Trust, though biologically inherited in its optimism, stays subject to correction by experience.

Evidence

That kind of knowledge is inherently inductive, and one might suppose it wise to be skeptical of inductive knowledge until the run is fairly long. Our normal, biologically inherited proclivities may be to make an optimistic assessment of a short but so-far positive inductive run. If we live in a culture in which that optimism typically is justified by longer-run experience, we develop rich relationships from trusting others. Still, although it befalls us rather than being chosen by us, trusting depends on objective data and is subject to correction if experience recommends. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 359

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Luhmann’s ‘familiarity’ as the precognitive substrate that trust builds on — the optimism Hardin describes is the baseline familiarity that real trust then revises.