Believing and trusting are related, but different. The fact that it is possible to believe a person but not trust them, or trust a person but not believe them, shows this.
Belief involves agreement – intellectual assent to a statement. It is specific, in the sense that a person can tell you three things and you can believe one of them, but not the other two. Belief is a thought that originates the head centre of intelligence.
Trust is possible independent of belief. It is more general rather than specific. A person can tell you three things and you may not believe any of them, but still trust the person based on other experience. Trust is a feeling that originates in either the body or heart centre of intelligence.
While trust and belief are not equivalent, they are proportionally related.
Both are strengthened with good evidence in their favour and are undermined by good evidence against them.
Both of them are a choice. Trust in particular, because it is general and originates in the heart or the body, is a fragile gift we give or withhold.
Most of the time, if one has to choose between being believed or being trusted, it probably not going to be much of a choice.
———————
Please consider sharing this post with someone if you found it helpful.
You can sign up to receive these posts here.