your money or your life

Social status & derived financial valuation

http://ecocene.org/blog/?p=40

"This suggests that money and social standing are evaluated similarly, and can substitute for each other. However, it should be of little surprise that the same part of the brain that evaluates status also evaluates money. But money hasn’t been around forever… some part of the brain had to take on the task of handling it. This may explain why money equates so easily to social status; not just because we think of it in similar terms, but that the brain function that developed to measure social status took on the task of evaluating money."

translation: money-trade stemmed from social selection.

"During the game, they were told that fake contestants were doing better or worse than them. Individual's brains apparently react very strongly to the status of other players. So it seems like thinking that you are doing better than someone else has a stronger reaction than a monetary reward, even if it’s a complete stranger."

translation: you don't have to run faster than the lion, as long as you can run faster than the other person, preferably a stranger. Therefore, if a stranger seems to be ahead in the race, fear motivates and invigorates. In an anonymous society (cities), a clique of like-minded individuals forms to maintain a perceived lead against outgroups and non-group individuals, and expresses fitness (activity, glittery stuff to show up others), conformism (ritual, rule) to show allegiance.