Sophocles
What you cannot enforce, do not command. -Sophocles
Blore
Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier.
Blore’s Razor
Hand
I had rather take my chance that some traitors will escape detection than spread abroad a spirit of general suspicion and distrust, which accepts rumor and gossip in place of undismayed and unintimidated inquiry. -Learned Hand
Introduction
The Trust Manifesto is about calculated altruism. There is a place for regular altruism in this world; I am a big believer in karma.
However, for those people willing to dive deeper into economics, psychology, and statistics, there are plenty of other reasons to extend trust. By understanding, combining and applying these ideas, one can win more love, money, happiness and friendship than someone who does not practice calculated altruism.
A casino cannot predict how it will fare on any given transaction, but can predict with some certainty how it will do after 1,000 transactions. Those people that understand such ideas as true costs, the human tendency to overstate rare events. and other such things, can be like a casino and decide when it is rational to take risks that have a likely positive upside to their lives.
The Trust Manifesto is partly about the Golden Rule, but unlike some belief systems tries to also explain why the Golden Rule is a rational way to maximize happiness and wealth.