Learning about Malcolm’s Non-Naive Trust Dance (NNTD) has fundamentally changed how I see trust and distrust. I see my previous, implicit understanding of trust and distrust as a kind of type error, a fundamental confusion.
Once U see something that fundamental differently, U can’t unsee it. Everything looks different. I feel much more well-positioned to understand trust intuitively in a way that seems both more accurate and more useful.
My Life
Learning about the Non-Naive Trust Dance has clarified situations that I’ve been in in the past, that I found confusing at the time.
I can see that many of these instances had trust and distrust as implicit elements, that the ways that they went awry are well-explained by NNTD.
This new understanding has also helped me to orient better towards my present life and future goals: to respect my own trust and distrust, and to be well-positioned to respect others’, also.
The Service Guild
I want to be a good leader, and I want the organization I’m creating, The Service Guild, to flourish. To really succeed, it’s clear to me that The Service Guild will need an embodied, well-distributed understanding of trust and distrust.
NNTD serves that purpose. I want The Guild’s culture to incorporate these ideas and practices. I want us to relate to trust in a way that respects distrust, that doesn’t try to force things or gloss over distrust.
TPOT/The Network
Beyond myself and The Service Guild, I increasingly believe that NNTD matters for the larger ecosystems I’m connected to—especially the one sometimes called TPOT or, more recently, The Network.
There are other such ecosystems, networks, scenes that I am aware of. I believe that everyone in these kinds of scenes will need a more robust understanding of trust and distrust as they continue, grow, and expand—as they encounter new cultures and new domains and new problem spaces.
Trust and distrust are simply going to come up. They’re already at play. So the question is, how do we coordinate in ways that respect, acknowledge, and honor that trust and distrust?
NNTD has valuable perspectives and answers for these questions, that I think we need to explore and apply in earnest—that will help us to coordinate effectively at larger and larger scales.
The World
I believe NNTD also applies at even larger scales: that it’s important for our species, for our planet, and ultimately for all beings.
It seems to me that we are undergoing a phase shift as a species, where we’re learning how to be a global civilization, a planet that cares for all its peoples—not just humans, but also plants, animals, and the land itself.
This is not an easy process, but it is happening—it has a kind of momentum. A necessity, even.
I believe that NNTD will help us to respect different cultures, their careabouts and perspectives, so that we can coordinate effectively, harmoniously. I also believe it will set us up for success with the possibility of becoming a multi-planetary species—going to Mars and beyond.
Above all, my encounter with NNTD makes me have faith in the possibility of world peace.
World Peace by Olivia Ortiz Asenita Fernandez is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Conclusion
May this knowledge spread and dissipate itself fractally through the world. May it take root within our own hearts and minds. May it grow to benefit the people we care about, to serve the communities we are connected to, to aid the cultures and nations we are a part of.
May a better understanding of trust and distrust lead to more sanity and kindness, love and respect. May it lead us forwards. May we learn to coordinate effectively and skillfully as a civilization, species, and planet, for our own flourishing and the benefit of all beings.
May world peace come to pass in our life times, for the benefit of all beings.
Further Resources
If the puzzle pieces in this blog post and series inspire U, U would probably also enjoy reading these pieces from Malcolm:
Thank U to Bee Eye for prompting the voice memo that served as the basis for this piece.Â