Trust reduces the truster’s complexity while transferring that burden onto the trusted

Evidence

Once again these analyses illuminate in the clearest possible way what constitutes the background to all trust – the problem of complexity. By means of trust, the truster unburdens himself of complexity which he cannot sustain. Anyone who wishes to abuse his trust must take this complexity upon himself. He will have to burden himself with complex demands on behaviour, to ensure the most wide-ranging command of the relevant information and complete control of the information available to the truster, with the result that he himself will be in danger of collapsing under the pressure of complexity. Among the most important strategies for reducing fraud, therefore, is a time-limit on breach of trust, and also, if possible, on contact with the victim of the fraud. Adulterous relationships, in which this is not possible, require high expectations of behaviour, as is well known, and are seldom the result of balanced consideration. In all long-term relationships justifying trust is easier, even if this does not protect the truster from the exceptional circumstances of a well-secured individual, judiciously planted. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 245

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The complexity-transfer mechanism is the theoretical engine of Luhmann’s entire trust argument — abuse is self-limiting because it inherits the very complexity the truster shed. This deserves full weight given the reading purpose.
• DEFINE: Operationalizes why trust reduces complexity: it relocates the burden rather than eliminating it, and that relocation is what makes fraud self-destructive in continuing relationships.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 245
• XREF: connects to: Trust forms sequentially by reducing social complexity over discrete steps; Trust reduces complexity by substituting inner certainty for external certainty — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 154; Seen-through trust reduces complexity less efficiently than spontaneous trust — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 256 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Trust reduces complexity by substituting inner certainty for external certainty #expands (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 154
• Trust reduces the complexity of a free alter ego’s unpredictability #corroborates (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 247
• Trust reduces future complexity by committing to a determinate future #expands (0.60) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 138
• Trust functions by pruning the over-complex future to fit the present #expands (0.60)
• Trust reduces social complexity by replacing missing information with guaranteed security #expands (0.55)
• Trust expands a system’s complexity potential and buys it time #expands (0.55)
• Seen-through trust reduces complexity less efficiently than spontaneous trust #qualifies (0.50) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 256
• Trust reduces future complexity where instrumental mastery cannot #expands (0.50)