Q&A with Anthony Laden: Informational Trust Networks
Anthony Laden is an IGPA affiliate, professor of philosophy, and the associate director of the Center for Ethics and Education, a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He recently published, Networks of Trust, The Social Costs of College and What We Can Do About Them. Laden shares what drew him to study trust, why information trust networks are important, and how mistrust in higher education can impact the public.
Q: What inspired you to explore the concept of informational trust networks?
A: The idea emerged from teaching a seminar on trust and my earlier work on reasoning and political philosophy. I had been thinking about the causes of polarization and why the accusation that colleges indoctrinate students seemed so convincing to some people. I realized these concerns stem from the way colleges shape who students trust rather than what they believe, and that, seen that way, this could also help to explain concerns that colleges are hostile or insufficiently inclusive of marginalized communities. The idea of an informational trust network helped me make sense of that thought.
Q: How do you define an informational trust network, and why is it important?
A: An informational trust network is the set of sources that supply us with the ingredients of our thought. Our willingness to directly use what these sources provide—to treat it as information—involves a kind of trust. Over time, experiences and education shape who and what we trust, and why, and this then shapes how we think. For example, those who occupy academic trust networks trust information from sources that rely on broadly scientific methods and deliver their results in impersonal and general terms, while those immersed in a local community’s network may trust information that comes from sources with rooted experiential knowledge and shared history.
Q: How does a college education influence trust networks, and what are the social consequences?
A: A college education helps students build and inhabit an academic trust network, and thus move away from networks they may have learned to inhabit in their families and communities. This shift can alienate students from their families or communities: it can be hard to maintain close social ties with someone who doesn’t share your trust network. I think this dynamic helps to explain why college has become such a lightning rod in the culture wars and why having a college education has become such a clear dividing line in our society and politics.
Q: How does the tension between academic and local trust networks affect society?
A: If our polarization results from inhabiting distinct trust networks, we can have a hard time talking with one another and working together to solve shared problems. Bridging this divide requires fostering respect for diverse trust networks and the potential insights they provide, while also recognizing that not all trust networks are equally trustworthy. This is a central question I wrestle with in the book.
Q: What can colleges do to address these divides and build trust?
A: Colleges can support students through trust network transitions by acknowledging the challenges and losses involved. Pedagogically, promoting an “open-minded trust network,” which takes openness to challenge as a mark of trustworthiness, can help students build trust networks that bridge divides between their different communities rather than pulling them from one community into a different one. I suggest some strategies in the book for building such a network, including what philosophers call “charitable thinking.”
Anthony Laden’s new book, Networks of Trust: The Social Costs of College and What We Can Do About Them, can be purchased on The University of Illinois Chicago Press website or Amazon.
