What Do You Want… to Trust?

Begin by noting that I did not ask Who you want to trust. I asked What do you want to trust. Perhaps we’ll get to Who in some later post, but today I wanted to focus in on the non-human things we put our trust into, and how we think more deeply about it before we do.

There are many simple things we put our trust into regularly. When you unlock a lock and turn a doorknob, you trust that the door will open. When you pour a fresh cup of coffee you trust that it will be hot. When you drop a glass, you trust that it will shatter. In fact, at the instant that you let go of that glass you trust that it will fall downward.

Have you ever leaned against the front of a balcony? When you do, you trust that gate or wall will support your weight and not crumble causing you to fall and crash to the ground below. Much more risky than opening a door.

When you drive onto a bridge, you are trusting that the bridge will not collapse under you. When you take an elevator to the upper floors of the building you trust that the cables lifting that elevator car will not suddenly snap. When you apply the parking brake in your car, you trust your car will not roll away.

While the odds are with you, you actually have no concrete reason to trust any of these things. For all you know, the balcony wall may have been weakened by recent poor weather conditions, the bridge pilings were just hit by a barge, the elevator cables are way overdue for maintenance, and the cable in your parking brake has just snapped. Some days it may just seem better to stay home…