Trust is regulated through symbol-feedback loops, not direct reality contact

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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Distrust arises from inconsistency or symbolic discrediting of trust; Social norms make people present stable identities that others can trust; Binary schematization makes trust and distrust reversible opposites, easing transition between them. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 311 (+9 more)

Related

• System trust rests on trusting that others also trust (similarity 0.86)
• Social norms make people present stable identities that others can trust (similarity 0.85)
• Distrust arises from inconsistency or symbolic discrediting of trust (similarity 0.85)
• Trust operates within already-reduced forms of an anonymously generated lifeworld (similarity 0.85)
• Binary schematization makes trust and distrust reversible opposites, easing transition between them. (similarity 0.85)
• Trust stems from societal self-presentation conditions, not only individual strategies as Goffman holds. (similarity 0.84)
• System trust rests on expectations that most won’t test the system (similarity 0.83)
• Trust rests on structural system guarantees that relieve individuals of risk assessment (similarity 0.83)
• Reflexive trust can absorb more uncertainty with less risk (similarity 0.83)
• Social institutions function through trust only at the individual micro level (similarity 0.83)
• Trust in trust takes several structurally distinct forms (similarity 0.83)
• Trust extends kin-group loyalty outward to the whole society (similarity 0.83)
• Reflexive trust considers the function of trust rather than verifying its object (similarity 0.82)
• In Luhmann’s framework, systemic trust is the general belief that societal systems function reliably, functioning as a mechanism that reduces complexity and enables smooth social interaction, and… (similarity 0.82)
• Trust in experts is trust in impersonal systems, not in individuals (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Trust operates through uncommunicated inferences rather than explicit justification #expands (0.60)
• System trust rests on trusting that others also trust #corroborates (0.50) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 261