So what do we do about this sort of thing:
If there is a specific area for trust, there may be one for deception, coveting, and all sorts of other mean-spiritedness. We all have occasional flashes of such things(the evil ones quickly suppressed, no doubt). How does a society deal with the prospect of the government, big business, or indeed anyone else, knowing what’s really going on, moment by moment, in your innermost thoughts. Even if it’s just qualitatively?
The technology for such a scenario, if it is at all possible, remains a long way in the future. But if it did come to fruitition, big trouble would result. In this country technology usually goes first to the government and the wealthiest corporations, who hold it exclusively for some years before it becomes available more generally. Imagine that a bank, for instance, could determine exactly what things Joe Blow will trust. They could then send him a credit card offer specifically tailored to hit his buttons, masking whatever dishonest business practices they want.
The technology for such a scenario, if it is at all possible, remains a long way in the future.
I’m less optimistic. My high school science class had access to a computer- an IBM 1620. It was about the size of a good sized chest freezer, and had about 2k of RAM IIRC. My watch has about that now. Even allowing for my advanced age, that’s a pretty big jump, and I don’t think technology is slowing down…
I think we need trust. Or more specificaly the faith there of. I think it’s this “trust” is what helps us, bonds us to function as a society.
If you were to make trust a comedity or a finite object of each and every person; It would slowly but surely start to divide us. As in the most trust worthy would splinter together, then the less trust worthy and so on.
As we’ve learned from our past: The division of people would only make us weaker as a whole.