As a comparative political scientist, I have to interested in trust, and I have to be worried about the decline in what Rachel Botsman call institutional trust in countries around the world including the one I live in and the one(s) she lives in.
To my delight, Botsman unpacks what trust in general means more than most of my fellow political scientists in at least two ways. First, she talks about "trust stacks" in which we start by trusting an idea, than the platform it is built on, and finally in other people you might (or might not) trust. Second, she talks about "trust leaps" or the fact that trust almost always involves taking a metaphorical leap into the unknown which is one of the main reasons why Palestinians have a hard time trusting Israelis (and vice versa) or why President Reagan is famous for the line, "trust, but verify.
Even more to my delight, Botsman talks about what she calls distributed trust which she thinks is the hallmark of the digital age. No longer do we have to worry only about the the institutional trust that is in decline around the world. Now, we are learning how to replace it with trust achieved a) through platforms that b) are not centrally controlled like those institutions, and c) have a lot of Regan's verification built into them.
As she says, we have a lot to learn about these mechanisms, but they are well worth thinking about.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Is this the most important question of the 21st Century- so far?
One of the points Botsman makes about new distributed trust systems is around "trust design"- the ways in which platforms can provide assurances that a system is "worthy of trust". Amazon provides a "Verified Purchaser" annotation for reviewers as one such a mark. Since my dog-eared and much-used book was a gift and not an Amazon purchase, I've posted a photo of it to reassure you that I have indeed read - and re-read, again and again, this remarkable and thoughtful example of thinking through the most complex abstract ideas in a way that is accessible and very meaningful to most people.Rachel Botsman's greatest gift, having known her and hired her as a messenger from the future over many years, is this: Her ability to ponder the complex questions that vex many citizens about the big questions society faces and her talent for unpacking the issues in a way that anyone can relate to and engage with. She earns our trust every step of the way because of the outstanding research and diverse range of interviews she conducts; never pushing an ideology or selling out to a point of view but observing and questioning all the time using her own judgment as a thoroughly modern woman, and a parent teaching her own young kids how to trust in a very different world than we all grew up in.Where she herself can't find an obvious answer, she points out the potholes we should be watching out for as we fumble our way towards a future for which none have templates, but where we rely on leaders to take on stewardship for the future their decisions create.This book would not only be the best gift you can give to anyone who leads in public life or in business- it should also be be in every parent and every teenager's Christmas stocking. It is a subject that affects us all and anyone can emerge wiser from reading this book and thinking deeply about this question.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017
Top reviews from other countries
@Timothy_Hughes
Who Do you Trust - Who Should You Trust Today?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2019
