What Is Money?

The concept of what is money has become more and more abstract. At one time money was based on something tangible that was thought to have value, gold for example. Then money became coins and pieces of paper with things stamped or printed on them stating that these things had value. Mostly since 1997 my salary from work directly deposited into a checking account. Before that I was receiving disability payments that went directly into a checking account. At some jobs I have gotten a pay stub stating how much was deposited into my account. For some I did not receive this. I could go online and see how much money had been deposited. I did not receive anything tangible that served as money. I just saw a figure online from the company, and I could go online to check how much was in my bank account. Basically it is a number representing money. We can but downloads of music, films and books online with money that we have never seen. We do not receive anything tangible for this money. We can listen to the music or watch the movies or other forms of video or read books on devices. It is possible to pay for internet access with money we have never seen. There are sites that charge people to communicate with other people without ever meeting them in person. On Second Life people exchange money for Linden and buy virtual goods. Pieces of virtual land are rented. There are people who make extra money on Second Life renting land and buildings that only exist on a program or designing things and personae for others. It is possible to buy tangible and intangible goods without making any contact with money. It is possible to buy the necessities of life that way. I wonder when there will be vending machines that take debit cards. It would be possible to eliminate tangible money altogether.