1. The Invitation to Judge Thanks to social media, it seems as though I’m constantly being invited to judge other people. Sometimes it’s a celebrity who has gotten in trouble or had a conflict with another celebrity, like Amber Heard & Johnny Depp. Other times, it’s an academic who has allegedly misbehaved. E.g., maybe they mentioned a bad word 30 years ago,
A counter-argument is that gossip is a useful tool to:
1. Work through our moral theories using particular examples,
2. Perform self-analyses, and
3. Build social bonds.
We use third-parties as proxies because it's too difficult for most people to perform theoretical analyses in regards to point 1 and self-reflection in regards to point 2.
"Evidence" for point 2 is that gossip often involves projection.
However, I think when a conversation involves points 1 and/or 2, then point 3 can be non-banal when the topic leads to profound discussions.
I think the harder question is private versus public gossiping. Based on the above, I think private gossiping is pretty great (although with some danger of the gossip getting out).
Public gossiping is trickier because people are essentially using the emotions and reputations of others. Nevertheless, the value is that when a discussion is public, very smart people can perform great analyses on point 1, so there can be a lot to learn. And for those that don't have many opportunities for private gossip, there are cathartic values in regard to points 2 and 3 when done in public.
A counter-argument is that gossip is a useful tool to:
1. Work through our moral theories using particular examples,
2. Perform self-analyses, and
3. Build social bonds.
We use third-parties as proxies because it's too difficult for most people to perform theoretical analyses in regards to point 1 and self-reflection in regards to point 2.
"Evidence" for point 2 is that gossip often involves projection.
I think we often think of gossip in regards to point 3 as a banal activity, and that's a great opportunity for a Far Side comic: https://i.pinimg.com/474x/98/fe/27/98fe27d86db47c9589c80b61d6057fbc--gary-larson-the-far-side.jpg
However, I think when a conversation involves points 1 and/or 2, then point 3 can be non-banal when the topic leads to profound discussions.
I think the harder question is private versus public gossiping. Based on the above, I think private gossiping is pretty great (although with some danger of the gossip getting out).
Public gossiping is trickier because people are essentially using the emotions and reputations of others. Nevertheless, the value is that when a discussion is public, very smart people can perform great analyses on point 1, so there can be a lot to learn. And for those that don't have many opportunities for private gossip, there are cathartic values in regard to points 2 and 3 when done in public.