
Dive into money's untold history with this New York Times bestseller that examines currency through biology, psychology, and theology. Called "endlessly fascinating" by critics, Sehgal's multidimensional exploration reveals how the cash in your wallet shapes human behavior more than you ever imagined.
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Picture a beggar boarding your Jakarta taxi-not to ask for money, but to help you access the carpool lane. This strange transaction captures something profound: money isn't just about economics. It lights up the same brain regions as cocaine, triggers ancient survival instincts, and shapes how we connect with strangers. When we anticipate financial gain, our nucleus accumbens fires with excitement; when we fear loss, our amygdala screams danger. Yet we rarely pause to ask: What exactly is this force that governs so much of human life? Long before humans invented currency, life itself was trading. In the Galapagos, wrasse fish clean parasites off sea turtles. Coral polyps swap nutrients with algae. These partnerships aren't modern innovations-they began 3.8 billion years ago when one prokaryote swallowed another that became the mitochondrion, the energy factory inside every cell in your body. That ancient merger created all complex life through exchange: shelter for power. Flowers and bees perfected this dance 100 million years ago. Plants advertise with color and scent, offering sugar-rich nectar while receiving reproductive assistance. Bees transform this nectar into honey, essentially banking energy for winter scarcity. When a bumblebee lands on a flower, an electric exchange occurs-negatively charged petals attract positively charged insects, facilitating pollen transfer. Energy flows as nature's original currency. Understanding money's journey-from biological exchange to digital abstraction-reveals not just economic history, but the story of human cooperation, creativity, and our endless capacity to create meaning from symbols.