ABSTRACT
Imagine that the town where you live has decided to invite a visitor from a far-off, remote tribal land, which still has a hunter-gatherer society. Missionaries taught the visitor, named Mzlot’l, how to speak English, but he has no experience with modern civilization. When he arrives, the mayor throws a big party with lots of guests, who present Mzlot’l some gifts. He is amazed and delighted with some of these gifts, particularly enjoying a flashlight and a Swiss Army Knife, which he has to be shown how to open and use. However, when he is given a gift card for $100, nobody can explain why this is a good gift to him-he finds this gift to be worthless and stupid. He cannot understand “you can use it to buy stuff” because he has no experience with stores and transactions. As far as Mzlot’l is concerned, a good gift is something that has immediate, visible function and worth. The gift card is an abstract concept he does not fathom.
