Review of Trusting People
Posted: 02 Jul 2023, 00:32
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Trusting People" by Guy De Furia Ph D.]
Trust is at the core of human interaction. Constantly worrying about trusting people incorrectly can cause a person to suffer from “low trust,” consequently affecting their productivity and happiness. Guy De Furia, in Trusting People: Security & Comfort Vs Risks & Pain, explores the best practices we can use to build trust and, in turn, improve our interpersonal relationships, whether in the workplace, in our love lives, in our families, or with strangers.
De Furia begins by explaining interpersonal trust generally, including how to gauge another person’s trust and how trust can be faked. He then delves into how we can build trust, especially if it has been destroyed. The author provides genuine pointers on how readers can build self-awareness on trust, avoid being manipulated or cheated, and build more meaningful and fulfilling relationships with other people.
They say a person’s understanding of a topic is best known if they can teach it as simply as possible. And Guy De Furia, with a Ph.D. and a dissertation on the Behavioral Model of Interpersonal Trust, easily showed his expertise. It is easy to underestimate how impactful trust is and what it truly means, but by handling the basic building blocks of trust and giving various examples of characters through which they manifest, De Furia’s lessons showed depth. In addition to his detailed explanations, the author provided various exercises that can help readers with the practical implementation of his teachings. The exercises were often posed as questions to challenge readers to apply a lesson, either to their real lives or to an imagined story.
The author was straightforward and skillfully used stories succinctly to pass across various points. Whether it was his real life or an imagined story, De Furia weaved each story perfectly into each lesson. I appreciated that each chapter handled specific scenarios of trust. For example, there were chapters on self-trust, trust in a friendship, trust in a marriage or a civil union, trust in a family, trust in schools, trust in strangers, and trust in the workplace. The author’s meticulousness and attention to detail were laudable.
I hardly found any reasons to dislike this book. The lessons were meaningful, and the author made a point to be inclusive. For example, in the chapter discussing trust in marriages or civil unions, the author acknowledged the different types of unions, including same-sex marriages and cohabitation, without any undertones of judgment; he always remained objective.
However, my one complaint is that I found a couple of errors that could have easily been spotted with diligent editing. I also found that one or two exercises were repeated, and some exercises seemed like questions the author should answer. Consequently, my rating is 4 out of 5 stars. Trust is an overarching matter, so I'd love to recommend this book to every adult. But I especially recommend the book to readers who want to gain a better understanding of trust.
******
Trusting People
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Trust is at the core of human interaction. Constantly worrying about trusting people incorrectly can cause a person to suffer from “low trust,” consequently affecting their productivity and happiness. Guy De Furia, in Trusting People: Security & Comfort Vs Risks & Pain, explores the best practices we can use to build trust and, in turn, improve our interpersonal relationships, whether in the workplace, in our love lives, in our families, or with strangers.
De Furia begins by explaining interpersonal trust generally, including how to gauge another person’s trust and how trust can be faked. He then delves into how we can build trust, especially if it has been destroyed. The author provides genuine pointers on how readers can build self-awareness on trust, avoid being manipulated or cheated, and build more meaningful and fulfilling relationships with other people.
They say a person’s understanding of a topic is best known if they can teach it as simply as possible. And Guy De Furia, with a Ph.D. and a dissertation on the Behavioral Model of Interpersonal Trust, easily showed his expertise. It is easy to underestimate how impactful trust is and what it truly means, but by handling the basic building blocks of trust and giving various examples of characters through which they manifest, De Furia’s lessons showed depth. In addition to his detailed explanations, the author provided various exercises that can help readers with the practical implementation of his teachings. The exercises were often posed as questions to challenge readers to apply a lesson, either to their real lives or to an imagined story.
The author was straightforward and skillfully used stories succinctly to pass across various points. Whether it was his real life or an imagined story, De Furia weaved each story perfectly into each lesson. I appreciated that each chapter handled specific scenarios of trust. For example, there were chapters on self-trust, trust in a friendship, trust in a marriage or a civil union, trust in a family, trust in schools, trust in strangers, and trust in the workplace. The author’s meticulousness and attention to detail were laudable.
I hardly found any reasons to dislike this book. The lessons were meaningful, and the author made a point to be inclusive. For example, in the chapter discussing trust in marriages or civil unions, the author acknowledged the different types of unions, including same-sex marriages and cohabitation, without any undertones of judgment; he always remained objective.
However, my one complaint is that I found a couple of errors that could have easily been spotted with diligent editing. I also found that one or two exercises were repeated, and some exercises seemed like questions the author should answer. Consequently, my rating is 4 out of 5 stars. Trust is an overarching matter, so I'd love to recommend this book to every adult. But I especially recommend the book to readers who want to gain a better understanding of trust.
******
Trusting People
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon