What If We're Hardwired for Gossip?
The relationship between story and gossip
Hello, Larks & Night Owls!
Do you ever gossip?
early birds gather
to share neighborhood gossip
hunt worms on the lawn
Are We Hardwired for Gossip?
I recently had an epiphany about TikTok. I love scrolling on that app. There are so many interesting academics, intellectuals, artists, musicians, and creatives sharing their knowledge and insights about their fields of expertise and their daily lives.
I was watching a video from someone I do not know talk about layoffs at a company I have never heard of and I paused to ask myself why I was so interested in this video. That’s when it clicked. TikTok is addictive and successful because it weaponizes gossip1.
Ever since I first read the work of Joseph Campbell as a teenager2, I have held the core belief that humans are hardwired for story.
This belief influenced the way I tried cases as a lawyer, how I approached copywriting, and how I viewed myself as an artist. I was a storyteller.
But, after reading more about Robin Dunbar’s theories over the past three years, I’ve altered my views a bit. Dunbar and many other evolutionary biologists theorize that one of the reasons our species, home sapiens, survived when other hominids, like Neanderthals, went extinct was because of our propensity for gossip.
Gossip was a bonding tool that made us more alert.
What if humans aren’t hardwired for story? What if we love stories because we are hardwired for gossip?
Our subconscious isn’t great at differentiating fact from fiction. One reason we love stories of epic quests is because they scratch the gossip itch embedded deep in our brains. We want to know what happens to our friends, even our fictional ones.
My current existential question is, am I a storyteller, or am I just a gossip? I think they might be the same thing. Now, I’m working to tell stories in my art as though they were bits of gossip with greater intentionality.
I’m excited to see where it leads me.
Be the weird you want to see in the world!
Cheers,
Jason
I have a TikTok account that I occasionally post poetry comics to. But, after discovering the gossip angle to TikTok, I am considering posting little snippets of my life as a working poet/artist to see if that interests anyone. I love any excuse I can get to get people more excited about poetry, art, and creativity. This is the kind of stuff I can blab about all day.
I first heard of Campbell’s book The Hero With A Thousand Faces from an interview with George Lucas that was published sometime around the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983 when I was 7. The title of the book stuck with me, and I found it in the library when I was thirteen because I was still a big Star Wars nerd.
"Now, I’m working to tell stories in my art as though they were bits of gossip with greater intentionality."
I've tucked this little gem into my pocket.
Thanks Jason!
Isn't gossip the reason why junior high school exists?
Great thoughts here. I think gossip and storytelling are intertwined at a basic level. Maybe authors are just people who gossip about fictional characters rather than their neighbors.