Postcrossing is ten years old and people from around the world are sending millions of postcards every year to strangers in the hope that they will get a card back from another stranger somewhere else in the world. (Check it out here) This strange form of trust is not common and I think it can exist because the downside risk is low. If someone doesn’t send you a postcard nobody is hurt and very little is lost. If a stranger doesn’t send you the new gadget you paid for you lose your investment.
The Alhambra Post Office in morning light
It comes from the same spot in our risk analysis mechanism as the tightrope effect. You can easily walk on a plank on the ground. When the plank is four feet in the air it is much more difficult and when it is twenty feet in the air it is almost impossible. Do you make doing a new thing with you as low risk as possible both economically and emotionally?