So we are conditioned to claim that we dont trust people much. A Scandinavian or Dutchman is proud to express trust and affection for his fellowman (I have just been sailing on a Dutch ship for a fortnight and the prevailing openheartedness makes any Briton feel like scroogescrooge n. 吝啬鬼. Our national preference is to purse the lips，shake the head and affect an air of judicious canniness. But if you look at the actual daily workings of British society there is an astonishing degree of unquestioning trust of strangers，simply because we are a technological society. These respondents who tell the researchers that “generally speaking，people cannot be trusted” are in fact blithelyblithely adv.愉快地，快乐地trusting distant strangers all day long. Every time you get on a train or plane you put your life into the hands of unseen engineers and designers，drivers，pilots and traffic controllers. When you give a password to a bank call centre you are displaying trust； tapping your creditcard number on to an internet site，you affirm the rectituderectitude n.正直，公正，清廉，笔直 of a company you have never seen，and rely on the conscientiousness of distant software designers.
The list of our trustful ways goes on and on，distancing us from the primitive peasant suspicion that keeps gold and a shotgun beneath the mattress. We crowd into cinemas and clubs，and eat unidentifiable burgers and readymeals by the megaton. We know there are pitfalls-consumer programmes tell us so-but maybe the very reason for our proliferation of consumer journalism is that we are so trustful and contented. Twenty minutes contemplation of the simple scamsscam n.诡计，故事 uncovered by the BBC Watchdog should suggest that rather than living in a state of constant suspicion，in many areas of life we are relaxed to the point of gullibility.
But ask the baldbald adj.光秃的，单调的，枯燥的 question，and we think immediately about those who publicly let us down： politicians who broke election promises，pension funds that jeopardised our future while their directors swanned off with bonuses，stars who turned sleazysleazy adj.质地薄的，质量差的，廉价的. We dont want to look like fools，so we say no； but then return to our lamblike faith that everything is OK really. Look around at your local leisure centre this week，and observe how many people dont bother with a locker key. In all but the sharpest neighborhoods，itll be a surprising proportion.
This is not entirely healthy. What we say will，in the end，become what we think. US evidence is denser than ours，but broadly speaking it is clear that trust is linked to “social capital” -networks，alliances，local societies，anything that takes people out into common spaces. Churches，clubs，charities and community colleges do obvious good. Commuting and long working hours do palpablepalpable adj.可触知的，明显的 harm，and so do bad townplanning and poor policing. The mass migration of women out of the home and neighbourhood into jobs hasnt helped either. Shortcontract culture kills the old workplace clubs.