Recently I received an email with a picture attached to it. It ominously stated the following:
"The President of Argentina received this picture and called it junk mail, 8 days later his son died. A man received this and immediately sent out copies .... His surprise was winning the lottery. Alberto Martinez received this picture, gave it to his secretary to make copies but they forgot to distribute; she lost her job & he lost his family. This picture is miraculous and sacred. Send it to ten people."
The email I received was doing the rounds for the tenth time. It was sent and/or received by people in all sorts of Government department, Ministries, Parliament and financial institutions. I guess that some of them sent it just for the fun of it; though it's proper to point out that them being government employees it is us who are paying for their fun. But there are others who spread chain letters and rumours through the Internet either because they believe them or they are afraid to break the chain.
The rumour mill has been churning for quite some time. I do not know whether it dates back to Adam and Eve. If not, I guess it is surely pre-diluvium. It must be older than the older profession as probably one found the members of this profession through the grapevine.
The spicier the better
"You know what I heard?" is a common piece of communication. It can be just plain gossip or a spicy titbit about a neighbour. The spicier it is the better. The more one tells you "don't tell anyone" the greater the number of people you speak to. The more secret it is the more attractive its spreading will be.
Once it is given birth no one can control it or determine its growth. The more it grows the more it changes; and the more it changes the more it grows. The vulnerability and fickleness of the spoken word is partly to explain this metamorphoses.
Louis William Stern at the beginning of the last century experimented with a "chain of subjects" who passed a story from one to another. The end product is always very different from its beginning even when everyone is bent on telling the truth. Image what happens when people do not have that commitment!
In countries where freedom is limited, rumour can even be an important politically subversive activity. The secrets of the state become the choice morsels of the rumour mongers!
Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the nature of rumour. I just referred to the work of Stern. I will not bore you with any other studies. I will just refer to an off-the-cuff formula given in a BBC story of what makes a successful rumour = believability/originality +fear +status x contacts. Don't ask me what it means. I refer to studies for a very simple reason. Whenever a rumour breaks at universities or other places of learning (Take off you hats, stand up and respectfully lower your head please.) it is not a case of idle talk or a sick wish for gossiping. The rumours that originate from universities are part of well planned academic research. How could you think that the venerable dons could do something different?
The Electronic Grapevine
Technology has revolutionised rumour. Once it spread slowly and concerned the neighbourhood or things of a national nature. That kind of rumour still does the rounds. Nowadays it spreads faster through use of mobiles and SMSs. Who does not remember the rumour that the father of the Prime Minister passed away during the counting of votes? It was the explanation given by rumourmongers for the Prime Minister's delay in publicly acknowledging victory. In a short while we got to know that the reason was completely different.
The Internet has today given rumour an international dimension. Instead of a neighbourhood web we now have a world wide web. Information and disinformation is spun like a web...false information gets spun even faster.
If a rumour is spread by what looks like a credible source it will spread faster. If it is compounded by fear then you will have supersonic delivery. People don't take chances when they are afraid. If someone SMSs you of an impending strike at petrol stations the chances are that many would make a bee line to the nearest petrol stations. Long queues develop in a jiffy. Longer queues at the petrol stations would, in turn, give more credibility to the rumour. It becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.
If health is involved people would take fewer chances.
Do you remember the bogus e-mail warnings of a link between anti-perspirant and breast cancer which circulated a few years ago? The warning claimed that the use of these substances places like a veil on the arm pits which prevented toxins being purged through the armpits. This, the emailed rumour said, then lead to the development of cancer. The rumour seemed plausible but it was not true. The American Cancer Society's website felt compelled to reassure people that there was no scientific evidence for the claim.
A more recent, but also untrue rumour, is that the artificial sweetener aspartame has been proved responsible for an epidemic of cancer brain tumours and multiple sclerosis. If you want to check whether several emailed rumours are true or not one can visit www.snopes.com. It is a very interesting and useful website.
Let me conclude by a very serious warning.
Everyday rumour ruins reputations, brings mayhem to families, disrupts the lives of individuals and communities, causes economic havoc, and is the origin of untold harm to many. Many innocent people get caught in this web of evil. Please do not be part of it.