The Trust Factor

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THE TRUST FACTOR
*Written by Douglas Castle for HUMANITAS MAXIMUS (http://HumanitasMaximus.blogspot.com), and republished elsewhere with permission from the Author, who generally gives himself permission unless he is experiencing a temporary episode of self-disdain. Heck...we all do sometimes.

Dear Friends:

We see a great deal of dishonesty and deceitfulness in ourselves. We are frightened by it, and assume that others conduct themselves in the same way. Ultimately, we neither trust ourselves, nor trust others. While many acts of dishonesty and deceitfulness are malicious, I believe that most are "pre-emptive strikes" against the anticipated responses or reprisals of others. Psychologists often refer to this phenomenon of assuming that others are just as we are as projection.

Projection, sadly, begets an ever- expanding, cyclical self-fulfilling prophesy.

Until we can evolve to the point that we either a) are able to trust one another, or b) that we can actually anticipate (in empathetic sensorial detail) the horror, pain and loss that we inflict upon others by our actions, we can never have unilateral disarmament, or world peace. We are far too immersed in the paranoic exercise of watching others to actually devote ourselves to helping ourselves and to helping Humankind.

We must somehow evolve to an ever-present awareness that in harming others we are harming ourselves. I do not know how this can realistically be achieved, except through the notion and practice of strategic interdependence in global trade and in our local commercial and social dealings.

From a business standpoint, if each person in our respective egocentric universes were either our customer, our supplier, our partner or our consultant, it would rapidly become apparent to us that in damaging any of these parties we would be injuring ourselves, it might make us reconsider negotiation and discussion instead of drawing first blood.

It comes down to behavioral psychology and fundamental business.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. Review the latest issue of THE NATIONAL NETWORKER at http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/, and then get your free subscription at http://twitlik.com/OK.

Terms and Labels: Articles by Douglas Castle, trust, unilateral disarmament, world peace, TNNW, pre-emptive strikes, projection, strategic interdependence, Humanitas Maximus,