Gossip and its Effects
In Sissela Bok's Secrets, she quotes the American Heritage Dictionary for the definition of gossip. It is defined as, "trifling, often groundless rumor, usually of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature; idle talk." Gossip's very nature brings along danger. People risk friendships, jobs, and other important parts of life everyday to engage in it. Where does an innocent conversation about current events cross over to gossip? Why participate in gossip? What makes it so dangerous? According to Bok, "The seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England Puritans illustrate in their writings the intensity with which human lives may be raked over, both in soul searching and in talking about the lives of others." Gossip entails "talking about the lives of others." Telling a friend about another friend in Italy on a vacation does not fall under the category of gossip. Talking becomes gossip when the conversation takes a turn to the dark side. When evil intentions carry the conversation, when a giddy tone is in the dialogue telling of the friend's habits with respect to relationships, when all the dirty stories are told-then gossip has been committed. There are a few more restrictions on what true gossip is. Bok writes,
In closing, gossip should be avoided whenever possible. Avoiding the temptation to gossip will no doubt strengthen relationships and build a strong character as an honest, considerate person. Bok tones down Talmud's possibly outdated theory, which he stated hundreds of years ago. She notes that three specific types of gossip are almost guaranteed to hurt or otherwise damage: "gossip in breach of confidence, gossip the speaker knows to be false, and unduly invasive gossip." Bok identifies the third and final form of reprehensible gossip as "unduly invasive gossip." This description of gossip is to describe gossip that simply goes too far. When the personal lives of others are invaded upon and all normal restrictions of privacy are put aside, we go too far. This final rule describing reprehensible gossip embodies many types of gossip. Almost all gossip goes to far. Therefore, only a small percentage of the gossip used is truly harmless. The second form of gossip that may cause damage is when one gossips stating something as true when he or she knows it to be false. This "gossip that the speaker knows to be false" is also hurtful because it, too, breaks trust. Not only is trust broken with the subject of the gossip, trust is broken with the person to whom gossip is being told. One loses credibility with the person he or she is preaching the gossip when that gossip is found to be a lie. Bok argues that this form of gossip may be excusable when it i
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 994
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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