“Do you think
that history professors chat about the reasons for the First World War when
they meet for lunch, or that nuclear physicists spend their coffee breaks at
scientific conferences talking about quarks?”
Yuval Noah Harari raises the question in his fascinating book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. His answer: “Sometimes. But more often, they gossip about the
professor who caught her husband cheating, or the quarrel between the head of
the department and the dean, or the rumours that a colleague used his research
funds to buy a Lexus.”
Evolutionary
psychologist Robin Dunbar argues that human language evolved for gossip. Harari says that “The new linguistic skills
that modern Sapiens acquired about seventy millennia ago enabled them to gossip
for hours on end.”
There is no
human life without plenty of gossiping.
Gossip, among other things, makes the human beings quite different from
other animals. When a monkey sees a
lion, it can communicate the potential danger to its social group. But when a man sees a lion chasing a herd of
buffaloes, he can describe the entire scene vividly. Moreover, he can make up stories about
whether some buffaloes were mating when the lion fell on them, which buffalo
was having an illicit affair with another buffalo’s mate, and so on.
“Rumour-mongers
are the original fourth estate,” says Harari.
Our newspapers carry a lot of gossip not just in the City Supplements
but in the main sections too. Today we
have a lot of apps too to bring all sorts of gossips and propaganda. Even our Prime Minister makes effective use
of the human love for gossips: Mann ki
Baat, for example. [Modi bhakts are
requested not to misconstrue this. I’m
not saying that the programme is mere gossip; just that it makes effective use
of the psychology associated with gossip.]
Gossip is
unavoidable. In fact, it is
quintessentially human. It drives most
of human communications and interactions.
If there are 50 individuals in a group, there can be 1225 one-on-one
relationships, says Harari. Those who
are familiar with the mathematical theory of permutations and combinations will
grasp that quickly. Others can gossip
about it as much as they like. In
addition to those 1225 relationships are the countless more complex social
relationships.
In that
complexity, reputations can be made or broken.
Myths can be born. Yesterday’s
villain can become tomorrow’s hero. Gods
can be born. We, human beings, are a
peculiar lot. We need all these: our heroes
and myths. We love our gossips.
नोटबंदी के बाद डिजिटल पेमेंट पर जोर, जानें क्या है डिजिटल पेमेंट
ReplyDeleteReadmore Todaynews18.com https://goo.gl/BgzxC9
Totally loved your post.. And we female have this tag of gossiping around (I too sometimes). But we forget who gossip with you, will gossip of you.
ReplyDeleteNo escape from gossip 😊
DeleteI agree with you Mansi Ji.
Deletei never have the habit of gossiping...i dont know why but i dont like this act.
ReplyDeleteYou belong to the more evolved breed.
DeleteSaid right Sir. Gossip should be avoided but we, the human-beings, are not able to do so because it renders pleasure.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a power game.
Delete