[stavros]

> Is it an oxymoron to generate an asymmetrical cryptographic signature, send it to someone, and that someone verify the signature with the public key?

Of course not. I verify because I don't trust them.

> Why not just "trust" them instead? You have a contact and you know them, can't you trust them?

No, the risk of trust is too high against the cost of spending a second verifying.

> This is what "trust but verify" means. It means audit everything you can. Do not really on trust alone.

Your comment just showed an example of something I don't trust and asked "why not trust instead"? The question even undermines your very point, because "why not trust them instead?" assumes (correctly) that I don't trust them, so I need to verify.

[survirtual]

It was sarcasm. "Why not trust them instead?" Clearly, you wouldn't and you can't. It takes moments to verify a signature, so just do it.