Psst. Have you heard the latest thing about him? And what she said about it?

Chances are you’d be dying to know about that delectable tidbit of gossip offered by a confidant. We just can’t seem to get our fill of such morsels about other people in our social circles.

Science tells us why: gossip is a kind of social grooming that helps our human networks hang together. We share news about friends and relatives, which solidifies our relationships with them. We dish about cheaters or people who wrong someone close to us, which helps to keep potential malefactors in line. We even learn why we are mesmerized by celebrities, whom we mistakenly feel we know intimately because they are in our living rooms on the TV every night.

As the power of gossip suggests, the words we choose can shape how we individually and collectively consider complex issues. If we speak of the “war” against terrorism, for instance, that implies battlefield solutions. But if we talk about it as a “crime” or a “disease,” that suggests approaches that are different—and perhaps ultimately more effective—for combating an intractable nonstate enemy. Each term has benefits and drawbacks, and they may be most effective when used in combination, as experts Arie W. Kruglanski, Martha Crenshaw, Jerrold M. Post and Jeff Victoroff explain in “Talking about Terrorism.”

One of the pleasures of reading Scientific American Mind is getting the latest thinking about how our minds work firsthand from the researcher authors themselves. So I’m excited to introduce the newest addition to our regular scientist contributors, neuroscientist Christof Koch. Go to his probing column, Consciousness Redux.

Note: This article was originally published with the title, "Word Power".

4 Comments

1. 1. leekatramados@hotmail.com 11:41 AM 10/1/08

   Everyone should take a real hard look at the Power of Words article and ask themselves...Is that what it is really like?

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2. 2. Aashrai in reply to leekatramados@hotmail.com 11:22 PM 10/1/08

   I completely agree with the author. Gossip, within limits does seem to be an important tool for a society....to build opinions about each other and act accordingly. Obviously anything in excess is harmful!

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3. 3. cs destiny 12:38 AM 10/4/08

   The Alphabet Verses The Goddess (1998) by Leonard Shlain..proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture. Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that literacy reinforced the brain's linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the expense of the holistic, iconic feminine right one. This shift upset the balance between men and women initiating the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, and, in literacy's early stages, the decline of women's political status. Patriarchy and misogyny followed.Shlain contrasts the feminine right-brained oral teachings of Socrates, Buddha, and Jesus with the masculine creeds that evolved when their spoken words were committed to writing. The first book written in an alphabet was the Old Testament and its most important passage was the Ten Commandments. The first two reject of any goddess influence and ban any form of representative art.The love of Mary, Chivalry, and courtly love arose during the illiterate Dark Ages and plummeted after the invention of the printing press in the Renaissance. The Protestant attack on holy images and Mary followed, as did ferocious religious wars and neurotic witch-hunts. The benefits of literacy are obvious; this gripping narrative explores its dark side, tallying previously unrecognized costs.
   For anyone interested in the power of words this is an enlightening read. cs

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4. 4. cs destiny 12:59 AM 10/4/08

   Another interesting test regarding the power that words have is written about in Malcomb Gladwell's book, Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking where he refers to a test called a priming experiment. devised by psychologist John Bargh . It offers a fascinating glimpse at how easily we are manipulated by words. More important it suggest that these clever manipulations, employed mostly by unscrupulous advertisers, are impotent when read with the intent to find the hidden agenda. Awesome material. cs

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