Light Trust

[First published on Cent]

Trust. If you've been reading me over the past month (e.g. here or here) you know that trust - specifically in the digital world - is a topic that I find deeply interesting.

The other day as I was finishing up the very thought provoking new-ish book 'Radical Markets' co-authored by Eric Posner and Glen Weyl (which I highly recommend), a short paragraph on pg. 271 in the chapter entitled 'Going to the Root' caught my attention. In that paragraph the concept of "light" trust came up.

Apparently light trust is a concept originally coined by urbanist Jane Jacobs which denotes the modicum of responsibility that city dwellers take for each other *even if* they have no pre-existing ties or connections. Light trust is trust in cities.

In the context if 'Radical Markets' light trust is significant because it represents the sociological spirit of the market. This light trust amongst strangers and near-strangers is what allows for both increased diversity and new strangers to continue joining the sorrounding community and is enanced by well functioning markets.

Markets and cities are both intimately linked. Cities typically formed around major markets, and all cities have markets of one kind or another. So it makes sense that light trust originates in market places first before emanating out to the greater community.

Natively introducing crypto to any website or app has the potential of turning those digital spaces into mini-markets.

Take Cent for example. The market on Cent involves the exchange of creative, human engagement for money.

Perhaps it's this market aspect of light trust that's fundamentally responsible for the generally high level of civility that seems to exist between our diverse base of users and their interactions. Perhaps.