Sound Bites
So, I have been thinking about the nature of gossip:
It is clear there is some sort of inclination for most humans to discuss the lives of others with a sort of slant, which results in the popular understanding of the word gossip.
Recently in personal discussions in my life I have struggled with having discussion which "counts" as gossip and conversation that is productive and insightful (yet kind of includes personal anecdotes about the lives of others).
I am never quite clear about what my intentions are during these discussions. I know that usually I am just making comparisons to the intimate lives of others and myself. I am trying to work through social fear and paralyzing social phobia.
I recently outted these thoughts to a friend and she asked me if I had ever heard of Loshon Hora (evil speech). She suggested I visit this website about a Rabbi who really raised concerns about the damaging effects of gossip, evil speech...What ever you would like to call it. I have since posted the Ten Rules of Loshon Hora in my office and have tried to be as aware about the way I speak of others as possible.
What I have found in observation of myself and others is that it is extremely difficult to make it through a whole day without discussing the people I know in some form.
I am feeling as if there is a natural dependence to relate the stories of others.
Your thoughts?
In other soundbytal type think here are some small bleeps of thoughts that have crossed my mind;
Post-Modernism and research
Having dreams about celebrities
Marathon training
and Ice cream
It is clear there is some sort of inclination for most humans to discuss the lives of others with a sort of slant, which results in the popular understanding of the word gossip.
Recently in personal discussions in my life I have struggled with having discussion which "counts" as gossip and conversation that is productive and insightful (yet kind of includes personal anecdotes about the lives of others).
I am never quite clear about what my intentions are during these discussions. I know that usually I am just making comparisons to the intimate lives of others and myself. I am trying to work through social fear and paralyzing social phobia.
I recently outted these thoughts to a friend and she asked me if I had ever heard of Loshon Hora (evil speech). She suggested I visit this website about a Rabbi who really raised concerns about the damaging effects of gossip, evil speech...What ever you would like to call it. I have since posted the Ten Rules of Loshon Hora in my office and have tried to be as aware about the way I speak of others as possible.
What I have found in observation of myself and others is that it is extremely difficult to make it through a whole day without discussing the people I know in some form.
I am feeling as if there is a natural dependence to relate the stories of others.
Your thoughts?
In other soundbytal type think here are some small bleeps of thoughts that have crossed my mind;
Post-Modernism and research
Having dreams about celebrities
Marathon training
and Ice cream
Loshun Hora is food for thought. It is rather a set of impossible expectations, though. There's no human way to avoid most of these pitfalls. Take rule #1 (never convey) a derogatory image to someone EVEN IF THAT IMAGE IS ACCURATE
What? No more "George Bush is a fool" jokes?
Oh! I just broke rule #8 about not repeating things even if it's public knowledge. Oh! and there I just incriminated my own slanderous self. So that's rule #4 down, too.
Ah well, see you all in Hell.
Posted by
Tatwig
Thursday, July 28, 2005
good post on gossip. it's a very big no-no but I guess where do you draw the line of venting and gossiping. venting is sometimes well needed.... maybe that's not gossip then... maybe its ONLY gossip (evil talk) if you say it and it a) has nothing to do with you b)is sad w/ the person of putting someone down...
Posted by
Aisha
Tuesday, August 02, 2005