The Seven Rules of Trust

A Blueprint for Building Things That Last

By: Jimmy Wales, Dan Gardner

Narrated by: Jimmy Wales

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the founder of Wikipedia, a sweeping reflection on the global crisis of credibility and knowledge, revealing “the rules of trust” that transformed Wikipedia from a scrappy experiment into a global utility used by billions of people—and how those rules can help others build things that last

“An important book . . . both hopeful and practical.”—Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

From the beginning, people predicted Wikipedia’s demise. Instead, this global experiment in sharing knowledge and expertise online has become part of the fabric of modern, connected life. Today, every month, people view Wikipedia 11 billion times—just in the English language. The Internet’s encyclopedia has become a global utility, like water or electricity, and we rarely pause to consider the extraordinary fact of its existence.

Long before it became the biggest collection of knowledge in the history of the world, Wikipedia had to overcome its greatest challenge: getting strangers on the Internet to trust each other. They had to trust that others would not be abusive or uncivil. They had to trust that others would not unfairly change or erase their contributions. They had to trust that people had good intentions.

Trust, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says, is a treasure. But it is not inanimate, like gold or gems. Trust is a living thing that can and must be cultivated. This book will show you how. And it will reveal how his organization, this one-time punchline, has become a global authority—in the same two decades when the public’s trust in everything else, from government to social media, has trended backwards.

Every community on earth depends on trust; it underpins our capacity to know things, and it is at an all-time low. Inspiring, approachable, and packed with candid lessons from the early days of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust is a guide to kickstarting a positive loop of accountability and creativity—and to building things that stand the test of time.

Thank you Jimmy Wales, now I understand

The ideas seem so simple and yet effective, these concepts on trust are just what we need to work against distrust. And now I understand how Wikipedia defied expectations and succeeded spectacularly

I liked it

A great perspective on how we can start building and restoring trust in each other at this extremely divided and hotly emotional time

inspiring and Clarifying

As a person developing trust-based systems, I found this read deeply inspiring and empowering. It serves as a reminder that goes against the grain of our times and our standard thinking; trust people, they will be trustworthy and trust you. We can focus on security, and we must at some level. But we risk all if we lose sight of this basic tenet about human nature. This read has renewed my courage to be bold and yes, what some folks might call "naive."

A story of Wikipedia that teaches you about trust

Really loved it, loads of good takeaways. While the 7 rules theme threw me off with the inner story of the 5 pillars, I think the rules thing is to show people a familiar packaging

Everybody knows the world is bad, but here's how to fix it. Seriously

Jimmy Wales explains in a very detailed and vivid way how Wikipedia came to be along with other projects requiring human collaboration. It was refreshing to read not only how bad things are (like Yuval Harari for example) but what can be done about it. Spoiler: There's no miracle cure.