Thanks very much for your comment, John.

Yes the ‘non-linear nature of the taboo’ is interesting. There is a sort of corollary in the relation between the morality of stealing pencils/pens from work (totally acceptable) and stealing small amounts of money (unacceptable). There was experiment conducted around this by Ariely who examined it as an irrational act. There is a great critique of Ariely’s work by Noam Yuran (who I mention) who says that basically that pens and pencils cease to be an economic object once purchased… effectively they become a form of ‘waste’. And as economics (and behavioural scientists investigating such things) don’t really have a proper conception of waste the action just brushed away as ‘irrational’.

Money I think has a ‘religious’ aura which is reflected in the taboo around destroying and so the burning of… of what is in material terms….a piece of paper imparts a really heavy ‘life or death’ vibe that people can’t help but respond to.