artifacts of another {Trust}

Confidence in others is for me a pandemic too easily spread by shallow deeds and warm words. Without some faith one would succumb to a paralysis of actions, but the implications of trust are always either painful or deceptive on a large enough timeline. I am not comfortable admitting that I don't truly trust anyone, but those words do feel safe. I observe the brutal honesty of trust between others and am left stunned: manipulation, deception - in essence, I view completely open lines of faith as little more than the naïveté Glaucon addressed thousands of years ago in the Republic. And when all turns to ruin, the game turns to one of self-defense. Trust that withstands waterfalls is empirically false, but this raises crucial concerns about how one can praise life if burdened with our specie's ineptitude?

As I said, the position I hold at this moment in my life carries an uncomfortable weight with it, and for that reason I try to establish myself as someone who is trustworthy to the best of my abilities. I can not be perfected in a world where various people disable the possibility by having different perspectives (Gene, defend me. No, no, defend me.), but I establish where I stand on basic ethical principles with anyone who gets to know me beyond simple greetings and then I defend that position rigorously. I will not preference a friend before a stranger if my actions will hurt that other person, for example. When did it become an acceptable practice to say you won't pursue a friend's lady or guy but the romantic interest of others is 'fair game?' Worse still, this thought process fails to account for the self-implicated change of hands: by allowing yourself to defend why someone should build clouds atop a relationship, you are justifying the very principle. Not only does this lead to disastrous conclusions when you realize you can simply discard the "friend" label when it is no longer convenient, but you then have no rational justifications for opposing someone who acts the same way towards your relationships. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances.”

One contemporary philosopher, Doctor Annette Baier, wants us to distinguish between reliance and trust. We can rely on a wristwatch for an accurate account of time, but if the batteries die we do not feel betrayed. Trust is an acceptance that you may (or will) be hurt but not to such a severity that your relationship as either friends or lovers can't be repaired. Indeed it is very likely that in our everyday routines we slight one another. All of us talk behind each other's backs. I'll need to reflect on this some more in the month ahead.