"A man worth his salt" 🧂
You've heard before it, maybe you've said it yourself
But why is this expression used in admiration or respect, when a box of salt costs a couple bucks at the grocery store?
And what does salt have to do with bitcoin?
The answer may surprise you!
First, let's go back to Ancient Rome, its 100 BC
Salt is a valuable commodity
Salt frees people from the whims of the seasons by enabling long term food preparation
Salt could mean the difference between life and death
Salt production was minimal, salt was hard to obtain
Rome learned how to import salt from the Mediterranean, some say the first roman roads were built to transport salt from the sea to the capital
Roman soldiers were paid, in part, in salt. Likely a mixture of coinage and salt.
If a Roman Soldier slacked at his duties, the salt from his payment would be cut as he was 'not worth his salt'.
The latin world 'sal' means salt.
It is believed that roman soldiers were paid in salt and thats why the latin word 'salarium' is our origin for 'salary'.
Today salt is not a precious commodity.
Increased technological sophistication meant that harvesting salt became increasingly easier, increasing the amount of available salt and lowering its price.
This is the case with most commodities today, even gold.
As technology increases, stock to flow increases as well.
As bitcoiners know, an increasing stock to flow ratio can lower the per unit value of a commodity.
Bitcoin is immune to salt's downfall because increased technological sophistication cannot increase bitcoin production
Who knows, a few decades from now when bitcoin becomes the primary monetary system+unit in the world, maybe people will stop saying "a man worth his salt"
Bitcoin will be the money everyone desires.
The expression may even evolve to be:
"a man worth his sats" 🤔
bitcoinwell / Bitcoin Well
npub19m…qkfu2
2024-09-17 15:38:28
Author Public Key
npub19mf4jm44umnup4he4cdqrjk3us966qhdnc3zrlpjx93y4x95e3uq9qkfu2Published at
2024-09-17 15:38:28Event JSON
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"content": "\"A man worth his salt\" 🧂\n\nYou've heard before it, maybe you've said it yourself \n\nBut why is this expression used in admiration or respect, when a box of salt costs a couple bucks at the grocery store? \n\nAnd what does salt have to do with bitcoin? \n\nThe answer may surprise you!\n\nFirst, let's go back to Ancient Rome, its 100 BC \n\nSalt is a valuable commodity \n\nSalt frees people from the whims of the seasons by enabling long term food preparation\n\nSalt could mean the difference between life and death \n\nSalt production was minimal, salt was hard to obtain\n\nRome learned how to import salt from the Mediterranean, some say the first roman roads were built to transport salt from the sea to the capital\n\nRoman soldiers were paid, in part, in salt. Likely a mixture of coinage and salt.\n\nIf a Roman Soldier slacked at his duties, the salt from his payment would be cut as he was 'not worth his salt'. \n\nThe latin world 'sal' means salt.\n\nIt is believed that roman soldiers were paid in salt and thats why the latin word 'salarium' is our origin for 'salary'.\n\nToday salt is not a precious commodity. \n\nIncreased technological sophistication meant that harvesting salt became increasingly easier, increasing the amount of available salt and lowering its price. \n\nThis is the case with most commodities today, even gold.\n\nAs technology increases, stock to flow increases as well. \n\nAs bitcoiners know, an increasing stock to flow ratio can lower the per unit value of a commodity.\n\nBitcoin is immune to salt's downfall because increased technological sophistication cannot increase bitcoin production\n\nWho knows, a few decades from now when bitcoin becomes the primary monetary system+unit in the world, maybe people will stop saying \"a man worth his salt\"\n\nBitcoin will be the money everyone desires. \n\nThe expression may even evolve to be:\n\"a man worth his sats\" 🤔",
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