, it will be used as a medium of exchange but it does not fit certain criteria to call it money. For starters it does not exist in the real world so it can only, at best, be considered a good and not a legitimate currency. The digicunia I´m talking about is really just software. So what is the real money in this emerging society? I think, as so many others do, that it is information. In this new society money is a good and information is the new money. The main problem with this scheme is that we, the individual, don´t have the kind of access large organizations do to this valuable commodity called `information´ and digicunia, even in large amounts, cannot grant us such access.

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