The signature is just a physical manifesting of assent. It's presence is indicative that you've agreed to what you're signing. Signature comparison is a line o

The signature is just a physical manifesting of assent. It's presence is indicative that you've agreed to what you're signing. Signature comparison is a line of defense. More broadly, There's a whole set of practices that assume a relationship. You scoff at signatures, but in their heyday, my local banker knew me and knew my signature and he could spot a general forgery or even unusual patterns. Every economic transaction I engaged in came with a relationship that helped mitigate fraud. Even voting in the US today carries remnants of this. If you go to a small town to vote, you know the election workers and they know you. There's no need for an ID and there's no question of fraud. Everybody knows everybody. If you try to vote and nobody knows you, if you've got the paperwork, you'll get a smile and you'll vote, but you can bet your ballot is flagged for extra scrutiny afterwards. We need more of this system in the modern world.