significant time period. Perhaps, under the correct circumstances, a single or very few acts of altruistic behavior may be enough to significantly enhance one’s credence for trust. Likewise, a single betrayal of this acquired trust may be enough to significantly diminish, perhaps permanently, the credibility so painstakingly acquired. We most often think about trust in terms of individuals; we develop trust in a particular person, perhaps simply through reputation if we don’t know the person. Thus, we imbue a person’s identity with a level of trust relative to some characteristic. This, of course, presupposes that we have processes through which identity can be reliably authenticated across time and space; that is, we must first establish trust in the process through which we determine identity and then it becomes reasonable that we trust some characteristic associated with that person’s identity.

If, over time, one is recognized as performing in a trustworthy manner, then one can build a reputation of trust in the eyes of persons not known. Yet another way to build trust is to aspire to the same set of values in our actions as does another person or group of persons. This is a way of establishing a level of trust, although perhaps not trust in a quantitative sense. Being able to say “she’s a good woman” is a bit different from being able to say “I’d trust her with my life or the lives of my children.” However, the former will facilitate the latter. It is this approach to trust that is embodied in much religious dogma. First, recognize a code of conduct for the group, a morality, that can be used to guide and to judge the behavior of individuals. Once a strong correlation is observed, that is, when a person develops a reputation for doing good, then the trust conveys to situations not specifically handled by the moral code.

We must not, of course, forget a source of trust that emanates directly from the physical ecosystem; that is, trust established through force; a form of trust from which comes action based on an overriding fear of doing otherwise. There is, of course, but a subtle distinction between fear of the supernatural versus fear of physical harm in forming the basis of trust. History is replete with social ecosystems based on either, or both. That said, let us continue our consideration of a model for social ecosystems by examining how trust, once established, is conveyed through the ecosystem.

We might surmise that from the earliest emergence of human groupings the ability to convey trust was critical to the success of the group. Conveyance of trust within nuclear family based groups was likely an artifact of normal social interaction coupled to physiological processes. To project trust outside of one’s immediate circle of associates was much more difficult; it still is today. As interactions among groups became more widespread, that is as groups became larger and the interaction points became more diverse, the problem of trust conveyance became more acute. And, what is it about group associations that make trust so vital? We noted above that a primary requirement for the group to have competitive advantage over other individuals or other groups is for the group to have well defined policies established for dealing with interactions, both intra- and inter-group. If the group is going to count on adherence by its members in the application of these policies, then the group must have trust in the policies defined as well as in other individuals in the application of those policies. During interactions when policies are applied, it must be possible for individuals involved in the transactions to assess the trust they place in the other interaction participants. So, in order to establish our conceptualization of various groups, we need to be able to understand where the trust is established that is then ascribed to the members and the policies of the group. If viewed in this way, it is clear that trust must subsume policy, or put another way, we have to have trust first and then we’ll be able to accept and apply the policies.

Consider the foundational narratives of the Christian religion. One such narrative deals with the mission given to Moses to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Within this story, when Moses is on the Mountain of God receiving his instructions (policy to be applied), Moses

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