Comments on: Before There Was News, There Was Gossip

by: Blogs as gossip, and gossip as support structure for amateur science « Entertaining Research

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:08:05 +0000

[…] Blogs as gossip, and gossip as support structure for amateur science Seth on blogs as gossip and what role they can play in increasing the diversity among the practitioners of science: Blogs are just new-fangled gossip. Bloggers are endlessly scandalized, indignant, judgmental, just as gossips are. Just as gossip is usually “passed on,” most blog posts have links and many posts consist almost entirely of “passing on” something. Just as gossip can be anything, bloggers can say what they really think, as Tyler Cowen pointed out. That’s why they’re so successful, so easy to write and read. Gossip is good for our mental ecology, just as science is. Mark Liberman’s Language Log blog is a blend of (good) gossip and science; as you can see from my interview with him, it filled a gap. I hope blogs will provide a kind of support structure on which amateur science can grow. […]

by: Tom

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:42:42 +0000

Gossip is more primal than news. It is fundamental to our species’ ability to grow beyond small bands in which everyone knew each other. Gossip and the prefrontal cortex are inextricably linked — it is where we store our stories about who we are, who we’re ideally supposed to be, and who others are. That lobe is where society and politics live, and gossip is the data that fills that lobe. “Does he do his share? Can he be trusted? Who are his allies and his enemies?” If we know these answers about strangers, there is no limit to our society’s size. And we know how to behave in a way that keeps us from being destroyed.

It’s been said, and subsequently disproven, that tools are what make us human. I would argue that gossip makes us human. Even crows use tools. Humans use gossip.

by: LemmusLemmus

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:46:22 +0000

“bloggers can say what they really think”

Depends. I could easily create a few blogposts that might end your career if you posted them under your name. That’s why I use a pseudonym. As it happens, I’ve never posted anything that most people would find strongly objectionable (I think), but I like having the freedom to not even have to think about whether a post might be bad for my career.

Still, blog authors have a high degree of freedom to write what they want, but I don’t think that is the main reason that I read more blogs than professional sites on a typical day; I think the main factor is sheer mass. The main reason you can find blogs you like is the same reason you can find a forum for people that get sexually aroused by bird feathers or whatever: There’s just lots out there.