Trust is a mental state, which cannot be measured directly. Confidence in the results of trusting may be measured through behavior. Placement of trust allows actions that otherwise are not possible. If the person in whom trust is placed is trustworthy, then the trustor will be better off than if he or she had not trusted. Conversely, if the trustee is not trustworthy, then the trustor will be worse off than if he or she had not trusted.

Trust is a mental state, which cannot be measured directly. Confidence in the results of trusting may be measured through behavior, or alternatively, one can measure self-reported trust, with all the caveat surrounding that method. Trust may be considered a moral choice, as in the legend of Damon and Pythias, or at least a heuristic, allowing the human to deal with complexities that outgo rationalistic reasoning. In this case, machine-human trust is meaningless, because computers have no moral sense and rely on rational computations.

In the social sciences, the subtleties of trust are a subject of ongoing research. In sociology and psychology the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, benevolence and competence of the other party. Based on the most recent research, a failure in trust may be forgiven more easily if it is interpreted as a failure of competence rather than a lack of benevolence or honesty.

The substantive conflict in the social sciences is whether trust is entirely internal, and only confidence is observable, or whether trust behaviors, and self reported levels of trust, can meaningfully measure trust in the absence of coercion. Note however that many languages (e.g. Dutch or German) do not distinguish between the words trust and confidence, which complicates the issue. The distinction between trust and confidence is an unsolved issue in current trust and confidence research.

Usonia is a word used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to his vision for the landscape of the United States, including the planning of cities and the architecture of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective Usonian in place of American to describe the particular New World character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.

Usonian is a term usually referring to a group of approximately fifty middle-income family homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in 1936 with the Jacobs House. The Usonian Homes were typically small, single-story dwellings without a garage or much storage, L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on odd (and cheap) lots.

They were environmentally conscious with native materials, flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling, natural lighting with clerestory windows, and radiant-floor heating. A strong visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces is an important characteristic of all Usonian homes.

Variants of the Jacobs House design are still in existence today and do not look overly dated. The Usonian design is considered among the aesthetic origins of the popular ranch tract home popular in the American west of the 1950s.

Agape is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. The word has been used in different ways by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love.

Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity. This is in contrast to philia, an affection that could denote either brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection, and eros, an affection of a sexual nature.

The term agape is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another.

The word has been expounded on by many Christian writers in a specifically Christian context. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being. Oord also argues that agape is not the only form of Christian love. Philia and eros can also be forms of love appropriate for Christians to express.

Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted Christian love or charity. The New Testament provides a number of definitions and examples of agape that generally expand on the meanings derived from ancient texts, denoting brotherly love, love of one’s spouse or children, and the love of God for all people.

In the New Testament the noun agape is often used to describe God’s love. However, the verb form agapao is at times used in a negative sense, where it retains its more general meaning of affection rather than divine love. The word agape in its plural form is used in the New Testament to describe a meal or feast eaten by early Christians. It is sometimes believed to be either related to the Eucharist, or another term used for the Eucharist.

The persimmon is the fruit of tree of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family. They are high in glucose, with a balanced protein profile, and possess various medicinal and chemical uses.

It originated in China and is widespread in northeast Asian countries. They are sweet, slightly tart fruits with a soft to occasionally fibrous texture. Cultivation of the fruit extended first to other parts of east Asia, and was later introduced to California and southern Europe in the 1800s. It has its best flavor when allowed to rest and soften slightly after harvest.

The heart shaped Hachiya is the most common variety of persimmon. They contain very high levels of soluble tannins and are unpalatable if eaten before softening. The tomato shaped persimmon is most commonly known as Fuyu.

Persimmons are eaten fresh or dried, raw or cooked. When eaten fresh the peel is usually peeled off and the fruit is cut into quarters or eaten whole like an apple. The raw fruit is used to treat constipation and hemorrhoids, and to stop bleeding. The fruits of some persimmon varieties contain the tannins catechin and gallocatechin, as well as the anti tumor compounds betulinic acid and shibuol.

Horses may develop a taste for the fruit growing on a tree in their pasture and overindulge, making them quite ill. It is often advised that persimmons should not be eaten with crab meat, nor should they be eaten on an empty stomach.

Though persimmon trees belong to the same genus as ebony trees, persimmon tree wood has use in the manufacture of objects requiring hardwood. Persimmon wood was heavily used in making the highest quality heads of the golf clubs known as woods until the golf industry moved primarily to metal woods in the last years of the 20th century. Over the last few decades persimmon wood has become popular among bow craftsmen, especially in the making of traditional longbows.

It is said that you can predict the winter by taking the seeds out of some persimmons and then slicing the seeds. The shape that shows up the most inside each seed will tell you what kind of winter to expect. The three shapes resemble three eating utensils. A Knife shape means there will be a cold icy winter, as the wind will slice through you like a knife. A Spoon shape means there will be plenty of snow for you to shovel. A Fork shape means there will be a mild winter.

We gain our knowledge of the outside world through his senses. Many of us are in the habit of thinking of these senses as if they did the sensing instead of being merely carriers of the vibrations coming from the outside world, which are then presented to the mind for examination. It is important to understand that it is the mind that perceives, not the senses. And consequently, an investigation of perception is really a development of the mind.

In order for one to gain knowledge, it is necessary to use to the best advantage the mental instruments and tools that we finds at our disposal. One must develop and improve such tools. Not only does one gain a great benefit from a development of perception, but one also acquires an additional benefit from the training of the whole mind arising from mental discipline.

Certain aspects of the perception may be trained. Through the senses we receive all information regarding the outside world. If we keep these doors half open or crowded with obstacles and rubbish, we may expect to receive but few messages from outside. But if we keep the doorways clear and clean, we will obtain the best that is passing our way.

One may argue that the highest ideas do not come to us through the senses, but the things obtained through the senses are the raw material upon which the mind works. From this we are able to create the beautiful things that we are able to produce in its highest forms. Just as is the body dependent for growth upon the nourishment taken into it so the mind is dependent for growth upon the impressions received from the universe, and these impressions come largely through the senses.

We see and know but very little of what is going on around us. Our limitations are great. Our powers of vision report only a few vibrations of the full frequency of light, and below and above the visual scope lie an infinity of vibrations unknown to us. The same is true of the powers of hearing, for only a comparatively small portion of the sound waves reach our ears. Some animals hear much more than we do.

If we had only one sense we would obtain but a one dea of the outside world. If another sense is added our knowledge is doubled. The best proof of the relation between increased sense perception and development is in the study of the evolution of animal forms. In the early stages of life organisms had only the sense of feeling and a faint sense of taste. Then developed smell, hearing and sight, each marking a distinct advance in the scale of life. So, as we develop new senses in the future we will be much wiser and greater beings. 

The true meaning of love is a wonderful thing. It is the desire of the soul to express itself in terms of creation. It is brought about only through the generosity of the lover to the object of the love. This is why, when we love people, we will go to the limit to help or serve them. Nothing is too great, no sacrifice is enough. The true lover gives all and is unhappy in not having still more of himself to give to the object of his adoration.

Because of our emotional nature, love is generally expressed through the sex desire. But too great an expression of this desire is destructive, for it depletes the vitality and demagnetizes the one who overindulges. Love is the most wonderful thing in the world and creates the highest form of energy known to the mind of man. It will be expressed at the level of passion or become transmuted into artifacts of real and lasting value.

What is commonly called falling in love is in some cases an intensification of egoic wanting and needing. One becomes attracted to another person, or rather to the image of that person. It has nothing to do with true love, which contains no wanting whatsoever.

Our culture has a long heritage of the individual learning that they are unworthy children in need of discipline by religious hierarchies. Many religions condition people to believe in their sin and inadequacy. Christianity historically has emphasized the benefits of suffering and the sin of pleasure. We are conditioned with an emotional conditioning of pleasure anxiety. Our fearful contraction prevents our liberation.

In Byron Katie’s book I Need Your Love, Is That True? she states:

“When you say or do anything to please, keep, influence, or control anyone, fear is the cause and pain is the result. Manipulation is separation, and separation is painful. Another person can love you totally in that moment, and you’d have no way of realizing it. If you act from control, there’s no way you can receive love, because you’re trapped in a thought about what you have to do for love.”

Some people, if they cannot get love or admiration, will settle for other forms of attention and play roles to elicit them. If they cannot get positive attention, they may seek negative attention instead by provoking a negative reaction in someone else. Children already do that by misbehaving to get attention.

Love is the wholistic feeling of attraction and is an integrative force. On a personal level it is an expansive giving force. The aspect of love as a communication of energies need be emphasized. There is no reason in the quest for enhanced states of joy that we cannot acculturate the enhancement, technique and knowledge of love to a more sophisticated degree. Finding ways to enhance the enjoyment of life is a pleasurable task and is a legitimate focus of attention.

When one looks elsewhere for the love that is within their own being, it creates a cycle of unsatisfied need that is never resolved. Love and admiration are not really emotions at all but states of being. They emanate from within as the love, joy, and peace that are aspects of all true nature. Knowing the oneness of the self is true love, true admiration, true compassion.