Trust

[Soup]

What do you understand it to mean when you say it? I mean, when you say, "I trust _____." <---name of person on line. Or you say, "I don't trust ________." what does it mean & what do you base this on? If you say, "I don't trust anyone at all." what does that mean to you & why do you think this way?

 

[Gomendosi]

Rather than focus on the interrelation between people only, let me answer in broader terms, I trust you'll find my answer satisfactory.


Trust is an assumption of goodwill on the part of sentient biological organisms in interaction with your self and presumption of a beneficial outcome in interaction with non-sentient/ non-biological organisms.

EG;
I trust that tree won't fall on my house (despite it's lean after last night's storm)
I trust that people I have never seen are going to treat me decently (in contrary to what I know about human nature)
I trust that dog that person has won't bite me (because it looks like, and I was told, it is friendly)
I trust that speeding car won't hit me (because theoretically the driver is competent)

Not doing it for you? Okay, my interpretation of trust is... refusal of fear, in anything you do you have to have trust, trust is a motivation to accept something without knowing all the details. Much like faith!
Trust is a by-product of ignorance, not in a bad way, but in the sense that if you don?t know something you have to trust don?t you? If you don?t have trust then that is fear you haven?t been able to surmount.

EG;
I don?t trust that tree to not fall on my house (because of it's lean after last night's storm)
I don?t trust that people I have never seen are going to treat me decently (with regard to what I know about human nature)
I don?t trust that that dog that person has won't bite me (because looks can be deceptive and it hasn?t encountered me before)
I don?t trust that that speeding car isn't going to hit me (because theoretically the driver is incompetent)

I trust that fresh food is fresh, I trust no mechanical component of my chosen mode of transport will malfunction, I trust business persons not to overcharge me because I don?t know enough about their product or service, I trust my partner not to cheat on me or to tell me if they had, I trust police to be efficient and diligent?

Trust, like faith is the grey area between knowing something and not knowing it, therefore, assumption with a silver lining if you like.

I trust I?ve been helpful in relation to your question ; ]

 

[Soup]

"refusal of fear, in anything you do you have to have trust, trust is a motivation to accept something without knowing all the details. Much like faith!
Trust is a by-product of ignorance, not in a bad way, but in the sense that if you don’t know something you have to trust don’t you? If you don’t have trust then that is fear you haven’t been able to surmount." -Gomendosi

Nice! I do see how fear can be antithetical to trust & how trust & fearlessness can both be related to ignorance.

I see it similarly. When I think I trust that something won't happen (like in the sort of examples you provide):

1. I trust that those mechanics & other technicians responsible for the plane itself, the pilot & other crew members & the well trained air traffic controllers since, after all, they are highly motivated to keep the plane from crashing. As for fluky stuff like a drunken Canada goose flying into the engine & causing a crash, a freak accident that makes the wings snap off of the plane, I focus think of the unlikelihood of such an occurrence. For me, fear can be, sometimes, a choice: I choose not to 'feed' fearsome thoughts of crashes.

2. As for the faith part, I'm not good at that. When we flew to Cuba once, I was extremely doubtful of the flight & switched airlines for one with a much better record! Although the likelihood of a crash was still relatively small, that particular airline had one of the worst safety/crash records on the planet. I had neither faith that we'd be lucky nor trust in those who had proven themselves to be less than trustworthy.

Fearlessness & being overly trusting can be a manifestation of some mental deficiency, naivete (inexperience) or plain old foolhardiness: like brash show-off types.
The same, ironically, can be true of fearfulness with the difference that instead f applying to the foolhardy, it applies instead to the wise!

When it comes to trusting people, I tend to do so within specific contexts & incrementally. I trust my daughter to never take money from me BUT I know that if I have either chips or chocolate, it's GONE. I trust that the guy walking towards me isn't a maniac to the extent that nothing in his behaviour would indicate otherwise.

In other contexts, trust is more about my own self-confidence. I trust that I will be able to handle what comes my way.

 

[Dragon's Tooth]

I think trust is the knowledge that some is very likely to happen or not happen. Such as I trust my husband will stay faithful to me. There is a 99% chance my husband will stay faithful so I don't have to worry about this ever coming to pass therefore I do not need to expend energy on worrying about it. I say 99% because we can never be absolutely sure that is will not come to pass but the chances are that it won't so we can imply a measure of faith and belief that it will not.

 

[RubenX]

I would say I don't trust anyone in an absolute way. I trust several people with different specific things. The use of "I trust _____ <person>" should be followed by "with ______ <xyz sitiation>" either explicitly or implied. I could have a friend that I trust with money. I could leave all my life savings with him and he won't touch a penny. But if I need a ride to the airport on time, then I can't trust that friend because he is *always* late.

Note that trust is not necessarily based on how good or bad the person is. But also on an understanding of the person abilities limitations. As in "I trust my 6yo daughter, but won't let her drive my car". I know she would never crash the car on purpose. But I know she can't drive without wrecking it.

Sometimes trust is about confiding problems and knowing who is the person to give the honest advice. If the subject is about morality, a friend with a fine tuned moral compass is the person to go to.