Roy Tang

Sometimes I stop and think and I’m amazed at how much trust we place in our fellow human beings, many of them strangers, enough so that society is able to function. Some examples of what I mean:

• My mom pays for thousands of pesos worth of groceries and doesn’t bother going through the receipt to make sure the cashier punched in the right items
• We order food in restaurants that is cooked and prepared outside of our view and trust that they are prepared appropriately and with proper regard for health standards
• I take naps in a taxi cab assuming the driver won’t take me to a secluded location and try to rob me
• We cross the street trusting that drivers are sensible people who won’t blow past traffic lights and suddenly careen towards us
• We go to work and trust that our coworkers will do their thing and our work will get done and the company is going to pay us
• We order stuff online and assume that the order will be fulfilled

All of this, in spite of the fact that we know there are humans who exist who are incompetent, unreliable, or even downright malicious or sociopathic. It’s a weird thing to be amazed at because of course, we assume a certain level of trust in our fellow man, otherwise society wouldn’t be able to function at all. But held in contrast with the day-to-day news of stupidity and evil and deception that is prevalent in the world, one wonders where this well of trust and optimism comes from. Somehow in spite of everything, humanity still holds faith in itself.