Humans can intentionally choose trust rather than inherit it as a by-product of evolution

Evidence

Evolution has bestowed upon us the mixed blessing of being able to generate intentionally the as if behaviour. Knowing this, we can hardly avoid the responsibility of considering trust a choice rather than a fortunate by-product of evolution. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2821

Categorization

• XREF: Trust as a deliberate choice against a Hobbesian baseline is exactly the reader’s Saramago reading: amidst collapsed order, the sighted wife chooses cooperation as an act of will. — connects to: Infant trust is an evolved instinct, not a cognitive model; Trust is a result rather than a precondition of cooperation — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2781; Genetically evolved sentiments can motivate action against self-interest (+8 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2821

Broader Connections

• Trust can be deliberately created by fabricating distrust #expands (0.85) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1666
• Extending trust can create the trustworthy behavior it presumes #expands (0.78)
• Reducing distrust is different from generating trust #complicates (0.75)