Optimism about trust is rewarded only in relatively trustworthy social conditions
Evidence
Optimistic assessments can be beneficial only if the general social conditions the optimistic assessor faces are relatively favorable, so that statistically acting on this optimism will be rewarded by trustworthiness. The huge genre of post-apocalypse films and novels of our time portray conditions in which trust is generally not justified. Life is impoverished beyond measure, with the demands of survival and struggle preempting almost all else. To have optimistic assessments in these conditions might be to risk suicide. Even under ordinary circumstances, a central issue for optimistic assessment is how well past experience corresponds to future opportunities. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 545
Categorization
- XREF: The post-apocalypse conditions line resonates with Saramago’s Blindness, where survival pressure preempts all social order — directly supporting the stated reading purpose. — connects to: What passes for generalized trust is conditional optimism that collapses with context; Optimism about others’ trustworthiness is self-reinforcing through gained experience; Communal trustworthiness can seed willingness to trust in wider society — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 823 (+3 more)
- SEED: An essay contrasting Hardin’s claim that post-apocalypse pessimism is ‘rational’ with Saramago’s depiction of the blindness epidemic as precisely such a collapse — testing whether the wife’s optimism under those conditions contradicts or confirms Hardin.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 545
Broader Connections
- Communal trustworthiness can seed willingness to trust in wider society
#corroborates(0.80) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 823 - Optimism about others’ trustworthiness is self-reinforcing through gained experience
#qualifies(0.75) - Readiness to trust itself varies and is not a fixed precondition
#qualifies(0.72)