[Sonart]

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Grandpa...

Let me take a shot at this.

Human beings are social animals. We survive in nature by banding together in social groups for mutual defense and provision. We hunted more successfully in cooperative groups, we defended ourselves better in cooperative groups, we raised families more successfully in cooperative groups.

For millenia, the basic group was the tribe, and everyone knew everyone else. (even today, research has determined that most humans are comfortable with an immediate circle of no more than about 120 close family, friends and co-workers) Within that tribe, everyone was expected to contribute whatever they could to the survival of the tribe. Those capable of contributing more than average -- the best hunter, the shaman, the healer, etc. -- received extra value for their extra contributions. A larger share of the hunts and gathers, special clothes, the cosiest parts of the cave, etc.

As societies became more complex, the distribution of individual value based on their contributions to the group became more complex. The accumulation of cattle or horses or goats or shares of the crops or wives. Those of less value to the group received less value from the product of the group. What one needed to make their lives comfortable and secure could be bartered for trading what your skills could create of value -- food, clothes, minerals, services -- with the things of value someone else could provide.

But as societies became even MORE complex, barter becomes troublesome. If I'm an artisan or a trainer of horses or a scribe, not everyone that has what I need necessarily needs what I have to offer. At some point it becomes necessary to develop an abstract but universally accepted currency of intrinsic value, so that if I offer my skills as an artisan to an architect, I don't have to expect them to pay me in food or clothes or that new, hi-tech bronze chisel that I've been drooling over. They can provide me with units of value -- gold, wampum, cowery shells, whatever -- in whatever amount we've agreed is worthy of my contribution. I can then go to whatever specialist -- the metalsmith, for instance, who's the only person capable of making those nifty new chisels -- with whatever units of currency we've agreed is equal to the value of his creating that chisel... so the he can go to the wood collectors for the extra fuel for his hearth, so that they can go to the goat herders for a weeks supply of milk, etc. etc.

As societies become even more complex, the units of currency become more abstract... after all, there's only so much gold or cowery shells ...just as long as everyone agrees on the value of the currency. And thus here we are today, exchanging the agreed value of our contribution to our social group -- like, y'know, being a really good football player :rolleyes: -- for an agreed equivelent value of currency which we can then use with anyone anywhere to trade for what we need, without having to directly barter x amount of football skills or aircraft maintainance for a quart of milk.

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