Like many natural human behaviours, gossip has a much maligned past. Seen largely as a petty sin, a waste of time and a sign of shallowness or cruelty, gossip is nevertheless a viscerally enjoyable human activity. People from every culture engage in the universal pleasure of discussing those close to them; sharing secrets and judgements in a form of bonding which encompasses the community as well as the individual.

Much like watching apes eating the lice from one another’s coats, gossip repels the outside observer with its exaggerated intimacy and relish for the disgusting. Yet what does our love of gossip really tell us about ourselves? It tells us that we care enough about other people to discuss them, that we feel part of a community which includes those about whom we are gossiping. Ultimately, it is proof that we care sufficiently about our group to be invested in the seemingly banal trivia of their lives – trivia which without these ties we would find absolutely tedious. Surely this is a good thing?

In fact, not only does gossip reflect our communities, it also strengthens them. When we gossip with someone we find ourselves becoming closer to them, but we are also drawn closer to the group of people about whom we are gossiping. When all the members of a group are doing the same thing, is it any wonder that they feel more connected?

Gossip also has its morally relevant benefits, too. It provides us with a constantly renewing series of moral judgements to be made, and hypothetical situations to be weighed. In this person’s shoes, we ask ourselves, would we have stayed with the wife or eloped with the mistress? Should we take into account the fact that the mistress gets on better with the kids? And how about the ex-wife’s office flirtation? And on it goes, an increasingly complicated moral situation to be debated or devil’s advocate to be played, a daily testing of what we think is acceptable and why.

What better exercise could there be for our moral sensibilities? What better clarification of our own moral codes, and their conflict or agreement with those of society? And, perhaps most importantly, what better mechanism to allow our shifting moral codes to inform one another, to shape the group's morality over time to suit the changing sensibilities of its members?