Scarcity of trust paradoxically forces people to trust mythologized figures.

Evidence

The problem of trusting someone in a world where trust is scarce further underscores the dichotomous character of reputation. People in an untrustworthy world are under pressure to trust someone. But if the norm is to trust no one, why then should one trust mafiosi at all? There is a cognitive gap to be bridged between those one trusts and the rest of the world, and the most likely of human constructs to act as that bridge is perhaps myth. … The tension between highly desirable actions and highly pessimistic expectations can indeed lead one to the point of embracing mythical beliefs (Gambetta 1988b: 223-224), a fact that could explain why mafiosi must pretend they are radically different from everyone else, why they must induce blind loyalty rather than trust (Hart 1988). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 120

Categorization

• XREF: Links directly to the reader’s Gambetta/Milgrom model: myth as the cognitive bridge when institutional trust is unavailable — analogous to how reputation substitutes for institutional guarantees in private enforcement theory.
• DEEPTHINKING: The tension between desirable actions and pessimistic expectations culminating in myth is a dense, layered mechanism about how protection markets bootstrap legitimacy in trust-scarce environments.