[geuis]

I'm taking the time to read through the article thoroughly. So far about 50% through.

I take issue with some assumptions like our Neolithic ancestors were always on the edge of starvation. Hunter gatherer tribes in many parts of the world in pre-Columbian times and even today got along quite well and in many instances had as much or more free time than we do today.

That aside, the general direction of the paper seems to be that some concept of money or "collectibles" has been endemic with our species since very close to the beginning about 100k years ago. The author equates this as a process manifested from underlying genetic survival mechanisms.

It's very interested and I recommend others to read it.

[nonzero]

I always wonder about the debate of whether hunter-foragers worked 11 hours a week for food and shelter or were always on the brink of starvation and warfare. I wonder if we'll ever know, since there's so much earth left to dig up and so many stories we can tell with the few arrowheads and bones we find. I do know that whatever you believe in about scarcity has a profound impact on how you work, buy, and vote, and that by controlling the narratives surrounding scarcity in human evolution, you control the policies that the society creates and enforces.