How things get started
Rumors...why do we find these fictional tales so amusing? It seems gossip exists even more prevalently in law school than it did in undergrad. Ridiculous stories about thong flashing escapades with professors and secret professional stripping careers soar through the quad on a regular basis. "Who's sleeping with who" provides a topic for many conversations, not to mention debates about the sexual preferences of both students and professors. While most of the gossip somehow relates to sex, occasional banter about intelligence levels, job offers or the lack there of, family secrets, and financial means also flutter through the air. Does any of this matter? It's obviously part of human nature...at least in America. After all, supermarket tabloids, filled with fascinating accounts of superstar scandals, line magazine racks. Likewise, even our nation's political realm revolves, in large part, around the personal lives of those who choose to participate. The Clinton/Lewinsky scenario illustrates Americans' obsession with secret sex scandals. These actions aren't categorically condemned. Quite contrarily they conceivably signify hidden desires stifled through vicarious living. So why are people innately interested in gossip?
Knowledge equals power in today's society. If you appear "in the know" about the goings on of law school then fellow peers might view you as powerful. The catch-22 emerges via exposure of the untruths. For knowledge to equal power, others must deem it: new, interesting, and reliable. The "interesting" requirement explains the obsession with sex but when co-council finds out the big story amounts to BS, a lack of credibility negates power. Maybe, a systemic communication problem offers justification. As Dr. Calder explains, Triangulation involves seeking validation through third parties rather than the original source. In which case, validation refers to truth of facts as well as approval pertaining to personal discomforts; instead of addressing uncomfortable feelings with the person they concern, one utilizes a third person to ensure validity of their discomforting feelings. Much like the game of telephone played during childhood, messages get increasingly distorted and grandiose as distance from the source increases. Because peoples' perceptions of actions and speech provide unlimited interpretations, miscommunication represents the root of rumor. "He said/she said" isn't exactly reliable. Just look at the hearsay rules of evidence. The primary policy underlying the evidentiary exclusion results from lack of reliability. Dr. Calder also pointed out law students' inherent speculative nature. The study of law requires a great deal of conjecture. Most cases don't tell you the black and white rule. Lawyers hypothesize as to the intentions of the illustrious chief justices, splitting hairs to create multiple interpretations. Law school trains students in the art of prediction: opposing councils' perceptions and strategies, estimations of juries' attitudes, policy pondering, judges' dispositions an
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Approximate Word count = 1234
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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