Neal Stephenson: Dark Science of Money

Posted by admin on Thursday, September 21, 2017

Neal Stephenson Money Quote saying when we pray to the gods of finance and economics and pay respect to their origins, we are worshipping monetary alchemy. Neal Stephenson said:
 

 

“If money is a science, then it is a dark science, darker than alchemy. It split away from Natural Philosophy millennia ago, and has gone on developing ever since, by its own rules” — Neal Stephenson

 

 

In this quote, Neal Stephenson is characterizing the field of finance and economics as a kind of obscure, arcane discipline. By describing money as a “dark science, darker than alchemy” that “split away from Natural Philosophy” long ago, Stephenson suggests that the study of monetary matters has followed its own esoteric, technical trajectory largely detached from broader principles of the natural world.

He implies the rules and behaviors governing money no longer align with natural laws but rather operate according to complex, human-crafted dynamics developed over millennia. The overall interpretation is that Stephenson views the financial domain as a shadowy, almost occult specialization with its own byzantine precepts far removed from simple natural order.

His perspective conveys a sense of finance and economics as enigmatic realms shrouded in complexity and mystery due to the autonomous evolution of their norms and mechanics over extended periods of human history.