Trust: the Medium Matters

(Daily Mail photo)

Despite popular conceptions of the elderly as being prone to unhappiness ("grumpy old men") and being victimized by fraud [bold added],

a growing body of research shows that...trust increases as people get older and, moreover, that people who trust more are also more likely to experience increases in happiness over time.

The aged are more likely to want to "give back," the researchers hypothesized, and their happier disposition makes them more willing to forgive offenses and resume a trusting outlook.

Your humble observer finds these explanations unsatisfying. Perhaps the elderly--generally speaking--are more experienced at social interactions, and trust simply means having faith in their ability to "read" other people face-to-face.

In contrast we are increasingly distrustful of electronic communications, the vast majority of which is initiated by strangers who want something from us.

The medium matters.