Klil H. Neori

This is something that has been gnawing at the back of my head for a while, and I would like to bring it up here. (I hope, that this is the proper forum.)

The question, in short, is trust. I trust the media to base itself more-or-less on the facts, rather than to conspire to keep things away from me. I trust the scientific community, aside from short-lived examples to the contrary, to provide me with factual data, useful theories, and valid experimental procedures. I trust the chair that I am sitting upon this very instant not to magically disappear in the next second, but I would rather focus this discussion on trust in institutions.

Now, there are forms of trust which I do not hold: An Orthodox Jew, for example, trusts the Rabbinical establishment in which he is a member to give him the best religious guidance. A Catholic trusts the Church to do likewise.

Now, what is the difference between the last two examples, and those that I prescribe to? One could suggest that I can always test for myself whatever the scientific establishment says, and see for myself, while the rest is up for grabs. But I literally do not have the time to check everything - maybe all that lies outside of my realms of expertise, as much as they can be called that, is really profoundly false? Once could claim that because of the inherent competitiveness of the journalistic trade, no-one could afford to leave something out that someone else might use for his own profit, but what if all the media I subject myself to is deliberately lying, for a reason of which I am unaware, from pure ignorance?

I know that there is much more ground to cover in this issue, but this message is supposed to act merely as an appetizer; other people, people more gifted than I in their explanatory power, are encouraged to enlighten me.

Humbly yours,

Klil H. Neori

Vesica

Trust in institutions is a very interesting topic! We spend a lot of time bashing organized religion but rarely question the underlying trust in many of our social/governmental institutions. It can be argued that historically religion has been a poor keeper of that trust but so have governments and leaders. In our modern world, the volume of information thrown at us daily makes it impossible to check up on all of it. Is trust in the media becoming more necc. in the 'Information Age'?? Or is it based on a shakier foundation than previously, when there was less global competition in news reporting etc?

Klil H. Neori

Just an unformed idea, but, nontheless, someone may be able to develop it into something decent: Perhaps a measure of the trustworthiness (oh, the pleasure of terms not clearly defined!) of an institution is its ability to stand up to open scrutiny (and what is that, exactly?)? How do, say, Jewish Orthodoxy and the Scientific Establishment compare in that regard?

Also, does the question of human nature (ooh, boy, here's a clear and cut one) come into it? Does a system that bases its trust on human nature deserve more trust than one that trusts in something completely opposite to human nature?