Under the social conventions of her time, Ukifune's was a virtually irrevocable commitment. In our society of radically looser conventions, you and I cannot so readily constrain ourselves as Ukifune did—our shaved heads might be nothing more than a frivolous style of the moment—and we cannot be fully believed if we assert our undying commitment to a particular religious creed or to any other purpose. We can be believed if we say we are committed in this very moment—but we cannot be fully trusted to stay committed into the distant future. The most assertive believers among us are all too often the most fickle. We are like Alberich without magic to control us.

XREF: Connects to the reader's thinking about commitment, identity, and how social structures shape belief — relevant to moral philosophy or cultural commentary.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 244