Bare commitment without social support is superhuman and rarely sustained.

Evidence

Quickly he seizes the gold, swearing, “Love, I curse you forever!” (Wagner 1977, 16). By committing himself Alberich gains extraordinary power. It is no surprise that such a superhuman act should earn great rewards, even magical rewards. Even the great god Wotan, who is unable to make such a commitment to forswear love, is impressed by lowly Alberich’s resolve (Wagner 1977, 106–7). The demands made by this commitment might sound commonplace—after all, monks of various religions have chosen celibacy. They do so, however, with substantial social and institutional constraints to keep them celibate, and even then they often fail. Alberich commits himself without any social structure to give him the incentive to stay unloving. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 195

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the blindness novel: Alberich’s self-binding succeeds without institutions, while in the novel institutions are precisely what collapse.
• DEFINE: Illustrates that lasting commitment typically depends on external incentive structures, not willpower alone — central to Hardin’s institutional account.