Rumors, Myths, Stories.........

Hullo!! So, I know I said after exams, but I got an amazing idea and really didn't know if my brain would decide to retain it until after April 12, so here I am!!!💚💛

My topic for today is Rumors, Myths and Stories. This has a lot more to write on than you think at first glance. Think about the last time that you passed on a story to someone. It may have been funny, or entertaining, or informational. That's no problem. Now, think about some tiny detail that you might have gotten wrong. As we humans are impossible social animals, we can be quite sure that this story is gonna get passed on to at least one person. What if that person gets one more tiny detail wrong? We all know where this chain is going. We've all experienced this at some point of time. May have even contributed to it. It's one of the reasons Chinese Whispers is such a laugh. I'm sure all of you are thinking, what DOES this have to do with rumors? Well, it's what happens when a rumor is generated.

Its been psychologically proven that we have an overwhelming tendency, simply to get a general impression of the whole and on the basis of this we constitute the probable detail. This simply means that when we're listening to a story, only the most basic elements register up there in your brain. The rest is simply adapted to sound more dramatic or whatever. This the very reason that rumors change so easily and spread even faster, the most irresistible chain reaction ever.

Next, myths. Don't believe everything you read. What might start as an incorrect observation can become a false "fact" that is widely accepted. This is the evolution of the myth, and our history is peppered with more than a few things that just aren't true. These spread in pretty much the same way. One of the most common modern myths is that humans only use 10% of their brains. The story behind this doesn't sound quite as far fetched as the claim on it's own. In the 1800s, scientists debated the overall function of the brain. Out of these debates, William James later wrote about humans only using a small percentage of their brains, and the 10% myth was born.

These myths or rumors may seem like something to get a laugh out of, but more serious things can occur because of this tendency. Loss of trust, bad karma, breaking promises, and so on. 

Let's say, you have this really interesting friend, who interesting things happen to. You told something that happened to him/her, to another of your friends. You wanted to sound interesting, see? But, you forgot about that little tiny thing called privacy. That friend you babbled about hears about it, and spreads something, something, you'd rather not have the whole world know about you.“Treat others the way you want to be treated.” That’s a cliché for a reason. That friend you told on will lose trust in you, and think twice before confiding in you again.

So, what can we do? Two things. If its gossip or rumors that aren't worth your time, ignore them. If its something worth your time, like an interesting piece of trivia, confirm it's validity.

Next time the girl at the cafeteria tells you a story about her arch nemesis, think before you decide to pass it on to your friend.

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