Fair enough; it may be that I overestimate the value of what I'm calling trust here.

Just for my own clarity, when you say that what I'm doing is signaling my lack of timidity, are you referring to my actual behavior on this site, or are you referring to the behavior we've been discussing on this thread (or are they equivalent)?

I'm not especially looking to make real-life friends, though there are folks here who I wouldn't mind getting to know in real life. Ditto work contacts. I have no interest in working for SI.