Rumor spread nine laws-born in the gossip of the Times, today you fooled?

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Supreme law, the highest inspection 9th, clear "cyber defamation" crime standard libel information was forwarded up to 500 times can be sentenced. Born in the days of gossip and flying, are you fooled today? If I am not a fool, you will not be fooled easily, then why there are still some absurd rumors will spread around ...

"That thing cost me a lot of money," he said. "It's ruining my image," says costume designer Hilfiger.

The shocking "thing" refers to stories that have been circulating over the Internet over the past few years: Hilfegger is known for his brilliant campus-style costumes, and he is said to have been on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and "knew that African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians would buy my clothes, I shouldn't have designed them so beautifully, "Hilfegger complained," I hope those people don't come to buy my clothes, my clothes are designed for the finest whites. "According to the rumor, outraged Winfrey asked Hilfegger to quit her show on the spot, and then after an ad, he really disappeared."

No one would have thought that shrewd businessmen would not alienate their core market crowd, and no one remembered that long before the rumor arose, Hilfegger had set up a charitable fund designed to help slum-dwellers, and no one cared that he had donated 5 million of dollars to build a monument to Martin Luther King in Washington. Hilfiger

Of course, Hilfegger never made any similar remarks. When rumors Rose, Hilfegger didn't even Oprah. In fact, it was not until 2007 that the two met for the first time, when Winfrey invited him on the show to clarify the rumors once and for all. "Next time someone emails you or mentions the rumor, do you know how to answer them?" Winfrey asked, "You should say, ' That's a complete lie '!" ”

The president of the cleaning company had a blast on the Downer TV show, saying that P & G had something to do with Satan's Church? Rumors！ Claiborne once told Oprah that blacks shouldn't wear their branded clothes? Rumors！ Still, film director Parker Lee said to the "classic" magazine: "This is absolutely true, do not believe you to check the video." Every black woman in America should check her wardrobe, throw away all the junk, and never buy the stitch of the state! ”

Whether you are paranoid or credulous, everyone will listen to rumors. Even Barbara Mickelson will believe some big lie, she and her husband David are famous rumors of the end of the site Snopes.com founder Oh! "A friend told me that when his friend's daughter was on vacation, there was a love affair with a charismatic man," Milkson said, "Before she went, the man gave her a parcel of a ceramic coffin with a note that said, ' AIDS welcomes you '. At that time I was absolutely, completely and completely convinced. ”

There's always a way to sneak into our mental defenses before we get suspicious, and the strongest rumors can completely sideline common sense. "Like the case of a parent accusing a subliminal message in a heavy metal song, people believe that the" Rabbi "Orchestra has implanted a message that makes teenagers suicidal," said Martin Bujeva, a rumour-research expert at the Dazhou Coast University in Florida. Why doesn't anyone think: Why would a rock band want their listeners to die? ”

Most people think they don't trust others. But for some rumors we always believe, and vigorously spread, these rumors are aimed at our own most powerful psychological defense.

In essence, rumors are just an unconfirmed piece of information that we spread between each other to figure out the truth of the matter. Mark Pezzo, a psychologist at Ohio State University, has done a case study that has managed to spread information about the death of meningitis among students. The message spread quickly because the students were anxious and eager to know what was going on: "Is the rumor true?" How do people infect meningitis? "I heard that all the people in the whole school have to do a spinal puncture, it hurts, you hear?" "In the Kingdom of rumors, the survival of the fittest, and the prevalence of infectious diseases in general, and the failure of rumors quickly disappeared." So what is the dividing line between "success" and "failure"? What are the "laws of successful rumors"?

law One: "Good" rumors breed anxiety.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, and rumors and floods flooded the city. In the extreme anxiety of the environment, terrible rumors grow everywhere: There are sharks in the flood! The terrorists buried the bombs in the levees! There are piles of dead bodies and mutilated baby bodies everywhere in the dome. When Hurricane Katrina attacked New Orleans, victims took refuge in the stadium

Unfortunately, the national media broadcast many rumours as facts. The mayor, Nagin, who listened to the wrong news, told Oprah Winfrey that there were "hundreds of armed triads" who raped and killed in the dome. But after the hurricane crisis eased, investigators found that almost all the widespread rumors were untrue. The Federal Emergency Administration (FEMA) Doctors even drove a large 18-wheeled refrigerated body car into the dome, ready to take away hundreds of thousands of corpses. As a result, they found only 6 bodies, and no one killed him.

So where did these absurd stories come from? Fear, fear breeds rumors. The more anxious a group is, the more likely people are to start making rumors. Nicolas Diffanzo, a rumour expert at the Rochester Polytechnic, explained that the main reason people spread rumors was to figure out what was scary and uncertain. People exchanging information about each other, even if those words are absurd, can soothe our restlessness, at least to make us feel that we know what's going on. "One of the main functions of rumors is to find out the facts and to get the right response." For example, after 911,911, I never experienced the feeling that life was threatened, when people controlled that fear by spreading rumors. ”

The 911 terrorist attacks have also begun to explore the truth behind the shock, and they have heard a number of alarming rumors-the terrorists put anthrax in Pepsi Cola, every five can have a jar of poison, 911 day no Jews died trade center to work, Because they knew the news in advance: All these statements were false, and in fact about 15% of the 911 victims were Jewish.

There are few positive and positive aspects of rumors, because we are inherently more likely to spread negative messages. "We humans tend to pay more attention to negative information," said Helen Harton, a professor of psychology at the University of Northern Iowa. "This is evolutionary, and how to escape the Tigers is much more important than the news of a wild flower." ”

Of course, now most people don't have to worry about tigers eating people, but we are afraid of other things, such as the company layoffs and so on, so we continue to pass the rumor over to figure out exactly what happened.

Law II: "Good" rumors are unexpected.

If you've ever seen emails that have been forwarded countless times, you'll at least be impressed by one of George W. Bush's drivel, such as "there's a problem with French, the word" entrepreneur "in French. The word entrepreneur itself is borrowed from French. Famous singer Mariah is also "Abas": "I saw on TV those poor children who even had enough food to eat, I cried." I also want them to be slim, but not with flies flying and starving. "Do you believe they will really say such things?"

Don't believe it. These two jokes are made by good people, but they spread like viruses. The reason is simple: these two pieces of material are lively and exciting, but not too far-fetched, not to doubt whether they really said these words. These two pieces only confirmed our existing concept: George W. Bush's brain is not particularly good, Mariah is a vain diva. Such rumors are consistent with common sense and do not disturb the alarms in our minds. Bush

In short, we can easily believe similar rumors. "This kind of rumor is able to steer clear of our radar surveillance because it happens to be something we believe in or believe in," Milkson explains. "If you have long believed that liberals are declaring war on religion, you are likely to believe a 2008-year myth that the new dollar's coin side will no longer have the phrase" we believe in God ". If you agree that too much money will get you out of the way of reality and insanity, you might believe the following rumors about Tiger Woods: he rented a mansion for the 2007-year American Open, removed all the furnishings, and moved his own furniture in order to have a "home feel" for the four-day race. ”。

Even if the evidence is in front of us, we will still hold on to the inherent idea. A 2007 study by the University of Maryland found that only 3% of Pakistanis believed it was al-Qaeda's plan to launch the 911 incident. "It's hard for them to believe that al-Qaeda-their own Muslim brethren-would do such a bad thing," Diffanzo said.

Law III: Rumors to rely on credulous people

In the middle of the 70, lifesavers confectionery developed a revolutionary child chewing gum: Bubbleyum bubblegum. Before the advent of bubblegum, a piece of chewing gum will be chewed for a long time before it becomes soft and can blow out bubbles. And the Bubbleyum of the packaging to open the inside of the sugar is wet soft, the perfect bubble gum. But the children think: it is too perfect, how can it be so soft? The answer seems obvious: there must be spider eggs in it. Bubbleyum is made of spider eggs. Bubble Yum Bubble Gum

The indiscriminate speculation of the urchin spread at an alarming rate, and soon became the "truth" of irrefutable, Bubbleyum's high sales plummeted. Less than 10 days into the rumor, lifesavers's management ordered the investigation, and found that the "far more than half" of the Children in the York-Metropolitan section already knew the rumor.

"Spider egg" one say why can spread so quickly between the little boy? Because the information giant with the rich resources of the game venue is manipulating all this? Or is it because of a teen chewing gum expert who has the right to speak? No, the real reason is that children can easily believe in all kinds of statements, and credulous people are the backbone of rumor-spreading. "What's important is that you are subjectively willing to spread gossip rather than how high social status you are, or how much respect you have," explains Duncan Watz, a sociologist who studies information dissemination in Yahoo. "Children are almost willing to believe anything, so rumors like this are spreading rampant on campus," he said. Another "longevity" campus rumor has it that the child star, who advertises for life cereal, died because he mixed the soda and the jumping sugar to eat, and the belly exploded.

This law also applies to credulous adults, who are the real drivers of rumors.

law four: Listen to the rumor thousand, false also become true

A poll showed 11% of Americans believe Obama is actually a radical Muslim, rumors that he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, he took office in accordance with the Koran in the oath of Congress, and then he did not love his mother, do not like apple pie and other lace. The mystery of Obama's Muslim identity is compelling, even The New Yorker magazine (July 2008) painted a cover caricature of the rumor: The new president, Barack Obama, wore Islamic robes at the White House ease, the Stars and Stripes thrown into flames in the fireplace, and a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall. The illustrations of The New Yorker magazine

If the New Yorker's liberal magazine is trying to show the absurdity of the rumor, they should consult with the rumor-mongering expert Mark Pezzo beforehand. According to Pezzo's observation, the act of clarifying rumours will make rumors more popular. "There is no doubt that the more times you hear, the more you believe that even the same person is telling you the same thing over and over again," Pezzo said, "Politicians are particularly adept: the more I hear about weapons of mass destruction, the more I tend to think they really exist. Even denying rumors is like repeating. "Don't believe you go to ask Congressman John, in 2004 when running for president, there was a rumor that he was in the Vietnam War service record, even though most of the media were to refute his rumours, but his campaign has gone.

In addition, repeating a rumor will make people feel that its source is reliable. Stanford University has done such a study repeated rumours of a "rat's urine on a Pepsi jar" to participants in the experiment, and the more they heard rumors, the more they thought the message might come from an authoritative publication such as the consumer report, rather than a "national consultation" devoted to gossip news.

Law Five: "Good" rumors timely

Every autumn, around mid-September, Barbara Milkson began to receive an urgent report on the gang initiation ceremony, rumors that the gang had a new way to join: people who want to be in gangs will wander around at night, deliberately not driving headlights, if a well-meaning driver flashes a reminder to him, This would-be triad member must follow the car home, and then kill the owner of the family as a join gang. So for security reasons, don't flash your headlights, please forward this message to everyone you care about!

This rumor will revive every year in mid-September. Milkson explained: "Starting in mid-September, the night starts to grow, and people coming home from work start thinking about not driving headlights." People are thinking about headlights all the time. So in the depths of winter or midsummer, this rumor cannot be heard. "No flashing headlights"?

When a topic is a hot spot for people to think about, rumors have a great opportunity to spread rapidly. Mark Challes, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, said: "It is important that the content of the information be consistent with the objectives of the communicators." "So what have we been focusing on lately?"

In the 2008 presidential election, the candidates were surrounded by thousands of seemingly plausible or implausible rumours. One of the most "excellent" two: John McCain, when he was a Navy pilot, rehearsed the "wet start" too carelessly and ordered an aircraft carrier. ("Wet start": A jet of petrol on a fighter's engine that bursts into a spectacular flame when it starts) second, the Ku Klux Klan supports Barack Obama's campaign, and yes, the Ku Klux Klan is very cunning.

Law VI: "Good" rumors concise concrete

Remember how many strange old sayings in your head: Swallowing gum takes 7 years to get out of the body; we only use 10% of the brain; In space we can see the Great Wall of China; people swallow 8 spiders in their sleep every year.

These trail rumors are very concise and concrete, the picture of the details of the description in the mind lingering. But they're all fake! These rumours illustrate a truth: the most popular rumors are concrete and understandable. "Complex views are unlikely to be widely disseminated," Duncan Watz said, "and those with contextual backgrounds are taken out of context in the process of dissemination." "Rumors spread like phone games; many details were lost after being relayed a few times, and information became simpler."

According to Mickelson, rumors of Spider-swallowing stem from a columnist's manuscript for Personal Computer magazine, the article is about how easy it is to believe that stupid lies in emails, and to illustrate what kind of nonsense a credulous person might swallow, the author compiled The example of "8 spiders swallowed in his sleep." Not long after, the joke lost its point of laughter as it spread, causing millions of of people to live in fear-they were afraid to open their mouths when they were asleep. Sleeping with your mouth open, you swallow a spider?

The principle of "specificity" is also one of the reasons for the widespread spread of urban legends, which are presented in the form of small stories, usually in "the two cousin of a repairman known to a friend's ex-girlfriend." Have you ever heard of this joke: a man who drinks a stranger's drink at a bar, wakes up and finds himself lying in a bathtub filled with ice, and has a kidney missing. And the story: a big sister put the dog in the microwave to get her hair dry. You may remember these stories because they have very heavy-tasting images--in a cold, freezing tub, you reach for the stitches in the lower midfield and look at a live dog roasting in the microwave--a scene that has been deeply etched into your cerebral cortex.

Pu Hith, a professor of business studies at Stanford University, explains: "Urban legends can only be spread when they have a very visual and sensual face." The structure of the brain determines that it is easier to remember specific, perceptual information than abstract content. "For example, if the researcher gives a list of words to remind people to remember, some time later, those words (apples, pencils, etc.) are easier to recall than some abstract concepts (truth, justice, etc.).

Law VII: "Good" rumors are hard to disprove

Although some legends and conspiracy theories are extremely crazy and extremely unreliable, they are not "dead". Why do people still believe that there are large prehistoric reptiles in Loch Ness? Loch Ness has been investigated for many days and nights, and there has been no evidence that the monster exists. Someone will say, the lake is so big, who can guarantee that the water horse is not in it? It is very difficult to overturn the idea completely. Does Loch Ness really have a water horse?

Diffanzo explains that some rumours are not circulating, such as this one: "In the Tuesday evening show, Letterman's wig fell!" "Because we can go to check the video, a check to know the host's wig has not fallen off." This rumor is going to be like this. "I heard that Letterman had a fake hair fell off when the show was recorded, but the TV station destroyed all the video records!" "This is like a thing.

In the words of Pu Hith, there are "verifiable evidence" in the enduring rumours that some elements of the rumor seem to add a bit of credibility after being misinterpreted. "There are often rumors of true and false content that will allow audiences to try," explained Heath, "a rumor circulated in the Bay area of San Francisco in the late 90 that the company supports the Ku Klux Klan." If you turn the label on the drink, you can see a circle with capital K in it. Everyone did this quiz for the alphabet, and just as you saw the K-word, the original comic rumor suddenly became believable. "In fact, there is a K on the bottle, which represents the kosher (kosher food), and is imprinted on thousands of drinks and food packages," he said.

Law Eight: We like to listen to the jealous object of the scandal

Is there any fellow American who has not heard the story of Gere and Gerbils? This is said to be the case: Kiel went to the Saida-Sinai Hospital in California to seek medical advice, saying he had intestinal pain and rectal bleeding. The doctor examined Kiel's body and found that his pet gerbil, "Tibet", died in his rectum and was shaved and stripped of his claws-a common homosexual sexual "gerbil". So the doctor did an emergency "gerbils removal" operation for Gere. The little Gerbil moved away, but the story passed.

Needless to say, the story is of course false. Kiel has never been hospitalized because of rectal bleeding, and there is no such act as a "gerbil", whether in gay or other groups. In California, it is illegal to raise gerbils (this is for agricultural reasons, not for sex.) This rumor, like all the other rumors about stars, cannot find the original source, and we only know that the story of the 80 's was unusually hot. It is said to have been a hoax in the name of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), when every fax machine in the Hollywood area received a false media hint that he was suspected of "torturing Gerbils".

Stars are most likely to be the protagonist of all kinds of dirty and filthy stories. There was also an almost equally well-known rumor that the lead singer of the "street urchin choir" had been sent to the rescue room, the doctors had washed his stomach, and had taken a gallon of semen out of his stomach--that he had swallowed at an adulterous oral-sex party. The details of the story are in various versions: semen is sometimes a gallon, sometimes 10 gallons, sometimes it is human semen, sometimes said to be dog semen. The protagonist of the story is also changing: Stewart, John, Bowie, synth, Jagger, Andy Warhol, Jeff Beck, Joen Bong Jovi, Aranis Morisaite, Rill Kim, Foxie Brown, Spears, and Fiona. April was the protagonist of the story. But the basic plot has never changed.

It seems that as long as someone's fame and popularity reach a certain limit, the rumor maker will start working automatically. And the more beautiful and successful the star, the more disgusting and nasty the rumor is. For example: Curtis is a bisexual person; snow Son (a Janet) removes a rib in order to look more bony; Catherine the Tsar of Tsarist Russia died unexpectedly while trying to have intercourse with a horse.

Why are rumors about celebrities spreading so widely and "enduring"? One reason may be that people have some gloating mentality. "People will spread rumors that they agree, there is something in the story that they agree with, or what they want to happen," Mickelson said. "We are all envious of celebrities, and we want to pull those people from above the altar, it is human nature. "The Gere of the 80 's

Gere is so handsome that we'd rather believe he's a psychopath or a stain on something else. The girls are crazy about the street urchin, so men are particularly willing to believe they are gay dogs.

The easiest way to destroy the reputation of a male idol is to destroy his manhood, to imply that he is not interested in women, but to like men, gerbils or dogs. So Hollywood's most handsome first-line male star will always be "engaged in" rumors, Tom Crouze, strong Depp and Orlando are not spared the trouble. "It would definitely hurt his popularity to say that a very impressive actor was gay," Milkson explained, "as if it were a woman who liked him, but he didn't like women." People will be surprised: it is so! ”

The Nineth Law of

We also need to add the last law of rumor spread: sometimes there is no reason to preach rumors. There is no "why", and many times we tell some unusual jokes just to build up relationships or show off how good we are, we don't necessarily believe these stories.

But please note that sometimes these rumors are true! A study by Diffanzo and Prasante Bodia of the University of South Australia found that about 95% of the gossip you hear about corporate affairs is true in groups with certain hierarchies, such as large offices.

"Every Halloween we hear about someone putting a razor blade in an apple and distributing it to kids who ' trick or Treat '," Diffanzo said. "I had a similar thing in my own house, and my wife found a needle in a Halloween candy. I know, this thing sounds too exaggerated! I'm a rumor expert and I believe in rumors. Don't tell anyone else. ”