Trust and Its Challenges
Trust was my first consideration.* I spent nearly forty years in the public sector. I started as a street cop. Later, I taught at a major university. During this time, I watched as common sense seemed to disappear in many areas of human life.
After that, I spent several years as a life coach and worked as a lay staff member at a major church. These diverse experiences deeply affected my perspective on trust in humankind, leaving it significantly damaged.
Theological Perspective
I am a seminary graduate and a believer. I recognize that humans are often vulnerable to negative influences. This is true regardless of their individual beliefs. The teachings remind me that people can be easily swayed by forces that seek to undermine goodness. That does not necessarily make it any easier to accept.
Modern Influences and Social Impact
Despite my understanding, I am troubled by how effortlessly individuals are influenced today. There are voices whose primary objectives are to belittle others and to spread distrust and disharmony. Witnessing the widespread effects of such negativity is deeply unsettling at times.
*This was written as a response to the post of a pastor I follow. When I tried to share this in his post, I could not find it. Thus, the unexplained introduction sentence.
© oneoldcop.com 2026
I spend most of my days coaching people. I agree that common sense is uncommon these days and have tried to identify why. An example of this root cause is that we don’t fix things. As a kid, I learned how build things and fix things when they broke. I learned how hard you can hit something with a hammer before it breaks and then how to repair it once I did. These lessons teach you how the world works. Unfortunately, we live in a replacement world where kids don’t learn how to fix things they just get another one. As a kid we had 2 TV channels. If you wanted to watch TV those were your choices. Today there’s little patience because if you don’t like it there’s a thousand alternatives.
I acknowledge that this is way too simplistic to explain your observations, but if you apply it conceptually, the model fits many situations. My fear is that it’s the precursor to the age of AI.