The Philosophy of Trust and Luck -- How To Apply Trust Wisely
Updated: Feb 21
Introduction
There is, I believe, a very fine correlation between a worthy object of trust and luck. By being born somewhere, in a specific family, in a specific society, and with different skills, some people are bound to you for some time. That's until you gain the increasing option to navigate between more and more potential connections. Never underestimate the tyranny of circumstance.
When you're merely a child, you're at the hands of people you are confined to, and later, to an educational institution filled with people you must meet every day. Then, when you have to work, your acknowledgement of people increases even further, until you reach a certain peak, somewhere in your life, depending on your very own decisions. Depending on the people in your life, along other factors, obviously, your peak may not necessarily be a successful one; one where you're at the prime of your self actualization.
What I'm trying to say is, that there are different people that you will meet in life, forced or successfully invited. Some are worthy of trust, some are not. Some of these people are confined to you for a specific period of time. But, once you grow more independent, you might be introduced to more and more people, whose reliability is all a matter of the luck of these people in the first place.
Organized Followership -- How I Came to Rise
I'm a loner by nature, and because of that, my "pool" of people is small. However, those who I managed to find and connect with throughout my life were people who I can say were worthy of my trust and are even now. The internet, so to speak, is the "ultimate" medium of potential where you can meet a very wide variety of people, all with different degrees of objectively-recommended trust.
It really is luck-based. Being introduced to different people is can largely random thing, whether they connect with you or not to the point of reducing your loneliness. Of course, as we become adults, we gain the choice to decide which people we want and which we don't. However, the the pool of opportunity, in which the selection is made, is based on luck.
Since our lives pretty much rely on people, from our parents to the people we will be interacting with throughout our lives, these interactions will eventually influence the course our lives will take. Nietzsche's Overman may fail understanding that interactions often require compromise, in order for certain tasks, even if voluntary and not monetary, to be done.
If you're going to have volunteers you need them to be stay loyal. For them to stay loyal you need to respect their boundaries. The Overman however has little regard for morality that isn't his or her own making. Going outside of a life of a "Full Hermit Mode" requires respect that can take some sacrifice of your personal sentiments in the name of greater cooperation. You shouldn't, for example, see your own volunteers as useless as that would insult them greatly. Usefulness is a basic trait in human beings. Especially those who volunteer.
This demonstrates how unpredictable life can be based on the words you choose to say and the people whose presence you would either accept or deny. If you said different things and chose different people throughout the course of your past, perhaps your life in the present would've been very different. The same goes with this very site.
A certain reader chose to volunteer as an advisor for example... If I hadn't trusted them, then the composition of the site would've been different. If I hadn't accepted help in general, this site would've looked different as well, for the better and for the worse.
If you wish to improve your life, you need to work on your ability to distinguish between those who are worthy of trust and those who are not. Some people are manipulators with ulterior motives. Others would stab you in the back when they'd get the chance.
It's hard to know for certain unless you work on your ability to "read" people and notice indications of possible scammers and other con artists. Physically, and not virtually, you can get the upper hand through visible nonverbal communication. Virtually, you can at the very best follow and inspect their activities online (AKA their active digital footprint). Should you fall for their deception, then that would change your course of life as well.
People shouldn't be treated nor discarded like pawns. However, you better regard your own interests as well. They might not do it for you, so you should concern about these interests yourself.
Thus, this "luck" I'm speaking of when it comes to people also relies on your ability to consent or deny when such decisions can be made. If you are a baby, you can't choose your parents or guardians, but when you become an adult, free from guardianship, you can choose to discard them, regardless of whether or not it's a wise idea. Of course freedom allows us to make dumb decisions.
Thanks to certain people, I managed to grow more skeptical of people, like when some strangers approached me. Perhaps if I didn't people I couldn't logically trust, my life would've been different as well.
Importance of Wisdom
Do you see now, how one's fortune is as fluid as water? It can change anytime, anywhere, and it depends on two factors: luck and wisdom. Luck, because we are dealt with different "pools" of people. Wisdom is our ability to differentiate, accept, and/or decline potential; To choose wisely.
We cannot always control the first, but we sure can improve the second as time goes on. We should be suspicious of people when suspicion has its place, and we should be trustful of people when we are rightfully certain that they can bring us benefit, and vice versa, if we're altruists.
We better choose the right people for whatever functionality they agreed to fulfill. That includes friendships. They might not understand, for instance, how to be friends with philosophers. As a philosopher living in a post-truth era, you might want to let them go, or decline them altogether. Enable them to commit the parasocial fallacy, and they will be angry at you for their own misunderstanding.
Final Notes
On that note, I would like to thank you all for trusting me, if you do. The internet can be a malicious place. Thank you for not regarding me as a scammer, because you can rest assured when I declare that I am full of goodwill. Thanks again for choosing to spend your time on my writing. Allow me to humor you with my articles as long as you like. I myself humor guest writers.
And remember this: Anyone can just disappear from your life, intentionally or not. Other people aren't necessarily resources like iron ore. They can definitely be of help if you prove to them you're trustworthy yourself. Choose wisely from your "pool" of people, and they can be of great help to your hopes and dreams.
