How did money got invented so the story. Is you know before we had money. We were just sort of stuck in this unfortunate situation where we had to trade with each other all the time. This is alana. Strauss a producer at national geographic's podcast overheard so person number. One would be a butcher and they'd have meat person number two knew how to make furniture. And you know if if you were someone who had meat and you wanted a chair. But the chair maker didn't need meet at the moment. You just couldn't get a chair and who super inconvenient everyone was just like sitting around unable to get things but of course. Humans are quite inventive. We've talked about that on the show a lot so we figured out solution money so money. Is this amazing invention that comes around where you can ever has money and you can use that as a go-between. Hey i wanna chair right now. I don't have anything you want but here you go. Here's some money you can use that to eggs or whatever else you want and it'll all come around in the future great story. The problem is that it is just that a story it's not true for decades anthropologists have been studying the economic systems of different cultures through history and in nineteen eighty five dr caroline humphrey pointed out that. No one had ever actually documented an example of a pure barter economy. Nobody operates on this barter system. Like it's just not a real thing that anyone uses because leg. He said he would be so inconvenient. Like why would any like people were just like walking around like walking into walls before we came up with like modern ideas you know instead. One system that we know people operated under was a gift economy. These things might sound like the same thing right. Bartering gifting what's the difference so it gift economy is much more flexible right. First of all people aren't just like atomic thomas in a vacuum right like it's probably a friend or a family member someone in your community so when you have a relationship with besides just like this purely kind of economic ebay style thing and if if someone around you need something you're gonna wanna help them out. You know if the butcher needs a chair and you make chairs like the is probably your neighbor and like you have a bunch of chairs because you make chairs and you give them a chair and you know that your community in general is always helping you right like the woman down. The street gave eggs last week and got meat from the butcher a month ago. You probably already do this with your friends and family and community right. If somebody that you know needs something you help them out and you know that if you need something in the future. They're going to help you out.