Who Can You Trust?: How Technology Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart

306 Pages·2016·3.88 MB·English

by  Rachel Botsman

Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Rachel Botsman
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Originally published in hardcover and ebook by Portfolio Penguin in October 2017
First Edition: November 2017
Published by PublicAffairs, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette
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Illustrations by Team (www.team.design)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949042
ISBNs: 978-1-5417-7367-7 (hardcover), 978-1-5417-7368-4 (ebook)
E3-20171012-JV-PC

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Who Can You Trust?
Evolution of Trust
Introduction
1. Trust Leaps
From eleventh-century traders to Alibaba: how trust works to cross barriers, calm
fears and revolutionize what’s possible.
2. Losing Faith
Behind the devastating crisis in institutional trust–and why we’re now more likely to
‘phone a friend’.
3. Strangely Familiar
From sushi to self-driving cars–some surprising lessons in persuading people to trust
new ideas.
4. Where Does the Buck Stop?
When trust crashes in the ‘self-managed’ digital world, who’s accountable?
5. But She Looked the Part
A cautionary tale about deceptive appearances, and the technology that could unmask
fakers and frauds.
6. Reputation is Everything, Even in the Dark
What drug dealers on the darknet can teach us about great customer service.
7. Rated: Would Your Life Get a Good Trust Score?
When dystopian sci-fi turns into a reality and every little move you make is ranked,
who wins and who loses?
8. In Bots We Trust
But should we… and how do we make them ethical?
9. Blockchain Part I: The Digital Gold Rush
From fei to bitcoin, the long road to setting money free. What will it mean for the
City?
10. Blockchain Part II: The Truth Machine
The golden promises of the blockchain: over-hyped or the trustworthy key to our
digital future?
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Glossary of ‘Trust’ Terms
Notes and Further Reading
Index
In memory of Pamela Hartigan, my friend and mentor.
What is trust?
A confident relationship with the unknown.