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The pandemic has exacerbated an already troubling trust deficit across political, economic and demographic divides.<\/p>\n
Research shared just before the pandemic\u2019s onset uncovered that\u00a0millennials are reluctant to trust government, business leaders, corporations, social and mass media or even traditional social institutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a recent Canadian survey found that\u00a0half of respondents believe business leaders are purposely trying to mislead them, and just under half believe the same about government<\/a>. The decline in trust is understandable, a predictable consequence of very real failures in leadership.<\/p>\n But something else is happening as well. The pandemic has forced most of us to move our lives on to screens. And as we get more comfortable hiding behind screens, rarely receiving and making eye contact, we are also handicapping our ability to trust.<\/p>\n Trust is the bedrock of civilization, and living through screens is taking a significant psychological toll. Researchers have found that real and direct eye contact\u00a0holds our attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n As psychologist Christian Jarrett explains,\u00a0eye contact forces us to make sense of the fact that we are dealing with the mind of another person looking at us, and shapes our perception of that other who meets our gaze<\/a>. Perhaps most importantly for this context,\u00a0direct eye contact promotes trust<\/a>\u00a0when folks are saying things that we\u2019re not so sure about.<\/p>\n Announcements of a Zoom-infused future \u2014 like recent news that Ontario schools boards must offer virtual learning as an option for\u00a0the entire 2021-22 school year<\/a>, or that certain businesses are selling off their real estate and making\u00a0a permanent shift to remote work <\/a>\u00a0\u2014 are very worrisome.<\/p>\n In researching my book,\u00a0Connected Capitalism<\/em><\/a>, I watched\u00a0award-winning puppeteer Ronnie Burkett<\/a>\u00a0not only delight an audience, but call on them to perform essential tasks in the show, like adjust the lighting, music and act out supporting roles as amateur puppeteers.<\/p>\n When I asked Burkett how he got a diverse crowd of strangers to trust one another enough to work together in this unexpected manner, he attributed it to eye contact. He explained that we declare ourselves with eye contact. A gaze is like saying \u201cI disagree with you but keep talking to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Burkett\u2019s eye contact invited attachment and a feeling of safety for the audience. But feeling safe doesn\u2019t mean we aren\u2019t expected to be active. It simply enforces the sense that we can trust our cooperative partners; that they have our best interests at heart even as we are challenged to push ourselves to do something novel.<\/p>\nTrust and puppetry<\/strong><\/h4>\n