Trust requires interactive self-presentation, not mere predictable distance

Evidence

The basis of all trust is the presentation of the individual self as a social identity which builds itself up through interaction and which corresponds to its environment. Whoever presents himself from the outset as unapproachable – and this can be done in many different ways, such as by a snub, by walking past really quickly, by offending against customary demeanour or behaviour in a way which shows that one places no value on it – whoever distances himself in this way is in no position to acquire trust because he offers no opportunities for learning and testing. He may demonstrate that he is a relatively predictable factor in the situation, but one cannot trust him. Whoever wants to win trust must take part in social life and be in a position to build the expectations of others into his own self-presentation. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 240

Categorization

• XREF: Directly operative for the reader’s Ishiguro thesis: Stevens presents himself as unapproachable and role-conformed; this passage explains why such a figure cannot acquire trust — his withdrawal offers no learning opportunities. — connects to: Domestic and practical skills earn trust more than words do — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 63
• DEFINE: Luhmann’s core ‘presentation of self’ condition for trust — the foundational definition that later distinction between personal and system trust depends on.