Surely the levels of trust in society are not something that can be measured in the same sense that oxytocin levels in the brain can be measured. At worst this problem is symptomatic of an epistemological break and any explanation can make no strong claim of validity. At best, cause and effect explanation will be so hideously complicated that it will be uninterpretable by or of little use to the economist or the designer.
Dr Geoff Matthews
Course Leader MA Interdisciplinary Design
Lincoln School of Architecture
University of Lincoln, UK
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07:34 05/03/2004 Kari-Hans Kommonen wrote
Terry,
Obviously, I should go to the original article to find out, but does
the article say that higher levels of oxytocin production causes
people to be trusting or that when people feel they can trust others
causes higher levels of oxytocin production?
Or is the jury still out on this issue?
;) kh
...
At 14:41 +0000 4.3.2004, Terence Love wrote:
>1. Trust is tightly connected to oxytocin production in males
>and females. Oxytocin is a hormone responsible for uterine
>contractions, lactation and is linked with 'mother love'
>attachments, memory, and sexual pair bonding. This links the
>physiology of trust to several other 'emotion' related human
>behaviours.
>2. Levels of trust are different in different nations and
>social groups and correlate to a wide range of economic and social
>factors that impact on individuals' oxytocin production.
>3. Levels of trust in society are closely linked to national
>economic health. Low trust societies and nations seem as a result to
>become locked into a distrust-driven poverty trap and downward
>economic spiral. I.e. High levels of trust are good for economic and
>social development
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