Many people would look at the concept of fei as an abstract form of wealth. Fei are large stone coins that were used by the islanders of Yap which showed the wealth of a family, and possessed full buying power. The islanders of Yap did business normally with the fei, however if a particular fei was too large to easily be moved, the person receiving the fei left it at its previous owners’ residence and just reserved the knowledge that it belonged to them.
If one compared this to our monetary system today, they would notice a lot of similarities. Our money is just as worthless as the stone fei used on the island of Yap. The only reason we associate a certain value with a coin or piece of paper is because our government tells is what it’s worth. Also, when someone uses their credit or debit card, there is a similar process of realizing the fact the wealth is no longer theirs and belongs to someone else. We never actually physically hand over the money.
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Counterintuitivity 
This stuff is hard to talk about, isn’t it, Dale? You’ve done a good job of summarizing some complex notions in your first paragraph, but that won’t stop me from picking at the sore spots. How, for example, does “the concept of fei” differ from “fei”? And if they’re an abstract form of wealth, can you name a concrete form of wealth to help us understand the difference?
Small grammar points:
“by the islanders of Yap to show”?
“the fei; however, if”
Pronoun number problem: “a fei,” “the person,” “left it,” “its owners’,” “it,” “them.” The only plural is the original owners. So, according to your sentence, the fei still belongs to “them.”
You may get different advice from other instructors, Dale, but for me, first person plural is much better than the ridiculous “one” gambit. “When we compare the fei to our dollars, we notice many similarities” engages readers in a tacit agreement with you instead of asking them to imagine what a phantom one might think. (Plus it avoids the error you commit of mixing the singular “one” with the plural “they.”) Better yet, who needs a person for this idea at all? “The use of feis is not very different from our use of dollars,” for example.
If you really want to drive home the idea of the similarity, consider comparing from both sides. “Our dollars in America are just as intrinsically worthless—and just as valuable as an instrument of exchange—as feis are on Yap.”
I dispute the idea that the government assigns a value to our dollars, Dale. I grant you the government prints money in different denominations, so that it assigns relative values to different pieces of paper, but it doesn’t establish what any of them will buy. The economy does that.
Again, pronoun numbers:
someone (singular) / their (plural)
Your last two sentences need overhauls. “there is a similar process of realizing the fact that wealth” Wow. But we do sometimes physically hand over the money.
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