Trust in experts is trust in impersonal systems, not in individuals

Evidence

Whereas in personal trust reflexivity is an exception, system trust builds upon the fact that others also trust and that this common quality of trust becomes conscious. Certainly it is not necessary in each individual case to remember that the ability to function rests on trust in trust. It seems rather that familiarity with money, power and truth is learned as behaviour and that typically the reflexivity of this mechanism remains latent, as does its highly risky character. Such latency can make the creation of trust more simple and act as a safeguard against uncontrollable fears – what would happen if everyone suddenly wanted to cash in all their money, or if everyone appeared armed on the streets. Nevertheless, the rational basis of system trust lies in the trust placed in the trust of other people. The uncovering of this basis through sociological analysis can make the conditions under which this type of trust functions transparent and thus alleviates the type of latent insecurity which typically accompanies a reliance on mechanisms which are not understood. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 261 (#expands, via linked claim)

In conditions of modernity, attitudes of trust towards abstract systems are usually routinely incorporated into the continuity of day-to-day activities and are to a large extent enforced by the intrinsic circumstances of daily life. Thus trust is much less of a “leap to commitment” than a tacit acceptance of circumstances in which other alternatives are largely foreclosed. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 222 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modern trust takes the form of trust in specialized information processing; System trust rests on trusting that others also trust — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 261; System trust operates independently of individuals’ personal readiness to trust (+9 more)

Related

• Modern trust takes the form of trust in specialized information processing (similarity 0.92)
• System trust rests on expectations that most won’t test the system (similarity 0.89)
• Trust in abstract systems is tacit routine, not conscious choice. (similarity 0.88)
• System trust operates independently of individuals’ personal readiness to trust (similarity 0.88)
• System trust rests on trusting that others also trust (similarity 0.88)
• Controlling system trust becomes the exclusive work of experts (similarity 0.87)
• Most people are more inclined to trust people they know than to trust remote expertise or an abstract system, so contemporary life demands trust in science they cannot personally verify. (similarity 0.87)
• Even pragmatic faith in expert systems still implies trust (similarity 0.86)
• Modern societies increasingly substitute self-presentation for feeling as a basis of trust (similarity 0.86)
• Trust and law evolved from a common root into differentiated mechanisms (similarity 0.86)
• Social complexity forces the shift from personal to impersonal, system-governed trust. (similarity 0.86)
• Familiarity prevents trust from becoming a conscious problem; doubt reopens it. (similarity 0.86)
• Modern trust is vested in abstract capacities, not individuals (similarity 0.85)
• Institutionalized money trust replaces countless individual acts of personal trust (similarity 0.85)
• Trust expands a system’s complexity potential and buys it time (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• System trust operates independently of individuals’ personal readiness to trust #corroborates (0.80)
• System trust rests on trusting that others also trust #expands (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 261
• Trust in abstract systems is tacit routine, not conscious choice. #corroborates (0.60) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 222
• Growing complexity forces trust to shift from interpersonal to performance-based system trust #expands (0.60) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 143
• Personal trust becomes a variant of system trust when it reflects on self-presentation #complicates (0.60) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 239