Re: Single model or framework for reputation/trust

Ed Gerck wrote:

>In the cyber-world things get more complicated. There are no 
>assets to seize, no liability to measure. Reputation alone will 
>not correspond to the models we use in the real-world and will
>not have the recourse mechanisms we need. Think of that farmer and
>chicken example by the noted logician Russel: the reputation 
>model fails for the chicken. The trust model would give the
>chicken the right information, though: you can't trust the farmer.
>
>Cheers,
>Ed Gerck
>
Ed,

    How can the chicken know, a priori, that the farmer is not 
trustworthy? 

    I'm sorry that the question sounds ludicrous.  But please assume for 
sake of discussion that the chicken is arbitrarily intelligent, and 
presumably is in communication with other chickens, but can only know 
what it has observed and the reports of its fellow chickens.  How can it 
know that the farmer has arrived with evil intent?  To make the question 
even more tantalizing, how can the chicken know that the farmer has 
arrived today with evil intent, whereas yesterday, he brought food?  If 
the chicken flees every time the farmer is seen, then the chicken will 
starve - all of the other chickens will get the food first.

    The reason why I am asking this question is because I am trying to 
get my mind around the problems of trust and reputation in the real 
world; I think I have to do that before I can say anything intelligent 
about E-mail.  Even then, I am not sure I can say anything intelligent 
about E-mail.



    Thank you


Jeff