News Flash: The Evil Tongue Is a Relative of the Evil Eye

In Jewish "law" - or code of conduct - gossip is called "Lashon Hara," which literally means "the evil tongue" in Hebrew. Strict observance of this law makes it forbidden to talk about other people, whether what you are saying is good or bad, or true or false. Speaking negatively about others is considered to be the worst offense, especially if the negative thing is untrue. The principal behind this law is the idea that hearing about someone changes the way we think and feel about that person, and leaves us without the option of forming our own opinions and impressions - with the actual person.

Yesterday, researchers, led by psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett of Northeastern University in Boston, published the results of a study that indicate that not only does gossip influence how we feel about a person and how we think of them, it literally effects the way we see them.

The study indicates that disapproving gossip quickly gets associated with the face of the person being gossiped about, and that this connection operates outside of our conscious awareness. In other words, our visual perception of that person changes - rather than seeing the person's face as neutral, the face becomes villainous to us, even if we are not aware of it.

Obviously, there are times when speaking about someone - even negatively - is called for. In a situation where someone poses a true danger, it is good to be warned, and scientists surmise this is why our brain is structured to react in this way. We are programmed for our survival to be able to quickly recognize a dangerous person.

But this situation is relatively rare - it is much more common that celebrity gossip news, friends telling stories about other friends or acquaintances, or stories around the "water cooler" (virtual or otherwise) are where we are getting our information about others. And more often than not that information is not crucial to our survival. With this in mind - that spreading information about someone affects how the listener sees that person both figuratively and literally - it seems worthwhile to pause and think before we speak. Is the information we are spreading important for the safety of the listener? If we need to talk with someone about what has happened to us, do we need to name the other people involved? These are the type of questions it might be worth asking ourselves on a regular basis as we spend time with others or sit down to compose a new email and feel tempted to talk about someone who isn't there. The knowledge that what you might say about someone affects the brain of the listener and their associations to others is a weighty responsibility - one worth taking seriously.