The Glue of Society - Trust Theory: A Socio-Cognitive and Computational Model - page 259

9

The Glue of Society

9.1 Why Trust Is the 'Glue of Society'
In the literature (and common sense) it is now commonplace to find the slogan that trust is the
glue of society, it is crucial, vital in economics (financial activity, market, management, and
so on), in social cooperation, in organization, for institutional effects and acts, in groups, etc.
But why? What is the real reason that trust plays such an essential role in human social life in
every dimension? The answer - for us - is not (simply) the need for reducing uncertainty, for
feeling and acting in a more confident way; for relying on predictions: all necessary reasons it
is true, but not sufficient to understand this phenomenon and all its implications.
For us, the most fundamental reason is 'sociality' per se, the Aristotelian view of the ' zoon
politikon '. Human beings are social in a basic and objective sense: they depend on each other ;
they live thanks to each other. More precisely (Castelfranchi, 1993) (Conte, 1995) human
beings are different from each other, both in their skills and resources, and in their many
desires and needs (and their subjective importance).
Moreover, they live in the same 'environment', that is, they interfere with each other: the
realization of the goals of X is affected by the activity of Y in the same environment; Y can create
favorable or unfavorable conditions. Each agent has seriously limited powers (competences,
skills, resources) and cannot achieve all his/her (potential) goals; but, by exploiting the powers
of others, they can satisfy and develop their goals. By exploiting others (for example, via
cooperation over common goals, or via exchange, or via domination, etc.) human beings can
multiply their powers and their achievement in an unbelievable way. Also, because there are
powers that no single individual possesses ( co-powers ) and cannot just be 'exchanged' or
unilaterally exploited, but depends on collaboration: only a multi-agent coordinated action
can produce the desired outcome. However, in order for this transformation of limits and
dependence into an explosion of powers be realized, X not only has to exploit Y (and possibly
vice versa) but he has to 'count on' this, to 'rely' on Y , to 'delegate' the achievement of his
own desire to Y 's action; to Y . This is precisely trust . Dependence (and even awareness of
dependence) without trust is nothing; it is an inaccessible resource (see Chapter 10).
Trust must be based on some experience of Y (or similar people), on some evaluation of
Y 's competences and features, on some expectation, and on the decision to bet on this, to take
some risk while relying on Y . Moreover, X can rely on Y 's understanding of this reliance, on