Trustworthy Computing

Trust is an odd thing. Some people, sadly imo, distrust others from the outset - perhaps due to a bad previous experience. Most people start with a new person with a reasonable level of trust, giving them the "benefit of doubt". Should that trust be broken in some way, then the trust level goes down and sadly that is not always commensurate with the incident.

What makes matters worse is that when trust goes down it can tend to move to become a two-way distrust. In such cases misinterpretation of words and deeds abound and the cycle of distrust can get worse until a point of non-communication arrives. And after non-communication comes action. This may start by physical separation, and very sadly in extreme cases move on to violence. A downward spiral of distrust that is possibly at the heart of many of the world's conflicts.

On the other hand if time goes by and little or no sense of breaking of trust happens, and also supported by opposite happenings... That is if trust gets better then it is mutually supportive. And the spiral of improved trust just gets better.

What makes the upward and downwad spirals different is the speed. Going up is a long slow and steady climb.

Another feature of upward trust building is risk taking bursts, This is when one or both parties take risks of trust to "get to the next level". For example company A hires company B to do a job. They take a risk in company B and manifest that in a contract & commitment. Company A may make up-front payments in good faith, as a sign of its risk. Company B may need to take on board resources such as people for periods that extend well beyond this contract in order to fill this one, in the hope that others may follow.

That's life. And there is nothing new in the above. So why mention it? Because in Groove this is all thrown in to very sharp focus, all day, every day, with everyone you talk to. Groove is the ultimate Trustworthy Computing system.

This means that when you talk over Groove you commit yourself more than you would if you communicate over E-mail, for instance. What you say in Groove, you write in your blood.

And those spirals? They simply happen in Internet time.

You might argue then you should say as little as possible. Unfortunately that does not work. Silence is very obvious and every time you are silent on a key subject everyone else downmarks you automatically.

Fortunately for me there are no real bad marks for gramar punctuation ant splnk.