Gossip – The Human Secret Weapon
Many people feel inferior to celebrities which brings a whole milieu of chemical reactions in our brains leading to threat and fear centers activation. This threat is usually combated by a very powerful tool which millions of people and the media use daily: GOSSIP. This tool is crucial since it gives us a sense of elevated status. As terrible as gossip is, it is an evolutionary language weapon we use for our survival and self-preservation.
As Dr. Sapolsky stated, gossip can be used for reality checking of one self “was I being rude just now”, for building consensus amongst other people “I say she has to be fired” or to pass news “Guess who lost all his money?” When we use gossip it makes us feel better if someone we perceive with an elevated status fails. No matter what the case is, we are always in the lookout for gossip to make us fell at level ground with people of higher status. Several studies have shown that specific reward center
areas in our brains become very active when someone we envy happens to become unfortunate one way or another. It gives us a momentary sense of being equal.
Unfortunately evolution works very slowly, and our brains are not yet able to discern between what is real or make believe. We need to educate our children and our students to focus on what really matters. We all need to read things that will give you a head start. We need to consider entertainment as mere entertainment and nothing else. I am not saying that we should not aspire to be a world class football player one day. All I am saying is not to fall into the obsession game of a fantasy world that does not really exist. Read and learn from those who can teach you something with substance.
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