Is this the era of distrust?

Question 1

trustworthiness

Answer 1

quality of being able to be trusted as honest and reliable.

As well as bringing the world to a halt, the coronavirus epidemic has led to an increase in misinformation, lies and conspiracy theories on the internet.
we’ll be hearing from a philosopher who believes the problem is not about trust itself but about trustworthiness
In an era of fake news, where even a president of the United States is accused of spreading misinformation, could it be that we are living through a crisis in trust? What is trust? And who should we place our trust in?

Question 2

gullible

Answer 2

easy to deceive because you trust and believe people too easily.

We have another word, which is gullible, and if you simply place trust indiscriminately without making a judgement about whether the other person or institution is trustworthy then just trusting to luck as we say, is probably not a virtue.
There’s a difference between trusting someone because you have good reason to believe them and being gullible– that’s easy to deceive because you trust and believe people too quickly.

Question 3

trust to luck

Answer 3

believe that things will happen for the best.

We have another word, which is gullible, and if you simply place trust indiscriminately without making a judgement about whether the other person or institution is trustworthy then just trusting to luck as we say, is probably not a virtue.

Question 4

indiscriminately

Answer 4

done is a random way that does not show care or judgement, usually with harmful results.

We have another word, which is gullible, and if you simply place trust indiscriminately without making a judgement about whether the other person or institution is trustworthy then just trusting to luck as we say, is probably not a virtue.

Question 5

competence

Answer 5

the ability to do something well, in a satisfactory or effective way.

So, if indiscriminately trusting people is such a bad idea, how do we avoid it? How can we tell who is trustworthy and who is not?

An individual or organisation is trustworthy is they can justifiably be trusted. To be trustworthy they need three ingredients. First, honesty – people have to be able to believe what they’re told. Second, competence.

You would trust a car mechanic to fix your broken car engine, but you wouldn’t go to them for dental work – they’re not competent to remove your tooth like a dentist is.

Question 6

reliability

Answer 6

quality to being trusted to do what you say you will, all the time.

An individual or organisation is trustworthy is they can justifiably be trusted. To be trustworthy they need three ingredients. First, honesty – people have to be able to believe what they’re told. Second, competence. Beyond honesty and competence there’s a third element to trustworthiness: reliability.

Philosopher Onora O’Neill identifies three ingredients for trustworthiness: honesty, competence and reliability.