Name: What we don't understand about trust
Uploaded: 2013-09-25T15:07:01Z
Duration: 9 min 37 s
Description: Trust is on the decline, and we need to rebuild it. That's a commonly heard suggestion for making a better world ... but, says philosopher Onora O'Neill, we don't really understand what we're suggesting. She flips the question, showing us that our three most common ideas about trust are actually misdirected.

Onora O'Neill: What we don't understand about trust

What we don't understand about trust

Trust is on the decline, and we need to rebuild it. That's a commonly heard suggestion for making a better world ... but, says philosopher Onora O'Neill, we don't really understand what we're suggesting. She flips the question, showing us that our three most common ideas about trust are actually misdirected.

The urge to rebuild trust often misses the point. Opinion polls show that public trust in politicians and journalists has remained low for decades, while judges and nurses remain highly trusted. Real trust is always specific and based on judgments of competence, honesty, and reliability, not on broad attitudes. Focusing on being genuinely trustworthy, and offering clear evidence of it, makes trust meaningful and durable.