#123 / Trust Me #3

Maybe we will end up using injections to build trust, as researcher Paul J. Zak suggests. Somehow I doubt it.

The image I used in yesterday's posting (a rock with "trust" printed on it) came from a blog called Life and Times of Ms. Ellis. Here's what Ms. Ellis says about trust:

When we place our trust in individuals, we are believing that they will do what we perceive to be the right thing in any situation. I believe that when you put your trust in a person, people will sometimes let you down. I have learned that if you place your trust in people, you are merely setting yourself up for a dangerous injury. Because I am flawed, and you are flawed, I don't trust you.

Hey, give that woman a shot!

I have a theory that people ordinarily "do what they are expected to do." Not always, of course. As Ms. Ellis correctly notes, "people will sometimes let you down." However, if you convey to other people that you expect them to let you down ("Because I am flawed, and you are flawed, I don't trust you."), the chances that these persons will actually let you down go up. At least, that's my theory, and that has been my experience.

Unless that injection thing turns out actually to work, we are going to have to build a world, going forward, in which we trust other people more, not less.

If we expect more from ourselves (and others) than the prudent skepticism of Ms. Ellis might counsel, our expectations may well be rewarded in reality!