It's the Humans In Us

One might think that gossiping first came into existence in the 15th century and later became popular in the late 20th century due to the popularity of gossip columns in newspapers and magazines, but that isn't entirely true.

As humans have progressed, we have quickly noticed how much more complex our language is to other animals, and often wondered the reason as to why it is. One of the theories--the gossip theory--that help reason as to why this is, explains that, as humans, we needed a unique way to share information to communicate without other animals knowing. Since Homo Sapiens--otherwise known as humans--are known to be rather social creatures, we believed social cooperation or gossiping, to be crucial for our survival.

For instance, in the book, "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," the author mentioned that humans will find it less useful to know the location of other competitors, such as a bison or lion, but rather more effective to know which animals are trustworthy, loyal, cheats, or enemies. Some might mistake this form of communication as informative speaking, but in actuality, it is a form of gossip. Even today, we use gossip to educate others, expose social or political corruption, chat with a peer, etc;: gossip has helped our language develop. Since gossiping has become so prevalent among humans, one might presume that it has existed since Homo Sapiens first started talking.