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Ah yes, the old "I want it both ways" statement. Trust is the belief that you don't need to verify.
by Strilanc 13y ago
Ah yes, the old "I want it both ways" statement.
Trust is the belief that you don't need to verify.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoActually, there's a fairly sensible way to view the statement "trust, but verify" -- think of it as a policy of entering agreements without doing the necessary vetting / clearing / what have you in advance. You still do that, but afterwards. As long as the people you're working with are trustworthy, things will run much more smoothly, but if they're not, you'll still find out. That "verify" step is important to maintaining trustworthiness all around.
- Strilanc 13y agoThat's a reasonable interpretation. "Trust now, verify later" would be a bit clearer.
- saraid216 13y agoIf you don't trust someone, there's no point in verifying. Verification is for when you're wrong about being trusting.
- Strilanc 13y agoInteresting, I think we mean something different when we say trust. In cryptography, you're trusting an entity when you don't verify that it's doing the right thing. Typically, the goal is to minimize or eliminate trust (otherwise attackers can exploit the system).
- saraid216 13y agoThe phrase is a Russian saying popularized by Reagan for diplomatic purposes. He wasn't talking about cryptography.
- PeterisP 13y agoNo, without trust there is nothing to verify since that means you don't take those risks. "Trust but verify" means that people will be able to do bad things, but will be found out afterwards.